What
Import tickets from Zendesk into Teamwork Desk.
Why
  • Move historical Zendesk tickets into Teamwork Desk for reference.
  • Preserve imported ticket details, replies, notes, tags, customers, agents, and priority mappings where supported.
  • Track import progress and review any failed imports from Import History.
Who
Teamwork Desk site administrators with access to the Zendesk account being imported.
When
Use this when moving ticket history from Zendesk into Teamwork Desk.
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Before you start

  • You need access to Teamwork Desk settings.
  • You need administrator access to the Zendesk account you're importing from.
  • You need your Zendesk subdomain. For example, if your Zendesk URL is yourcompany.zendesk.com, enter yourcompany as the subdomain.
  • You must be able to authorize the connection through Zendesk OAuth.
  • You should decide which Teamwork Desk inbox will be used as the fallback inbox.

Zendesk imports use OAuth authentication. Click Connect to Zendesk and sign in to authorize Teamwork Desk to access your Zendesk account.

Import tickets from Zendesk

Within Teamwork Desk, you can import tickets from your Zendesk account.

Step 1: Open the Zendesk importer

  1. Click your profile icon in Teamwork Desk's main navigation menu.
  2. Select Settings.

    Teamwork Desk profile menu showing the Settings option
  3. Switch to the General tab.
  4. Select Import Data from the left panel.
  5. In the Zendesk panel, click Import now.
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Step 2: Configure the import

  1. Enter your Zendesk Subdomain. For example, for yourcompany.zendesk.com, enter yourcompany.
  2. Click Connect to Zendesk, then sign in to Zendesk and approve the OAuth connection.
  3. Select a Fallback inbox. Tickets are added to this inbox if Teamwork Desk cannot determine the correct inbox from Zendesk.
  4. Select the Date Range of tickets you want to import.
  5. Click Start import.
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Monitor import progress

You are redirected to the Import History area once the import is initiated. Each import is given an ID and is listed with the following details:
  • Type: The import origin, such as Zendesk.
  • Status: Pending → Started → Completed or Failed.
  • Message: Details about skipped, imported, or failed tickets.
Failed imports include a retry button on the import's right-hand side.

Message
Meaning
Skipped
Tickets already imported from the Zendesk account.
Imported
Tickets imported this time.
Failed
Tickets that could not be imported.

Import History showing Zendesk import status and message details

Import errors

If an import fails, you may see one of these errors:
Error
What it means
Domain not found
The domain name entered in the import details screen was not recognised as a valid Zendesk site.
Unauthorized
The Zendesk OAuth authentication failed or Teamwork Desk does not have permission to access the account.
Forbidden, must be Admin user
The account used to authorize the import is not an administrator account in Zendesk.

These details are also emailed to the address used for the import when the import is complete.

Imported tickets

  • Tickets: Any tickets imported from Zendesk are assigned the Closed status.

    If a customer replies to an imported ticket, it is treated as a new ticket. The imported and new tickets need to be merged manually if you want to bring the new response and subsequent replies into the old ticket. It's best to consider imported tickets as closed and for reference only.
  • Replies and notes from Zendesk are added directly to the imported tickets in Teamwork Desk.
  • Tags are imported with tickets.
  • Customers: If a customer on an imported ticket matches an existing Teamwork Desk customer by email address, it is associated with them. If no existing customer is found, they are created.
  • Agents: If the agent on an imported ticket matches an existing Teamwork Desk agent by email address, it is assigned to them. If no existing agent can be matched, a new agent is created with an Invited status. You won't be charged for adding them to your subscription until you choose to invite them manually.

Priority mapping

Zendesk priority
Teamwork Desk priority
Urgent
High
High
Medium
Normal
None
Low
Low

Multiple imports

If you run another import, tickets are affected as follows:
  • Tickets from the first import, including any that have been edited or deleted individually, are not re-imported.
  • If you delete an inbox, tickets that were in that inbox are re-imported.

Search imported tickets

You can search for tickets you imported from Zendesk based on the ticket's original Zendesk ID.

Example: A Zendesk ticket ID was 123456. Once imported to Teamwork Desk, you can search by that original ID (123456) in Teamwork Desk search to locate the ticket.