Am I using live chat or messaging?

Question

Am I using live chat or messaging? How do I enable or disable them?

Answer

Your widget setup, interface, and ability to enable or disable messaging depend on your plan type, agent workspace configuration, and account age.

Your plan

If you use Agent Workspace or the standard agent interface

If you use live chat or messaging

Important Notice: Zendesk Chat is being removed, and all eligible Chat users are encouraged to migrate to messaging. For details on transitioning, see About the removal of Zendesk Chat and migration to messaging.

Use the sections below to identify your setup and manage your settings:

Understanding your plan

Understanding your interface

Are you using messaging in the Agent Workspace?

Are you using live chat in the standard agent interface?

Are you using live chat in Agent Workspace?

Choosing or switching between widgets and messaging status

Understanding your plan

You need billing admin or owner access to view plan settings and identify your plan type.

A Suite Team plan or higher has access to use Agent Workspace with either live chat or messaging.

An older Chat Team plan has access to the standard agent interface and live chat.

Understanding your interface

If you use the Agent Workspace, the UI looks like this:

If you use the standard agent interface (legacy experience that does not support messaging), the UI looks like this:

Are you using messaging in the Agent Workspace?

To determine if you are using the messaging Web Widget, compare your widget appearance to the image below:

If your widget does not look like these images, you may be using custom code or a different widget type. For detailed comparisons, see Which Zendesk widget do I have with my account and website?

Messaging requires enabling Agent Workspace.

Within Agent Workspace, set your agent status for messaging at the top right of your interface.

If omnichannel routing is enabled, set your agent status from your profile icon.

Most messaging accounts use the Web Widget or embed social messaging across social media channels.

To manage widget settings, navigate to Admin Center and select Channels > Messaging and social > Messaging.

Messaging accounts utilize messaging triggers in Admin Center rather than the legacy Chat dashboard triggers.

Overview of messaging settings in the Agent Workspace:

Are you using live chat in the standard agent interface?

With live chat in the standard agent interface, agents serve chats and adjust status via the Chat dashboard. Open the dashboard using the products icon.

Most live chat accounts embed chat on their site using the Web Widget (Classic).

Overview of live chat in the standard agent interface:

Are you using live chat in Agent Workspace?

If using Web Widget (Classic) alongside Agent Workspace, live chat management moves directly into the Support interface.

Choosing, enabling, or disabling messaging and widgets

Messaging supports social channels, AI, and bot workflows. Legacy live chat is limited to connecting your help center with real-time support.

Disabling Messaging & Reverting to Legacy Chat:

New instances: New Zendesk accounts have messaging enabled by default and cannot turn off messaging or opt out.

Existing instances: Accounts created before messaging became default that previously used legacy Chat may request an opt-out review through Zendesk Customer Support.

For detailed feature comparisons between widget types, see Comparing the Zendesk Web Widgets.