Why do I get an "access denied" error?

Question

Why do I see the error message below?

Access Denied. You do not have access to this page. Please contact the account owner of this Zendesk for further help.

Answer

The Access Denied error message appears when someone attempts to access a page they don't have permission to view.

There are a variety of scenarios in which this error message can be displayed. These include:

Accessing a third-party app or source that isn't connected with your subdomain

Accessing the agent portal as an end user

Accessing an article without the required permission level

Accessing a feature that isn't available on your current plan level

Accessing a page that isn't permitted by your role

Accessing a third-party app or source that isn't connected with your subdomain

The issue may specific to a Zendesk app within another provider, for example: Microsoft Teams.

Verify the URL of that page you tried to click and the URL that returns an error, check the origin of the page you're trying to access

Compare the URL with your own Zendesk subdomain

If it's a third party, ensure that:

You have an account with valid permission on the third-party source

An app integration exists in your Zendesk account

The integration also exists with Zendesk on the third-party platform settings

The email address linked to your Zendesk profile is exactly the address from the other integration

Note: Zendesk cannot guarantee integrations with a third-party. Contact the admin or support from any external source for help.

If no third party is in question, check the other possibilities below

Accessing the agent portal as an end user

The most common occurrence of this error happens when an end user tries to access the agent portal or an agent is trying to log in to the help center as a customer.

To solve this issue:

Navigate to yoursubdomain.zendesk.com/access/logout to end your previous session

Navigate to yoursubdomain.zendesk.com/access/normal and sign in using your agent credentials

Replace the string subdomain with the subdomain of your account.

Accessing an article without the required permission level

If the issue relates to an article, in particular, ask another agent or admin with the correct permission level check that the article's restrictions are set appropriately. For more information, see the article: Setting view permissions on articles with user segments.

Accessing a feature that isn't available on your current plan level

It's possible that this error might appear when trying to access a feature that your plan level doesn't include. For more information on what's included with each plan, visit the Zendesk pricing page.

Accessing a page that isn't permitted by your role

If you have a role other than owner or admin, you may have limited access to tickets or features within your Zendesk account.

Reach out to an admin on your account if you need adjust the permissions within your role, or if you need a different role. For more information, see the article: Creating custom roles and assigning agents.