Configuring settings and permissions for CCs and followers

<body>
<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">As described inUnderstanding CCs and followers, your internal and external users can use CCs to copy other users when replying to ticket notifications by email. Internal users (agents and admins) can also add and remove followers from tickets, including themselves. Followers receive email notifications about updates to the ticket, but their names and email addresses don't appear in email notifications to other people on the ticket. They remain invisible to external end users.</p>
<div class="article-banners">
<div id="docs-wmp-link">
<a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5411234991258-plan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">What's my plan?</a>
</div>

<div class="article-banner" id="suite_all">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>All Suites</strong>
</td>
<td>Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<div class="article-banner" id="support_all">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>Support</strong>
</td>
<td>Team, Professional, or Enterprise</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

</div>
<div id="docs-ai-summary">
<p id="docs-ai-summary-toggle">Summary: <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">Configure CCs and followers to control who can be copied on tickets, who can be added as followers, and how follower email notifications work. You can block specific addresses, allow light agents or end users to add CCs, choose when CCed agents become followers, change comment privacy for end user CC replies, and use placeholders in triggers, automations, and macros to include CC and follower names.</p>
</div>

<div class="body">

<div class="note fastpath">
<span class="fastpathtitle">Location: </span> <span class="ph">Admin Center &gt; Objects and rules &gt; Tickets &gt;
Settings</span>
</div>
<div class="p">
<div class="note attention">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> This article describes an updated CCs and followers
experience. If your account was created before May 2019, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408839371418" target="_blank">you might need to
migrate</a> to this updated experience.</div>
</div>
<p class="p">As described in <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5179445630234" target="_blank">Understanding CCs and
followers</a>, your internal and external users can use CCs to
copy other users when replying to ticket notifications by email. Internal
users (agents and admins) can also add and remove followers from tickets,
including themselves. Followers receive email notifications about updates to
the ticket, but their names and email addresses don't appear in email
notifications to other people on the ticket. They remain invisible to
external end users.</p>
<p class="p">Admins and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agents in custom roles</a> with
permission to manage ticket settings can configure different settings for
CCs and followers. You may need to use only some of the options described in
this article. </p>
<p class="p">This article covers the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_xgv_fk1_lhb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_x3t_4p5_cq">Configuring settings for CCs and followers</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_tg2_ct2_hlb">Changing the default comment privacy for end user CCs</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_agt_tp2_dhb">Using placeholders with CCs and followers</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="p">Related article:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_ahn_kn2_l4b">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828286234" target="_blank">Creating business
rules for CCs and followers</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__title_fz2_s1v_cq" class="topic nested1" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__title_fz2_s1v_cq">Configuring settings for CCs and followers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To configure settings for CCs and followers</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__ol_uyd_kdn_fhb">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__d9e1752" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tickets &gt; Settings</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">CCs and followers on tickets</strong> to expand it.</li>
<li class="li">Configure the settings described below, then click
<strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__table_ekn_qpf_ygb" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col style="width:33.33333333333333%">
<col style="width:66.66666666666666%">
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">Setting</th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allow followers</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allows agents to add followers to tickets from
the ticket interface.</p>
<p class="p">Adds the <strong class="ph b">Followers</strong> field to the ticket
interface.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__image_esv_4s1_lhb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/cc_followers_field.png" width="250"></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Customize your follower email:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__ul_dng_2l4_tgc">
<li class="li">Create a subject line (field)</li>
<li class="li">Create your email text (field)</li>
<li class="li">Back to default (button)</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Type the text to include in the subject line
and body of email notifications to followers.
Placeholders are allowed (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887218330" target="_blank">Using
placeholders</a>).</p>
<p class="p">You can use <strong class="ph b">Back to default</strong> to replace
text in follower email template (but not in the
follower email subject line) with default
text.</p>
<p class="p">All of these options are only available when
<strong class="ph b">Allow followers</strong> is selected.</p>
<p class="p">For more information about the follower email
template, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843866394" target="_blank">Customizing default
email notifications to CCs and
followers</a>.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allow CCs</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allows agents and end users to add other users
as CCs on tickets.</p>
<p class="p">Adds the CC line to the ticket interface.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__image_xyc_3t1_lhb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/cc_public_reply_cc_line.png" width="300"></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">CCs and followers blocklist</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">You can prevent specific users from becoming
CCs and followers by entering their email address
or domain name into a blocklist. Use spaces to
separate the addresses.</p>
<p class="p">This option is only available when <strong class="ph b">Allow
CCs</strong> is selected.</p>
<p class="p">The CCs and followers blocklist prevents
addresses from being added as a CC, but it does
not prevent them from being ticket requesters.
Users on the CC blocklist can still submit their
own tickets with other addresses CC'd. To
completely block an address, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886840986" target="_blank">use the account
blocklist</a>.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allow light agents to be added to tickets</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allows ticket requesters, agents, and existing
CCs to add light agents and contributors as either
CCs or followers on tickets. </p>
<p class="p">When activated, light agents and contributors
can be copied on tickets from the ticket interface
and from ticket notifications. However, light
agents and contributors are not allowed to add or
remove themselves from the CC list—this must be
done by another agent who isn't a light agent or
contributor.</p>
<p class="p">Regardless of whether this setting is activated
or deactivated, when followers are allowed, light
agents can be added as followers, and they can add
or remove followers from tickets, including
themselves.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allow end users to add CCs to requests</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Allows signed-in end users to copy (CC) users
in these places:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_x3t_4p5_cq__ul_lzt_2hj_hxb">
<li class="li">Ticket email replies</li>
<li class="li">Help center new support requests using the
ticket form </li>
<li class="li">Help center existing requests in My
Activities</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">If this option is enabled, but the <strong class="ph b">Anybody
can submit tickets</strong> option is <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883658906#topic_h1t_z42_h3" target="_blank">deactivated</a>,
non-registered users who are added as CCs will not
be copied on the ticket and they won't receive an
email notification about the ticket.
</p>
<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> This feature is not available on trial
accounts.</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e141" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">Automatically make a CCed agent a follower</p>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d89e144" style="vertical-align:top;">
<p class="p">When an agent is successfully added as a CC on
a ticket through email or the Support user
interface, they're also automatically added as a
follower. </p>
<p class="p">The agent must actually become a CC on the
ticket for this setting to apply—being CCed on an
inbound email doesn't guarantee it. For example,
role restrictions, such as those for light agents,
can prevent an agent from being added as a CC.</p>
<p class="p">This setting isn't the only way agents are
automatically added as followers. In some email
reply flows, agents are added as followers even
without being added as CCs—for example, when a
reply removes the requester from the thread while
adding new agents.</p>
<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If the agent is CCed from <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846805530" target="_blank">a ticket form in your help center</a> or
through the API instead, then they are not also
added as a follower.</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_tg2_ct2_hlb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Changing the default comment privacy for end user CCs</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If an end user CC replies to a ticket notification from email
using <strong class="ph b">Reply</strong> (instead of <strong class="ph b">Reply all</strong>), the reply becomes
a private comment on the ticket. However, if the <strong class="ph b">Make email
comments from CCed end users public (not recommended)</strong>
option is enabled, the behavior changes and the reply becomes a
public comment instead. (The requester must be included in the
reply; otherwise, the comment will be flagged as a potential
risk.)</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">We don’t recommend using the <strong class="ph b">Make email comments from CCed
end users public (not recommended)</strong> option because a
requester might see content that wasn’t meant for them. For more
information about email replies, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842992538" target="_blank">Understanding when email
replies become public or private comments</a>.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To change the default comment privacy for end user
CCs</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_tg2_ct2_hlb__ol_yry_dt2_hlb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_tg2_ct2_hlb__d9e1752" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Tickets &gt; Settings</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Comment options for agents</strong> to expand it.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr"> Select <strong class="ph b">Allow email comments from CCed end users to
be public (not recommended)</strong>.<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> This setting
is only available if CCs is activated.</div>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Scroll down and click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p">For information about other ways you can change the default privacy of
ticket comments, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408822560410" target="_blank">Changing the default privacy
of ticket comments</a>. </p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_agt_tp2_dhb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Using placeholders with CCs and followers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you want to list the names and email addresses of CCs and followers in
ticket notifications, you can do so by adding these <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886858138" target="_blank">placeholders</a> to your
business rules (<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886797466" target="_blank">triggers</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883801626" target="_blank">automations</a>, and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844187034" target="_blank">macros</a>):</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_agt_tp2_dhb__ul_hfy_sqr_jhb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">email_cc_names</strong> or
<strong class="ph b">ticket.cc_names</strong>—Returns the names of CCs on the
ticket.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">ticket.follower_names</strong>—Returns the names of
followers on the ticket.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">If you add or update your placeholders, we recommend using the
<code class="ph codeph">email_cc_names</code> placeholder instead of
<code class="ph codeph">tickets.cc_names</code>. They do the same thing,
but <code class="ph codeph">email_cc_names</code> is newer.</p>
<p class="p">For more information about CC and follower placeholders and where exactly
you can use them, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828286234" target="_blank">Creating business rules for
CCs and followers</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843866394" target="_blank">Customizing default email
notifications to CCs and followers</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<script id="docs-schema-markup" type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843795482",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843795482",
"headline": "Configuring settings and permissions for CCs and followers",
"description": "You can configure ticket CC and follower settings, change default comment privacy for end user CC replies, and use placeholders in notifications and business rules.",
"articleSection": "Ticket collaboration",
"datePublished": "2021-10-16T04:07:22+00:00",
"dateModified": "2026-09-04T18:53:52.818573+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843795482"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com",
"softwareAddOn": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Support",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/4405303717658"
}
}
}</script><script id="fast-path-script">
//<![CDATA[
const fast_path_style = document.createElement('style');
fast_path_style.innerHTML = `#article-body .fastpath{font-size:.9em;background-color:#f3f3f3;border:1px solid #d3d3d3;padding:10px 10px 8px;margin-bottom:16px}#article-body .fastpath::before{content:none!important}`;
document.head.appendChild(fast_path_style);
//]]>
</script><script id="ai-summary-script">
//<![CDATA[
const ai_summary_style = document.createElement('style');
ai_summary_style.innerHTML = `#styled-article-body{padding:0 0 0}#article-body #docs-ai-summary{background-color:#f3f3f3;border:1px solid #d3d3d3;padding:10px 10px 6px;margin-bottom:16px}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle{font-size:.9em;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:4px;cursor:pointer;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle #up-triangle{margin-left:auto;padding-right:10px;display:none}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-toggle #down-triangle{margin-left:auto;padding-right:10px}#article-body #docs-ai-summary #docs-ai-summary-content{font-size:.9em;padding-left:25px;padding-right:25px;margin-bottom:12px}`;
document.head.appendChild(ai_summary_style);

const toggleAISummary = () => {
const summary = document.getElementById("docs-ai-summary-content");
const upTriangle = document.getElementById("up-triangle");
const downTriangle = document.getElementById("down-triangle");
if (summary.style.display === "none") {
summary.style.display = "block";
upTriangle.style.display = "none";
downTriangle.style.display = "inline";
} else {
summary.style.display = "none";
upTriangle.style.display = "inline";
downTriangle.style.display = "none";
}
};

document.getElementById("docs-ai-summary-toggle").addEventListener("click", toggleAISummary);
//]]>
</script>
</body>