Announcing PDF preview in the Agent Workspace

Announced on | Rollout on
May 11, 2026 | May 11, 2026

Zendesk is excited to announce that agents can now preview PDFs in Zendesk Agent Workspace without being required to download them.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What's changing?

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What's changing?

Until now, clicking a PDF attachment in the Agent Workspace triggered an automatic download to the agent's local machine. With this release, Zendesk is introducing a native inline PDF preview that opens files directly in the ticket interface.

Agents can now view PDFs without leaving their browser. The new viewer includes integrated controls to zoom or manually download the file if needed. Additionally, agents can highlight and copy text directly from the preview to paste into their ticket updates.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Zendesk understands that forcing agents to download every PDF creates significant operational friction and security concerns. In highly regulated industries like Finance and Insurance, storing sensitive PII on local agent hardware poses a major compliance risk.

By providing a native viewing solution, we are improving agent productivity by eliminating the need to switch between a browser and local file applications. This change also addresses long-standing feedback from customers who currently rely on third-party integrations for basic document viewing. This enhancement brings the Zendesk platform to parity with enterprise-level document handling standards and serves as a foundation for future security features regarding download restrictions.

What do I need to do?

No action is required. This feature is now available on all accounts using the Zendesk Agent Workspace. Once the rollout reaches your account, simply click any PDF attachment to launch the new preview experience.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum, where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.