Announcing enhanced migration setup wizard for voluntary migration from live chat to messaging

Announced on | Rollout starts | Rollout ends
April 16, 2026 | April 16, 2026 | April 20, 2026

We are excited to announce the launch of the voluntary migration setup wizard. This tool is designed to streamline the transition from live chat to messaging, allowing customers to move at their own pace with a guided, automated experience.

This announcement includes the following topics:

What is changing?

How does it work?

Key benefits at a glance

Why is Zendesk making this change?

What do I need to do?

What is changing?

Transitioning from live chat to messaging has historically been a complex, manual process. Customers frequently encountered:

High friction: Cumbersome manual configurations that delayed activation.

Functional gaps: Incomplete setups where critical settings (triggers, operating hours, etc.) were missed or incorrectly mapped.

Lack of clarity: Uncertainty regarding migration status and the specific steps required for a successful launch.

The new setup wizard acts as a guided co-pilot, automating feature configuration mapping and providing a clear, actionable checklist. This ensures a "no-friction" experience where no critical data is left behind.

How does it work?

This feature is triggered automatically when an account turns on messaging for the first time, or turns it on after a hiatus. It is available for customers on the improved messaging backend, with tailored logic for:

Accounts that have never migrated.

Legacy accounts (2023/24) that turned off messaging, and are now turning it back on.

The wizard adapts its logic based on your account's migration history to ensure data integrity:

First-time migrations: For accounts that have never migrated, the wizard provides a comprehensive, step-by-step walkthrough of the entire transition process.

Legacy reverts (pre-2025): If you migrated prior to 2025 and then reverted to Live Chat, we preserve your previously successful settings. The wizard specifically identifies and resolves settings that failed in the past and incorporates any net-new features added since your last attempt.

Recent reverts (2025+): For accounts that used the 2025 wizard and then reverted, your previous configuration is fully preserved. The wizard allows you to pick up exactly where you left off—no settings are reset, and no work is overwritten.

Key benefits at a glance

Feature | Benefit
Automated mapping | Reduces manual entry by carrying over Chat triggers and logic.
Integrity guardrails | Prevents duplicate migrations and ensures settings aren't overwritten without consent.
Visibility | Provides a checklist view so admins know exactly what is pending before going live.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

We want to ensure every Chat customer, regardless of migration status, has a low-effort path to move from Chat to messaging. By automating some of the more daunting migration tasks, we hope more Chat users will participate in the voluntary migrations.

What do I need to do?

For a quick overview of the new guided flow and how it preserves your existing configurations, see our guide to migrating from live chat to messaging.

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.