Modifying closed tickets

In the final stage of a ticket’s life cycle, it automaticallyenters the closed state based on automationsan admin defines. This means that the ticket’s status changes to Closed or, if custom ticket statuses have been activated in your account, itretains its last Solved status. When a ticket enters the closed state, most fields can no longer be edited and the ticket can’t be reopened.


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Admins can modify closed tickets by editing tags, subject, priority, and certain custom fields. This helps correct errors, add context, and ensure accurate reporting. You can edit one ticket at a time in the Agent Workspace or use the API for bulk updates. Note that changes won't affect business rules or SLAs, and the ticket remains closed.




In the final stage of a ticket’s life cycle, it automatically enters the closed state based on automations an admin
defines. This means that the ticket’s status changes to Closed or, if custom ticket statuses
have been activated in your account, it retains its last Solved status. When a ticket enters
the closed state, most fields can no longer be edited and the ticket can’t be reopened.
You can modify closed tickets by editing ticket tags, subject, and priority fields as well as a subset of custom fields. Modifying closed
tickets gives you more flexibility to correct mistakes, add context to historical tickets, and
ensure that your reports and data audits are accurate.
This article contains the following sections:
Understanding how closed tickets can be
modified
Activating the modify closed tickets
setting
Modifying closed tickets


Related articles:

Updating and solving tickets
About the ticket lifecycle and ticket statuses



Understanding how closed tickets can be modified

Admins can modify closed tickets by adding or removing ticket tags and editing
the subject and priority ticket fields.
Some examples of how you might want to modify closed tickets include:
An agent accidentally tags a ticket as coming from a VIP customer and the
mistake is caught months later when auditing reports. An admin removes the tag from the
closed ticket so that ticket analytics are reported correctly.
Your organization uses the ticket tag “tier_1”; however, the meaning of this
tag has since changed. An admin removes the ticket tag from closed tickets where it no
longer applies.
An admin needs to identify closed tickets so that they’re included in a ticket deletion schedule. They add the tag
“delete” to the closed tickets that should be included in the deletion schedule.
Some tickets are received from your help center request form without a subject so the
subject is filled in with the tickets’ initial text. An admin edits the subject of these
closed tickets so that it reflects the ticket’s resolution.
Incoming tickets from your messaging channel are automatically set as “urgent”
priority. Agents solve the tickets without changing the priority type. Your reporting
shows a high number of “urgent” priority closed tickets. As an admin, you edit the
tickets to the correct priority type so that the agents’ CSAT score and your reporting
are reflected accurately.


After you modify closed tickets, the changes are reflected in the tickets’ events and your
Explore reports. Updates are also reflected in your views and search results.


Considerations and limitations

Consider the following before deciding to modify closed tickets:
You can edit one closed ticket at a time in the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
Use the API to update multiple closed tickets at once. See the Update Ticket and Update Many Tickets API references. To
modify tags on closed tickets, you must use these endpoints. The Tags endpoints (Add, Set, or Remove tags) do
not support closed tickets.

The organization of a closed ticket may be updated, but only through an
organization merge. See Merging organizations.
You must have the Agent Workspace activated to edit closed tickets’ subject,
priority, and custom fields. If you don’t, you can edit closed ticket fields through
the API only.
You can only edit custom ticket fields of the following types in a closed ticket:
Checkbox
Multi-select
Drop-down
Text








Activating the modify closed tickets setting

You must be an admin to turn on the setting for modifying closed tickets.

To turn on the modify closed tickets setting
In Admin Center, click
Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Tickets > Settings.
Click Modify closed ticket to expand it.
Select Allow admins to modify specific fields on a closed ticket.

Click Save.





Modifying closed tickets

Closed tickets can be modified one at a time. You must be an admin to modify a closed
ticket.
To modify a closed ticket

In the Agent Workspace, find the closed ticket you want to modify. For example, you can
search for the ticket or you may want to create a view of your accounts’ closed tickets.
Click the ticket to open it. Note that the fields you can’t edit appear
dimmed.


Modify the closed ticket as needed.
In the Tags field, add or remove a ticket tag.
Edit the Subject field.
If it’s present on the ticket, edit the Priority field.
Update any Custom Fields that are available for the selected
ticket.
Note: The Agent Workspace must be activated to edit the subject,
priority, and custom fields.



Click Resubmit. The ticket updates and the change is reflected in the ticket’s events.

Note that even though the ticket is updated, it’s still closed.
This means that business rules won't run on it, SLAs don’t apply, and routing isn’t
evaluated. See About system ticket rules.