Modifying closed tickets

<body>
<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">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.</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="support_all">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>Support</strong>
</td>
<td>Team, Professional, or Enterprise</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</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>
<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">You can modify closed tickets by editing tags, subject, priority, and certain custom fields to correct errors, add context, and improve reporting accuracy. This requires enabling a specific setting and admin permissions. Changes reflect in ticket events and reports but do not reopen the ticket or trigger business rules. Use the API for bulk updates or tag modifications on closed tickets.</p>
</div>

<div class="body">

<p class="p">In the final stage of a ticket’s life cycle, it automatically <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8263915942938#topic_zxw_4yk_fdc" target="_blank">enters the closed state based on automations</a> 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 <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8263915942938#topic_zlx_pyk_fdc" target="_blank">retains its last Solved status</a>. When a ticket enters
the closed state, most fields can no longer be edited and the ticket can’t be reopened.</p>
<p class="p">You can modify closed tickets by editing ticket <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408888664474-About-tags" target="_blank">tags</a>, subject, and priority <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886739098" target="_blank">fields</a> 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.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following sections:<ul class="ul" id="topic_cxf_rxv_rr__ul_hxz_thq_4bc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_nts_whq_4bc">Understanding how closed tickets can be
modified</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_otn_2s3_qbc">Activating the modify closed tickets
setting</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_fnq_h3q_4bc">Modifying closed tickets</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Related articles:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_cxf_rxv_rr__ul_n5x_vhq_4bc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832151834-Updating-and-solving-tickets" target="_blank">Updating and solving tickets</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8263915942938" target="_blank">About the ticket lifecycle and ticket statuses</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_nts_whq_4bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Understanding how closed tickets can be modified</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Admins can modify closed tickets by adding or removing ticket tags and editing
the subject and priority ticket fields.</p>
<div class="p" dir="ltr">Some examples of how you might want to modify closed tickets include:<ul class="ul" id="topic_nts_whq_4bc__ul_m3m_yhq_4bc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">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.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">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.</li>
<li class="li">An admin needs to identify closed tickets so that they’re included in a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6388012977306" target="_blank">ticket deletion schedule</a>. They add the tag
“delete” to the closed tickets that should be included in the deletion schedule.</li>
<li class="li">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.</li>
<li class="li">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.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">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.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_q4r_d3q_4bc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Considerations and limitations</h3>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">Consider the following before deciding to modify closed tickets:<ul class="ul" id="topic_q4r_d3q_4bc__ul_znz_23q_4bc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">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 <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/api-reference/ticketing/tickets/tickets/#update-ticket" target="_blank">Update Ticket</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/api-reference/ticketing/tickets/tickets/#update-many-tickets" target="_blank">Update Many Tickets</a> API references. <p class="p">To
modify tags on closed tickets, you must use these endpoints. The <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/api-reference/ticketing/ticket-management/tags/#tag-endpoint-limitations" target="_blank">Tags endpoints</a> (Add, Set, or Remove tags) do
not support closed tickets.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The organization of a closed ticket may be updated, but only through an
organization merge. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6216929727898" target="_blank">Merging organizations</a>.</li>
<li class="li">You must have the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581758611866" target="_blank">Agent Workspace activated</a> to edit closed tickets’ subject,
priority, and custom fields. If you don’t, you can edit closed ticket fields through
the API only.</li>
<li class="li">You can only edit custom ticket fields of the following types in a closed ticket:<ul class="ul" id="topic_q4r_d3q_4bc__ul_vkv_xgf_k3c">
<li class="li">Checkbox</li>
<li class="li">Multi-select</li>
<li class="li">Drop-down</li>
<li class="li">Text</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_otn_2s3_qbc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Activating the modify closed tickets setting</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You must be an admin or an <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agent in a custom role</a> with permission to manage ticket settings
to activate this setting.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To turn on the modify closed tickets setting</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_otn_2s3_qbc__ol_gxr_3s3_qbc">
<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_otn_2s3_qbc__d8e1706" 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">Modify closed ticket</strong> to expand it.</li>
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Allow admins to modify specific fields on a closed ticket.</strong>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_fnq_h3q_4bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Modifying closed tickets</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Closed tickets can be modified one at a time. You must be an admin to modify a closed
ticket.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To modify a closed ticket</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_fnq_h3q_4bc__ol_qpk_l3q_4bc">
<li class="li">In the Agent Workspace, find the closed ticket you want to modify. For example, you can
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882086298-Searching-tickets" target="_blank">search for the ticket</a> or you may want to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408888828570" target="_blank">create a view</a> of your accounts’ closed tickets.</li>
<li class="li">Click the ticket to open it.<p class="p">Note that the fields you can’t edit appear
dimmed.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_fnq_h3q_4bc__image_n1b_43q_4bc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/closed_tickets_modify_tags.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Modify the closed ticket as needed.<ol class="ol" id="topic_fnq_h3q_4bc__ol_kgk_yjl_tcc" type="a">
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Tags</strong> field, add or remove a ticket tag.</li>
<li class="li">Edit the <strong class="ph b">Subject</strong> field.</li>
<li class="li">If it’s present on the ticket, edit the <strong class="ph b">Priority</strong> field.</li>
<li class="li">Update any <strong class="ph b">Custom Fields </strong>that are available for the selected
ticket.<div class="note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581758611866" target="_blank">The Agent Workspace must be activated</a> to edit the subject,
priority, and custom fields. </div>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Resubmit</strong>.<p class="p">The ticket updates and the change is reflected in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829602970-Viewing-all-events-for-ticket-updates" target="_blank">ticket’s events</a>.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_fnq_h3q_4bc__image_rn1_w3q_4bc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/closed_ticket_modify_events.png" width="300"></p>
<p class="p">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 <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408894213018" target="_blank">About system ticket rules</a>.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</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/7335734335258-Modifying-closed-tickets",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7335734335258-Modifying-closed-tickets",
"headline": "Modifying closed tickets",
"description": "You can modify specific fields such as tags, subject, priority, and certain custom fields on closed tickets to correct errors and update information without reopening the tickets.",
"articleSection": "Ticket management",
"datePublished": "2024-05-28T20:15:05+00:00",
"dateModified": "2026-05-26T21:34:40.210383+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7335734335258-Modifying-closed-tickets"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"url": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk"
}
}</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>