Creating ticket deletion schedules

<div class="article-banners" translate="no">
<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">Verified AI summary <span id="up-triangle">◀</span><span id="down-triangle">▼</span></p>
<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">Create ticket deletion schedules to automatically remove archived tickets after a set period, helping you comply with data retention laws and manage data storage. You can set conditions like ticket age, brand, or type. Remember, deleted tickets can't be restored, and schedules continuously delete tickets meeting the criteria. Use the audit log to track deletions.</p>
</div>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In most cases, Zendesk automatically <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887617050" target="_blank">archives tickets</a> 120 days after they are closed. While
archived tickets are still accessible, it's recommended that you delete them
regularly.</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 can
create deletion schedules to delete archived tickets after a specified period of time.
This is an automated way to help comply with data retention laws and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408835043994" target="_blank">manage data storage</a> in your Zendesk account. If tickets
contain sensitive information, a deletion schedule helps you create data retention
policies to comply with privacy legislation such as the EU General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CRPA).</p>
<div class="p">For example, you can create ticket deletion schedules like these:<ul class="ul" id="zug_ticket_delete_schedules__ul_lrf_bn2_rzb">
<li class="li">Delete tickets that haven't been updated in three years</li>
<li class="li">Delete tickets for Brand A that haven't been updated in six months</li>
<li class="li">Delete tickets with the type Question that haven't been updated in 200 days</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="note important" id="zug_ticket_delete_schedules__note_tmq_msc_rzb">
<span class="importanttitle">Important:</span> Deleted archived tickets can't be restored.
Exercise caution when activating deletion schedules.</div>
<div class="p">This article covers the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="zug_ticket_delete_schedules__ul_yfd_zvt_lzb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_z1v_vz5_qzb">About ticket deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jtq_g1v_qzb">Creating ticket deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_sxn_sfy_m1c">Building condition statements for ticket deletion schedules</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">Related articles:<ul class="ul" id="zug_ticket_delete_schedules__ul_v3c_gdy_mdc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8301879320474" target="_blank">Managing deletion schedules</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9783945525658" target="_blank">Creating attachment deletion
schedules</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_z1v_vz5_qzb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About ticket deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Ticket deletion schedules allow you to create <a class="xref" href="#topic_sxn_sfy_m1c">conditions</a> for automatically deleting tickets. Deletion
schedules delete only <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887617050" target="_blank">archived tickets</a>, which are tickets that have been
closed for more than 120 days.</p>
<p class="p">Ticket deletion schedules continuously search for and delete tickets that have been
<em class="ph i">closed and not modified</em> for a specified period. For example, if you
create a schedule that deletes tickets 365 days after they are closed, and the
ticket was modified within that time (for example, ticket content was redacted), the
ticket is not deleted. The clock starts over, and the ticket will be deleted 365
days from the modification date.</p>
<p class="p">Ticket deletion schedules start to delete eligible tickets within 72 hours of meeting
the defined criteria. For example, if a schedule deletes tickets that are three
years old, it will start deleting them within 72 hours of reaching that age. Up to
200,000 tickets per account per day will be deleted.</p>
<p class="p">After they are activated, deletion schedules aren't a one-off event. Zendesk
continuously searches for and deletes tickets that meet the conditions unless you
deactivate the schedule. There is no impact on performance when schedules delete a
large volume of tickets or run during busy periods. </p>
<p class="p">Tickets deleted by deletion schedules aren't included in the Deleted Tickets view.
You can track these changes in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828001434" target="_blank">audit log</a> by filtering by <strong class="ph b">Activity type:
Deleted</strong>.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_z1v_vz5_qzb__image_vpy_jc2_rzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/tickets_deleted_audit_log.png" width="750"></p>
<div class="note" id="topic_z1v_vz5_qzb__note_bxj_qyc_rzb">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Deleted tickets are excluded from most Explore reports by
default. To report on ticket deletion events, use the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827693594#topic_as3_slp_4y" target="_blank">Updates history dataset</a> to create a report
with the <strong class="ph b">Activity &gt; Deletions</strong> metric. SLA data from deleted tickets is also
retained in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827693594#topic_cyq_fr4_l2b" target="_blank">SLAs dataset</a>.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_lx2_4pj_vgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Considerations</h2>
<div class="body">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_lx2_4pj_vgc__ul_cpr_yv3_vgc">
<li class="li">If you're also using attachment deletion schedules, you may want to delete
tickets by when they're <em class="ph i">created</em> instead of when they're <em class="ph i">updated</em>.
When attachments are removed from tickets through attachment deletion schedule,
the ticket is updated. This will which impact when tickets are deleted if you
set your conditions based on updated date.</li>
<li class="li">Deleted attachments are excluded from most Explore reports by default. To report
on ticket deletion events, use the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827693594#topic_as3_slp_4y" target="_blank">Updates history dataset</a> to create a
report with the <strong class="ph b">Activity &gt; Deletions</strong> metric. SLA data from deleted
tickets is also retained in the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827693594#topic_cyq_fr4_l2b" target="_blank">SLAs dataset</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_jtq_g1v_qzb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Creating ticket deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<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 can
create up to 10 ticket deletion schedules, but only one ticket deletion schedule can
be active at a time. If you have the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6561144266906" target="_blank">Advanced Data Privacy and Protection add-on</a>, you can
activate up to 10 ticket deletion schedules.</p>
<div class="note tip" id="topic_jtq_g1v_qzb__note_z1n_y2j_12c">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> To give feedback on more conditions to add,
complete this short <a class="xref" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjZXhMzcZ3IGl7-6GubfPKOGfHCkyGjJdKevLMPGfvQap7Ag/viewform" target="_blank">Google form</a>.</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create a ticket deletion schedule</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_jtq_g1v_qzb__ol_mb5_q1v_qzb">
<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" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_account_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Account</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Security &gt; Deletion schedules</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create deletion schedule</strong> &gt; <strong class="ph b">Tickets</strong>.<p class="p">If you already have
10 ticket deletion schedules created, a message appears notifying you that
you’ve reached your limit. You must delete a schedule before you can create
a new one.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Enter the <strong class="ph b">Schedule name</strong>.<p class="p">Use a consistent naming convention to help you
recognize similar types of deletion schedules.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Enter a <strong class="ph b">Description</strong> for your deletion schedule.</li>
<li class="li">For <strong class="ph b">Category</strong>, indicate when to delete tickets based on when the ticket
was <strong class="ph b">Created</strong> or <strong class="ph b">Last updated</strong>. This field is required.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add condition</strong> to add an additional <em class="ph i">All</em> condition for
deleting tickets, such as by organization or brand. See <a class="xref" href="#topic_sxn_sfy_m1c">Building condition statements for ticket deletion schedules</a>.<p class="p">If you have the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6561144266906" target="_blank">Advanced Data Privacy and Protection
add-on</a>, you can add deletion criteria that meet <em class="ph i">All</em> or
<em class="ph i">Any</em> conditions. There is no limit to the number of conditions you
can add.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select a <strong class="ph b">Category</strong>, <strong class="ph b">Operator</strong>, and <strong class="ph b">Value</strong> for each
condition.<p class="p">The operator determines the relationship between the category
and the value. For example, if you select the operator <em class="ph i">Is</em>, your
category must equal the value.</p>
<div class="note" id="topic_jtq_g1v_qzb__note_i2j_txk_rzb">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Deletion
schedules delete only archived tickets, which are tickets that have been
closed for more than 120 days. If you create a condition to delete tickets
before 120 days, tickets are deleted at 120 days.</div>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_jtq_g1v_qzb__image_unc_hs2_rzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/deletion_schedule_conditions.png" width="750"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) After conditions are added, click <strong class="ph b">Preview</strong> to preview an
approximate number of tickets that match and will be deleted when the schedule
is active.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.<p class="p">Your new deletion schedule is added to the end of the
list as an inactive schedule.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8301879320474#topic_nlj_q4y_fdc" target="_blank">Activate</a> the deletion schedule.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_sxn_sfy_m1c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Building condition statements for ticket deletion schedules</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Condition statements consist of categories, field operators, and condition values
(which vary depending on the category selected). Condition statements are
essentially "if" statements that delete tickets meeting the specified criteria.</p>
<p class="p">The table below lists the categories available for building condition statements for
ticket deletion schedules.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_sxn_sfy_m1c__table_hvf_2gy_m1c" rules="all" summary="">
<caption><span class="tablecap"><span class="table--title-label">Table 1. </span>Ticket deletion schedule categories</span></caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width:30.03003003003003%">
<col style="width:69.96996996996997%">
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Category</th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Last updated</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on when they were last updated. At
least one Last updated condition is required.<p class="p">Deletion
schedules delete tickets that have been <em class="ph i">closed and not
modified</em> for the period of time specified for Last
updated. For example, if Last updated is set to 365 days,
and the ticket was modified within that time, the ticket is
not deleted. The clock starts over, and the ticket will be
deleted 365 days from the modification date.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Created at</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on when they were created.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Custom fields</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on custom field values.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Attachment</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on whether an attachment is present
(does not include Messaging attachments).</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Brand</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets by brand.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Support type</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on whether they were handled by an
agent or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6970583409690" target="_blank">AI agent</a>. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9752192560410" target="_blank">Creating a deletion schedule
for AI agent tickets</a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Form</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets by ticket form, if you use multiple <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846520858" target="_blank">ticket forms</a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Group</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets by <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408894175130" target="_blank">group</a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Type</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on the ticket type: Question, Incident,
Problem, or Task.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Support type</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on the support type: Agent (human) or
AI agent (bot). <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9204149016346" target="_blank">Learn more about AI agent
tickets.</a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Requester</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on the requester name.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Organization</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets based on organization, if you have multiple
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886146842" target="_blank">organizations</a>.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e378" style="vertical-align:top;">Tags</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d88e381" style="vertical-align:top;">Deletes tickets with the selected <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408835059482" target="_blank">ticket tags</a>.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</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/6388012977306",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6388012977306-Creating-ticket-deletion-schedules",
"headline": "Creating ticket deletion schedules",
"description": "You can create ticket deletion schedules to automatically delete archived tickets based on specific conditions like age or type, helping manage data retention and storage while tracking deletions in an audit log.",
"articleSection": "Protecting your customer's data",
"datePublished": "2023-11-16T15:31:33+00:00",
"dateModified": "2025-11-04T14:29:26+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6388012977306"
},
"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": "Security",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/9641715451034"
}
}
}</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>