Permitting only added users to submit tickets

<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="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 class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="note fastpath">
<span class="fastpathtitle">Location: </span> <span class="ph">Admin Center &gt; People &gt; Configuration &gt; End users</span>
</div>
</div>
<p class="p">You can configure your Zendesk Support instance to be open, closed, or restricted (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887573274" target="_blank">Understanding options for end-user access and sign-in</a>). </p>
<p class="p">This article describes how to set up a <em class="ph i">closed</em> instance, so that your Help Center is
visible to everyone but only the users that you add to your Zendesk account can sign in and
submit support requests. Each user's account must be created before they can sign-in and
submit support requests.</p>
<p class="p">Closed Zendesk Support, by default, has the following access rules:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_kgn_sqq_tv">
<li class="li">Your Help Center is visible to all visitors, whether they are signed in or not.</li>
<li class="li">Only verified users you have added to your Zendesk account can submit support requests
through the Help Center. Unverified users that have been added to the account can verify
themselves by going to the Help Center and requesting a password.</li>
<li class="li">Both verified and unverified users you have added to your Zendesk account can submit
support requests via email to your Zendesk Support address.</li>
<li class="li">If you have a knowledge base, access is determined by the rules applied to it, as
described in <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824005914" target="_blank">Restricting access to knowledge base content</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">This article contains the following sections:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_wk5_zqq_tv">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_h1t_z42_h3">Disabling the 'Anyone can submit tickets'
option</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_xwj_jpn_f3">Adding users to the closed Zendesk
Support</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_m25_3ld_hj">About new user email address verification
and passwords</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_2kg_qct_f3">Restricting your content to signed-in users
only</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_h1t_z42_h3">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Disabling the 'Anyone can submit tickets' option</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In a closed Zendesk you disable the option to allow everyone, even visitors who are not
signed in, to submit tickets. This means that you have complete control over who uses
Zendesk Support. Typically, you'll set up Zendesk Support in this way by adding all your
users yourself. Although, there is a way for an anonymous user (someone not already added to
Zendesk Support) to still submit support requests and have your agents approve of the
request, add the user to Zendesk Support, and add the support request as a ticket to your
queue (see <a class="xref" href="#topic_qpm_rs2_hj">When anonymous users submit support
requests</a>). </p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To disable the 'Anyone can submit tickets' option</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_h1t_z42_h3__ol_jpp_ckn_f3">
<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_h1t_z42_h3__d9e747" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Configuration &gt; End users</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">If it's selected, deselect the <strong class="ph b">Anybody can submit tickets</strong> option. <div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Deselecting this option can impact Web Widget functionality (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843923610" target="_blank">Using restricted Help Center content with Web Widget
(Classic)</a>).</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Optionally, in the <strong class="ph b">Account emails</strong> section, select the <strong class="ph b">Also send a welcome
email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator</strong> option. For more
information, see <a class="xref" href="#topic_m25_3ld_hj">About new user email
address verification and passwords</a>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save tab</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p">The settings you've just made removes the <strong class="ph b">Sign Up</strong> link from the sign-in window of
your Help Center.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_h1t_z42_h3__image_zhl_ffk_yv" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sign_up_dialog.png"></p>
<p class="p">This means that users who access Zendesk Support have no option for self registering
(signing up and creating an account). This includes your agents as well. You need to add all
your users yourself. </p>
<p class="p">If you also restrict all your content to either agents or signed-in users only (see <a class="xref" href="#topic_2kg_qct_f3">Restricting your content to registered users
only</a> below), the only page that visitors see when they access your Help Center is
the sign-in page and, if they don't already have a user account in your Zendesk, they are
unable to sign in. </p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_xwj_jpn_f3">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Adding users to a closed Zendesk Support</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">When Zendesk Support is closed, and restricted to only users you add, you need to add the
users yourself. Here are the following ways you can add users:<ul class="ul" id="topic_xwj_jpn_f3__ol_chh_ll5_f3">
<li class="li">Manually adding users one at a time (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893585178" target="_blank">Adding end users</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886939930" target="_blank">Adding agents and admins</a>)</li>
<li class="li">Adding many users in a bulk import (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893496218" target="_blank">Bulk importing users and organizations</a>)</li>
<li class="li">Adding users via the Zendesk API (see <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/api-reference/ticketing/users/users/" target="_blank">Zendesk API: Users</a>)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">By default, when you add a user to your Zendesk, they are unregistered (and therefore
unverified). At this stage, they can submit support requests via your support email address,
but not through the Help Center. When they register themselves, they become verified users
of Zendesk Support, and can submit support requests through both the email address and the
Help Center.</p>
<p class="p">The following section explains how email verification works and how user passwords are
created when adding users.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_m25_3ld_hj">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">About new user email address verification and passwords</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Since you're adding your users yourself, rather than allowing them to sign themselves up,
you need to think about how the verification process happens. This is where the <em class="ph i">Also send
a welcome email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator</em> option can be
helpful. If you set this option, all users you add to Zendesk Support receive the User
welcome email message, which prompts them to click a link to verify their email address and
then create a password so that they can sign in to your Zendesk. If you want new users to be
able to sign in to your Help Center, they each need a password. So by enabling this option
you're asking your users to manage email address verification and create passwords
themselves. </p>
<div class="p">If you don't want your users to receive the verification email message, don't select
<em class="ph i">Also send a welcome email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator</em>.
However, if you decide not to send the verification email, your users' email addresses
aren't verified and they can't create passwords or sign in to your Help Center .
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Unverified users can still submit support requests to Zendesk Support via email, and
these requests are handled in the same way as those submitted by verified
users.</div>
</div>
<p class="p">When you add your users, you have the following options for email verification and
passwords if you elect not to send the User welcome email. </p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_m25_3ld_hj__ul_2bl_zzd_jj">
<li class="li">You can tell your users to send support requests via email using your support email
address (for example, support@<em class="ph i">mycompany</em>.zendesk.com). </li>
<li class="li">Using the Zendesk API, it's possible to both add new users and to also set their
passwords. You can automatically verify all your users' email addresses using the API
<code class="ph codeph">verified</code> parameter. This means that your users will be fully
registered and verified. Assuming you also provide them with their passwords, they can
immediately sign in to your Help Center. For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/api-reference/ticketing/users/users/" target="_blank">Zendesk API: Users</a>.</li>
<li class="li">You can manually verify a user's email address after you've added them to your
Zendesk. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886752410" target="_blank">Verifying a user's email address</a> in the Zendesk Agent Guide.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_qpm_rs2_hj">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">When anonymous users submit support requests</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Despite your Zendesk Support being closed, it is possible for an agent to create a ticket from a
support request from an anonymous user. When you receive a support request from an
anonymous user, when you've configured Zendesk Support as closed, the request is added to
the Suspended Tickets view. From there an agent can either delete the request or recover
it. Recovering the ticket creates a new user account and adds the ticket to your Zendesk.
For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893392922" target="_blank">Viewing, recovering, and deleting suspended tickets</a> in the
Zendesk Agent Guide. </p>
<p class="p">If you send a verification email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator, the
User welcome email is sent to the user when the suspended ticket is recovered. The user
clicks the link to verify their email address, creates a password, and is then signed in
to your Help Center where they can use the knowledge base and submit and track
requests.</p>
<p class="p">If you don't send a verification email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator,
the user remains unverified and can't sign in. The user receives the ticket received
notification, and can respond to the notification via email.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_llf_3nd_hj">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Using enterprise single sign-on (SSO)</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you're using JWT or SAML for user access to Zendesk Support, all user management and
authentication happens outside of your Zendesk. Your single sign-on service is synced with
Zendesk Support. So, for example, if you add a user account for a new employee, that
employee has immediate access to your Zendesk. </p>
<p class="p">When using SSO with a closed Zendesk Support, a few issues may arise. What happens if a user sends
an email support request and they're not already a user within the closed Zendesk Support? The
user's email support request will be suspended. In other words, if the user doesn't
already exist in Zendesk Support, synced to it via your single sign-on service, then the user
cannot submit support requests. Only known, legitimate users in your user management
system will be able to access the closed Zendesk Support. </p>
<p class="p">You also don't want to select the <em class="ph i">Also send a verification email when a new user is created by
an agent or administrator</em> option because you never want to users to create passwords
directly in Zendesk Support. Remember that's all handled outside of your Zendesk. </p>
<p class="p">It's important to remember that social media single sign-on is different. These provide your
users with additional ways to sign in to your Zendesk. To use them, your users need to add
these social media accounts to their user profiles themselves. You can't do it for them. </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_2kg_qct_f3">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Restricting your content to signed-in users only</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">When you close or restrict Zendesk Support, you also may want to hide all content in your
Help Center so that only signed-in users can see it. To do this, you can require that users
sign in to access your Help Center (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842656154" target="_blank">Restricting Help Center access to signed-in users</a>).</p>
<p class="p">When all your content is restricted to signed-in users, visitors to your Help Center will
only see the sign-in page. The users you added to your Zendesk can sign in there and access
your content. </p>
</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/4408883658906",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883658906-Permitting-only-added-users-to-submit-tickets",
"headline": "Permitting only added users to submit tickets",
"description": "You can configure your support system to restrict ticket submissions to only users you add, controlling access through user verification and sign-in requirements while keeping the help center visible to all visitors.",
"articleSection": "Account access",
"datePublished": "2021-10-16T16:28:42+00:00",
"dateModified": "2025-10-16T18:47:11+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883658906"
},
"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"
}
}</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>