Getting started with email
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Email Resources
You have a lot of flexibility in how you use email in Zendesk Support. The email channel works out of the box with no setup necessary. But if you like, you can configure it to make it work the way you want.
This page lists resources for configuring and using the email channel with Zendesk Support to meet your goals. The following resources are available:
Documentation
Getting started
- Understanding the default email setup in Zendesk
- A complete guide to understanding email in Zendesk - Part 1: How the email channel works
- A complete guide to understanding email in Zendesk - Part 2: Incoming email support requests and notifications
- A complete guide to understanding email in Zendesk - Part 3: Outgoing email notifications
- A complete guide to understanding email in Zendesk - Part 4: Common email channel problems
- Understanding the support address end-user experience
Setting up your email channel
- Testing your email setup
- Adding support addresses for users to submit tickets
- Connecting your Exchange Server to Zendesk (EAP)
- About the Authenticated SMTP Connector
- Setting up the Authenticated SMTP Connector for two-way email relay
- Setting up the Authenticated SMTP Connector for outbound-only email relay
Using other email addresses to receive tickets
- Understanding personalized email replies
- Forwarding incoming email from your existing email address to Zendesk Support
- Accepting wildcard email addresses for support requests
- Forwarding an email message to your support address
- Setting up Zendesk for Microsoft Outlook integration
- Forwarding your incoming support email to Zendesk using Gmail/Google Apps (external link)
- Enabling automatic ticket creation for your Gmail inbox
- Allowing Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain
- Decommissioning email support addresses
Formatting and customizing your emails
- Customizing templates for email notifications
- Setting up an unformatted email template
- Changing your email template content fonts
- Using the email template with multiple brands
- A better email template for Zendesk (Community tip)
- Formatting options for agents
- Disabling and enabling rich content in incoming emails
- Enabling personalized email replies
- Adding an agent signature to ticket email notifications
- Adding a team member alias
- Digitally signing your email with DKIM
- Customizing the welcome email and the account verification email
- Using single sign-on (SSO) to customize your end-users' knowledge base, email templates, and ticket forms
Changing the messages of email notifications
Managing email access
- Permitting only users with approved email addresses to submit tickets (setting up a restricted Zendesk)
- Configuring CC and follower permissions
- Using CCs, followers, and @mentions
- Using the allowlist and blocklist to accept, reject, or suspend email support requests
- Email encryption and private email relay services
Managing tickets with email
- Setting up to provide email-only support
- Using the Mail API to update ticket properties from your inbox
- Passing an email to your support address
- Viewing the HTML and original source for incoming tickets
- Archiving ticket email notifications (Enterprise)
- Detecting an end-user's language from an email message
- Workflow recipe: Notifying external email addresses
- Creating organizations
- About mail loops and Zendesk email
Managing spam and suspended tickets
- Resources for preventing and managing spam
- Understanding and managing suspended tickets and spam
- Tips to combat spam and protect your business
- Setting up suspended ticket notifications
- Causes for ticket suspension
- Guidelines for reviewing suspended tickets
- Viewing, recovering, and deleting suspended tickets
- Authenticating incoming email (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Using CCs and followers
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Understanding the default email setup in Zendesk
One of the first things you’ll need to decide before using Zendesk is how to set up your email. Because email is an important channel for tickets, your email experience matters for both end users and agents. A default email experience is already active and ready to use.
This is your email address:
support@yoursubdomain.zendesk.com
The yoursubdomain portion of the address is your Zendesk subdomain.
Here’s what you can expect when using the default email experience:
A customer sends an email to your default address saying, “Hi, I need help!” Immediately, a ticket is created, and the customer receives an automated notification from the same address stating that you received their ticket and you’re working on it.
The default email experience consists of the following parts:
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Email address. A user sends a support request to your default email address, where a ticket is created.
You can provide your users with additional email addresses for submitting tickets. If you already use one or more external email addresses for support, you can continue to use them and automatically forward your email to Zendesk.
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Email notification triggers. The user automatically receives email notifications related to the request, which are controlled by triggers.
You can edit these triggers to change the wording of the automated email notifications or use them as is.
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Email template. A single email template controls the look of the email notifications.
You can modify the template to add your branding, but a corresponding trigger controls the text of each notification.
See A complete guide to understanding email in Zendesk for a deep dive into how the email channel works.
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Email address. A user sends a support request to your default email address, where a ticket is created.
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