How to automate archiving old tickets in Zendesk: A complete guide

If your Zendesk instance is slowing down or your storage bill is creeping up, old tickets are likely the culprit. Every interaction, attachment, and update gets stored somewhere. Over months and years, that data accumulates into a significant drag on performance and budget.

Here's the catch: Zendesk automatically archives tickets 120 days after they close. But archiving in Zendesk doesn't mean the data disappears. It just becomes harder to access while still counting against your storage limits. You can't run automations on archived tickets. You can't see them in your standard views. Yet they're still there, taking up space and slowing down searches.

This guide walks through your options for managing old tickets in Zendesk. We'll cover how native archiving works, what you can and cannot automate, third-party solutions that fill the gaps, and a modern alternative that handles ticket lifecycle more intelligently.

What is Zendesk ticket archiving?

Zendesk's archiving is an automatic process designed to keep your active ticket views fast and responsive. When a ticket's been in Closed status for 120 days, Zendesk moves it into an archived state. This happens automatically. You don't set it up, and you can't disable it.

Archived tickets behave differently from active ones. They disappear from your views, which are the filtered ticket lists agents use daily. Triggers and automations won't touch them. They won't show up in the customer context panel when you're looking at a current ticket.

But archived tickets aren't gone. You can still access them through direct URLs, search results, user profiles, and most API endpoints. They still appear in Zendesk Explore reports. The data is preserved. It's just been moved out of your everyday workflow.

There's one important exception: tickets with more than 10,000 events or associated records exceeding 2MB won't archive automatically. These edge cases stay in your active ticket pool indefinitely.

How to identify archived tickets

When you open an archived ticket, Zendesk displays a banner at the top that reads "This is an archived ticket." This is your visual cue that the ticket is in archived status.

Searching for archived tickets

Zendesk doesn't provide a view or filter to show only archived tickets. However, you can search for tickets that meet archiving criteria using Zendesk's search syntax. Try a query like:

type:ticket status:closed updated<2024-01-01

This returns tickets that were last updated before January 1, 2024, which would include archived tickets (assuming you're searching in 2026). Adjust the date based on your needs.

Zendesk storage limits and why archiving matters

Archiving isn't just about interface performance. It directly impacts your storage costs and account limits.

How Zendesk calculates storage

Zendesk tracks storage across several categories:

Here's the critical point: archived tickets are included in storage usage calculations. Only deleted tickets (soft or permanent) are excluded. So that ticket from two years ago that's been archived? It's still eating up your data allocation.

Storage limits by plan

Source: Zendesk storage management documentation

Signs your storage needs attention

When you approach your storage limit, you'll see warning symbols in your Admin Center dashboard. At 80% usage, the chart line turns orange. When you exceed your limit, it turns red. You may also experience:

• Slower ticket loading times
• Degraded search performance
• Delays in report generation
• Additional charges if you go over your allocation

The storage dashboard refreshes every 24 hours, though it can take up to 72 hours for current usage to appear. You can find it in Admin Center under Account > Usage > Storage.

Additional storage costs

If you need more storage, Zendesk offers the "More Storage" add-on. Each unit includes 500 MB of data storage, 25 GB of file storage, and 500 MB of external content. Pricing varies by plan and requires account owner or billing admin permissions to purchase.

Native Zendesk options for managing old tickets

Now that you understand how archiving and storage work, let's look at what you can actually do with native Zendesk tools.

What you can do before tickets archive

Since automations cannot run on archived tickets, your window for automation is before the 120-day mark. You can set up automations that trigger based on time conditions while tickets are still active or recently closed.

For example, you could create an automation that:

• Tags tickets 90 days after closure with "approaching-archive"
• Sends notifications to agents about tickets that will soon archive
• Updates custom fields to track retention status

But once that 120-day threshold hits and the ticket archives, your automation stops working on it. You can't automate archived tickets.

Bulk actions on closed tickets

You can perform bulk actions on closed tickets before they archive. This includes:

• Adding or removing tags
• Updating custom fields
• Changing ticket properties

However, you cannot reopen a closed ticket. If you need to continue working on a closed conversation, you must create a follow-up ticket instead.

Native export options

Zendesk offers data export capabilities, but with significant limitations:

Source: Zendesk export documentation

The native export works for backups and compliance, but it isn't designed for ongoing archiving workflows. You get raw data files, not human-readable formats, and there's no built-in way to delete tickets after export.

Deletion options

Zendesk offers several ways to remove tickets:

• Manual deletion: Delete tickets one by one (impractical at scale)
• Soft delete: Ticket marked as deleted but retained for 30 days
• Permanent delete: Occurs 90 days after initial deletion
• Deletion schedules: Available with Advanced Data Privacy add-on

The deletion schedule feature lets you set up automatic deletion based on criteria like ticket age. However, this requires the add-on and doesn't include export functionality. You're deleting the data, not archiving it.

Third-party solutions for Zendesk ticket archiving

Given the limitations of native tools, many teams turn to third-party solutions. The most prominent option in the Zendesk Marketplace is Knots.io.

Knots.io Ticket Export

Knots offers a Export Tickets as PDF app that addresses many of Zendesk's native limitations. It's a Zendesk Premier Partner app with GDPR and HIPAA compliance certifications.

Key features:

• Export tickets as human-readable PDFs
• Include attachments, tags, and both public and private comments
• Export side conversations with their attachments
• Customizable naming conventions (ticket ID, requester, brand)
• Deliver exports to FTP, SFTP, or cloud storage (S3, Dropbox)

Automation options:

• Event-based triggers (e.g., when ticket is tagged "archive")
• Batch export via Zendesk search syntax
• Scheduled exports for regular archiving

Post-export actions:

• Optional bulk delete of exported tickets
• Automatic cleanup to free storage space

The app works on all Zendesk plans, including Team, which is significant since native exports require Professional or higher.

Other Knots storage management apps

Knots offers complementary apps for storage optimization:

These tools give you granular control over what stays in Zendesk and what gets removed, helping you manage storage without losing the ticket record itself.

Third-party vs. native comparison

The trade-off is cost. Native exports are included in your plan (if you've got the right tier), while Knots may charge additional fees based on usage. You'll need to evaluate whether the improved functionality justifies the expense for your team.

Setting up automated ticket cleanup workflows

If you decide to implement an archiving workflow, here's a practical approach using available tools.

Step 1: Define your retention policy

Before touching any settings, document your requirements:

• Compliance needs (GDPR, industry-specific regulations)
• Business value of historical ticket data
• Storage budget constraints
• How long agents typically need access to closed tickets

Some industries require multi-year retention. Others can purge data more aggressively. Know your requirements before building your workflow.

Step 2: Configure pre-archiving automation

Use Zendesk automations to prepare tickets before they hit the 120-day archive threshold:

1. Create an automation that runs on tickets closed 90 days ago
2. Add a tag like "archive-pending" to flag these tickets
3. Update a custom field with the scheduled archive date
4. Notify relevant teams about upcoming archives

This gives you a 30-day window to take action before Zendesk's automatic archiving kicks in.

Step 3: Set up regular exports

Using a tool like Knots:

1. Configure search criteria for tickets tagged "archive-pending"
2. Set up batch exports to your preferred storage destination
3. Schedule exports to run monthly or quarterly
4. Verify exports complete successfully before proceeding to deletion

Step 4: Implement deletion (optional)

If your goal is storage reduction:

1. Enable the bulk delete option in your export tool
2. Configure it to run only after successful export verification
3. Maintain a log of what was exported and deleted
4. Test your restore process periodically

Step 5: Monitor and optimize

Track your storage usage in Zendesk's dashboard. Adjust your retention periods and export frequency based on actual data growth. Review your policy annually or whenever regulations change.

The smarter alternative: AI-powered ticket lifecycle management

There's a fundamental issue with the traditional approach to ticket archiving. You're treating symptoms (storage bloat, slow performance) rather than the underlying problem: tickets that don't need to exist in the first place.

This is where eesel AI takes a different approach. Instead of just archiving old tickets, we help you resolve more tickets automatically from the start, reducing the volume of tickets that ever need archiving.

How eesel AI handles ticket data differently

Traditional archiving is reactive. You wait for tickets to pile up, then figure out how to store or delete them. Our approach is proactive:

Intelligent resolution before archiving

• Our AI agents handle frontline support tickets autonomously
• Up to 81% resolution rate in mature deployments
• Fewer tickets created means fewer tickets to archive later

Continuous learning from your data

• We learn from your past tickets, help center, and macros
• The AI improves over time based on corrections and feedback
• No manual training or documentation uploads required

Plain-English control

• Define escalation rules in natural language
• "If the refund request is over 30 days, politely decline and offer store credit"
• No complex configuration or coding required

Key differentiators from Zendesk archiving

Integration with Zendesk

If you're already using Zendesk, eesel AI integrates directly. You don't need to replace your help desk. You can:

• Start with AI Copilot drafting replies for agent review
• Graduate to AI Agent handling specific ticket types autonomously
• Use AI Triage to tag, route, and close tickets automatically
• Maintain your existing Zendesk workflows while adding intelligence

The difference is philosophical. Instead of asking "how do we manage all these old tickets?" you start asking "how do we prevent tickets from becoming old and unresolved?"

When to consider eesel AI

Consider this approach if:

• Your ticket volume is growing faster than your team
• You're spending significant time managing archived data
• You want to reduce storage costs proactively, not reactively
• Your team is overwhelmed with repetitive, resolvable tickets

Our pricing scales by AI interactions, not seats, which often works out more predictably for growing teams than per-agent storage add-ons.

Best practices for Zendesk ticket archiving

Whether you stick with native tools, add third-party solutions, or explore AI alternatives, these principles will keep your ticket management sane:

Define clear retention policies before implementing automation. Know what you need to keep and for how long. Don't make it up as you go.

Test exports regularly. Verify that your archived data is complete and accessible. A backup you can't restore is worthless.

Train agents on accessing archived tickets. They should know how to search for older tickets when customers reference past issues.

Balance storage costs against customer history value. That five-year-old ticket might be useless, or it might contain critical context for a long-term B2B relationship.

Document your archiving workflow. Compliance auditors will ask. Future team members will need to understand how the system works.

Consider B2B vs. B2C differences. B2B support often requires longer retention due to warranty periods and ongoing relationships. B2C might allow more aggressive purging.

Choosing the right approach for your team

Let's break down the decision framework:

Small teams (under 5 agents):

• Use Zendesk search for occasional old ticket lookups
• Manual exports for compliance needs
• Address storage issues by upgrading plan or adding storage units

Growing teams (5-50 agents):

• Implement Knots.io or similar third-party automation
• Set up regular export and deletion workflows
• Monitor storage usage monthly

Enterprise teams (50+ agents):

• Evaluate AI-powered solutions like eesel AI
• Consider whether ticket volume reduction is more cost-effective than storage management
• Implement comprehensive data governance policies

The fundamental question is whether you want to optimize your archiving process or reduce the need for archiving altogether. Both are valid approaches. The right choice depends on your ticket patterns, growth trajectory, and how much of your support volume consists of resolvable, repetitive issues.

If you're curious how an AI approach might work for your situation, you can try eesel AI free or book a demo to see how it works for your specific workflow.