Zendesk macro personal vs shared: A complete guide for 2026

If you're managing a support team in Zendesk, you've probably bumped into the question: should this macro be personal or shared? It's a small decision that can have a surprisingly big impact on your team's efficiency and consistency.

Macros are one of Zendesk's most practical features. They let your agents apply pre-written responses and actions with a couple of clicks, saving time and reducing repetitive typing. But not all macros are created equal. Understanding when to use personal versus shared macros can help you build a support operation that scales without creating chaos.

This guide breaks down the differences, when to use each type, and how to manage them effectively.

What are Zendesk macros and why do they matter?

A Zendesk macro is essentially a prepared response or set of actions that agents can apply to tickets. Instead of typing out the same explanation for the hundredth time, an agent clicks a macro and the response appears instantly, complete with any ticket field updates, tags, or assignments that go with it.

Macros matter because they:

• Save time: Agents don't retype common responses
• Ensure consistency: Everyone uses the same language for similar issues
• Reduce errors: Pre-written responses are proofread and approved
• Speed up onboarding: New agents have ready-made responses to learn from

There are two types of macros in Zendesk: personal and shared. The difference comes down to who can create them, who can use them, and what they're best suited for.

Understanding personal macros in Zendesk

Personal macros are exactly what they sound like: macros created by an individual agent for their own use. Any agent (or admin) can create them, but only the creator can apply them to tickets.

When personal macros make sense

Personal macros work well in situations where an agent has developed their own approach to handling specific ticket types. Maybe they've crafted a particularly effective response to a tricky technical question, or they've built a workflow that helps them process refunds faster.

Here are some scenarios where personal macros work well:

• Testing new responses: Before rolling out a new response to the whole team, an agent can test it personally
• Individual workflows: Agents develop their own shortcuts for how they like to work
• Draft responses: Personal macros can serve as drafts that might become shared later
• Niche expertise: An agent who specializes in a particular product area might have responses that don't apply to the broader team

The limitations to keep in mind

Personal macros have some important constraints. They can't be shared with teammates, so if an agent creates a brilliant response, others won't benefit unless an admin clones it into a shared macro. And if the agent leaves the organization, their personal macros go with them unless they've been converted.

Admins can see personal macros in the Admin Center and clone them to create shared versions. This is useful when you spot a personal macro that would benefit the whole team.

How to create a personal macro

Creating a personal macro is straightforward:

1. In Admin Center, click Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Macros
2. Click Create macro
3. Enter a name for your macro
4. Under Available for, select Me only
5. Add your actions (comment text, ticket field updates, tags, etc.)
6. Click Create

Understanding shared macros in Zendesk

Shared macros are the backbone of consistent team-wide support. Only administrators can create them (though agents with custom role permissions can also be granted this ability), and they can be made available to all agents or restricted to specific groups.

When shared macros are the right choice

Shared macros are ideal for any response or workflow that multiple agents need to use. They're how you ensure that every agent is saying the same thing about your return policy, using the same tone for escalations, or following the same steps for account verification.

Use shared macros for:

• Standardized responses: FAQs, policy explanations, common troubleshooting steps
• Brand consistency: Ensuring your voice and tone stay consistent across all agents
• Compliance requirements: Responses that must include specific legal language
• Onboarding: Giving new agents a library of approved responses to work from
• Quality control: Pre-approved responses for sensitive situations

Understanding the visibility options

When creating a shared macro, you have three visibility options:

The "Agents in group" option is only available on Suite Growth plans and up (or Support Professional and up). This lets you create macros for specific teams, like a set of responses only your billing team should use.

Account limits

Zendesk enforces a limit of 5,000 shared macros per account. This sounds like a lot, but macro libraries can grow quickly at large organizations. Admins can modify any shared macro regardless of who created it, which helps with maintenance and governance.

How to create a shared macro

The process is similar to personal macros, with one key difference in the availability setting:

1. In Admin Center, navigate to Workspaces > Agent tools > Macros
2. Click Create macro
3. Enter a name and optional description
4. Under Available for, choose All agents or Agents in group
5. Configure your actions
6. Click Create

Personal vs shared macros: Key differences at a glance

Here's a quick comparison to help you decide which type you need:

When to use personal macros vs shared macros

Making the right choice comes down to understanding your use case. Here's a simple framework:

Use personal macros when:

• You're testing a response and aren't ready to share it yet
• The workflow is specific to how you personally handle tickets
• You need a quick shortcut that wouldn't make sense for others
• You're drafting something that might become a shared macro later

Use shared macros when:

• Multiple agents handle the same type of issue
• Brand consistency matters (which is almost always)
• You're onboarding new agents who need approved responses
• Compliance or legal requirements dictate specific language
• You want to track and optimize responses across the team

The handoff scenario

Sometimes a personal macro becomes so effective that the whole team should use it. Here's how that handoff works:

1. The agent notifies an admin about their macro
2. The admin clones the personal macro (admins can see all personal macros)
3. The admin converts it to a shared macro with appropriate visibility
4. The original agent can keep their personal version or switch to the shared one

This workflow is worth building into your team's habits. Personal macros can be a great source of innovation, but their value multiplies when they're shared.

Best practices for managing macros in Zendesk

A well-organized macro library is a joy to use. A messy one just slows agents down. Here are some practices that help:

Organization tips

Zendesk supports a clever naming convention using double colons (::) to create automatic categories. Name your macros like this:

• Billing::Refunds::Standard refund policy
• Technical::Login issues::Password reset instructions
• Account::Verification::ID verification request

When agents open their macro list, they'll see clickable categories that expand to show subcategories. It makes finding the right macro much faster.

Governance

Establish some basic guidelines for your team:

• When should an agent create a personal macro versus asking for a shared one?
• How often should you audit and clean up unused macros?
• Who approves new shared macros before they're published?

Regular audits matter. Deactivate macros that are outdated or rarely used. You can always reactivate them later if needed.

Maintenance

Macros need care just like any other part of your knowledge base. When your product changes, your policies update, or your brand voice evolves, your macros need to reflect those changes. Assign someone to review shared macros quarterly.

Going beyond macros: Dynamic responses with eesel AI

Macros are powerful, but they have a fundamental limitation: they're static. A macro gives the same response every time, regardless of the specific details in the customer's ticket.

This is where AI can complement your macro strategy. At eesel AI, we've built an AI teammate that works alongside Zendesk to generate dynamic, personalized responses based on each ticket's context.

Here's how it works:

• Our AI learns from your past tickets, help center articles, and existing macros
• When an agent opens a ticket, the AI drafts a personalized response
• The response matches your brand voice but adapts to the specific customer situation
• Agents review, edit if needed, and send

Unlike static macros, the AI can handle variations it hasn't seen before. It doesn't need a pre-written response for every possible scenario. It learns what good responses look like from your team's history and generates appropriate replies on demand.

For teams drowning in macro maintenance, or those handling complex issues where every ticket is different, this approach can reduce the overhead of managing a massive macro library while improving response quality.

If you're interested in seeing how AI could complement your current Zendesk setup, you can explore our Zendesk integration or learn more about our AI Copilot for drafting responses.

Choosing the right macro strategy for your team

The personal versus shared macro decision isn't really an either/or choice. Most effective support teams use both.

Start with shared macros for consistency on your most common issues. This ensures every customer gets the same high-quality response regardless of which agent handles their ticket. Then let agents create personal macros for their individual workflows and experiments.

Build a culture where great personal macros get promoted to shared status. And when your macro library starts feeling unwieldy, or when you find yourself writing macros for situations that are too nuanced to capture in a static template, that's a good sign it might be time to explore AI-powered alternatives.

The goal is simple: give your agents the tools to respond quickly and consistently, while maintaining the flexibility to handle the unique situations that make customer support interesting.

Ready to see how AI can work alongside your Zendesk macros? Invite eesel AI to your team and discover how dynamic, personalized responses can complement your existing macro strategy.