How to import old emails into Zendesk as tickets

To import old emails into Zendesk, export the mailbox or label as an .mbox file (or a folder of .eml files), open Ferrywell from Zendesk's left navigation bar as an admin and pick the file. Ferrywell turns each thread into a ticket, makes the first sender the requester, cuts quoted history from replies and keeps every message's original date. Click Preview import, then Import.

Which email files work

Up to 1 GB per import. Split larger archives into several imports.

Steps

1. Export the mail. Export the shared inbox, label or folder that holds customer conversations.
2. Create your agents in Zendesk first. Ferrywell matches people who wrote replies to Zendesk agents by email address. Anyone not found is created as an end user.
3. Open Ferrywell and pick the archive. Use Pick files, Pick a folder, or drop the file on the page. Ferrywell reads the threads and lists them as a table.
4. Check the matches. Email threads come in with their messages inside each ticket, so the comments are already grouped. Check the requester, subject and dates, and set Times without a zone are in if your mail tool wrote local times.
5. Set the ticket options. Pick the status old conversations should get (most teams use Solved or Closed), add Tags for every ticket such as old_inbox, and choose whether comments that don't say are internal notes.
6. Click Preview import. Open a few subjects to read the conversation exactly as it will be imported. Untick threads that aren't customer conversations, such as newsletters.
7. Name the import and click Import. Keep the tab open. Stop after this batch stops cleanly, and History can resume it later.

How a thread becomes a ticket

Every ticket gets the tag ferrywell_<import id>, which you can use in views and in Explore to report on the old mail separately.

About attachments

Zendesk apps can't send files to Zendesk: the app framework turns a file into the text "[object Object]". So Ferrywell names each file in its comment, as "[Attachments not imported: ...]", instead of attaching a damaged copy. Keep the original archive if you may need the files.

Nothing is emailed

Zendesk runs no triggers and sends no notifications for imported tickets, and new end users are created verified. Your old customers get no email when their conversations land in Zendesk. Zendesk also doesn't carry ticket metrics such as first reply time and first resolution time onto imported tickets, as its migration article notes.

What it costs

Ferrywell is a one-time payment per Zendesk account: Standard $299 once for up to 5,000 tickets, Plus $599 once for up to 25,000, Unlimited $999 once with no limit. There is no trial. Each email thread counts as one ticket. Details are in the Ferrywell documentation.