Zendesk Bulk User Import template.

What's inside — the exact file

This is the complete template, not a sample. The rows are worked examples — replace them with your data (and delete them before any platform import).

What this template is for

This template is the starting file for bulk-loading people into Zendesk — end users, agents, and admins — during a new implementation, a migration from another help desk, or a periodic sync from an HR or CRM export. Its columns match Zendesk's documented CSV user-import format as of July 2026, so the file maps cleanly instead of forcing you to rename headers at upload time.

Use it when you have more than a couple dozen people to create at once. Below that, manual entry is honestly faster; above it, a clean CSV is the difference between a five-minute import and an afternoon of deduplication. The example rows model the three shapes you'll actually load: a fully-populated end user, an agent, and a minimal row carrying only the required fields.

How to use it, step by step

1. Export your source list. Pull people from your old help desk, CRM, or HR system as CSV. Get every field you can — you can always drop columns, but re-exporting mid-import is where mistakes creep in.
2. Fit your data to the template columns. Copy your data under these headers. Only name, email, and role are strictly required — leave cells empty rather than inventing values, and keep one person per row with a unique email.
3. Set roles deliberately. Every row needs end-user, agent, or admin. Agents consume paid seats the moment they land, so import end users first and load your agent list separately once seat counts are confirmed.
4. Use external_id to future-proof the sync. Carry your source system's record ID in external_id. It makes re-imports update existing people instead of duplicating them, and gives integrations a stable key forever after.
5. Delete the example rows and import. Remove our four placeholder rows, then upload in Zendesk's Admin Center under People → Bulk actions. Zendesk emails you a results summary — read it, because it lists every rejected row.
6. Spot-check before going wide. Import a 10-row test batch first. Verify tags, organization matching, and role assignment on those ten before committing the full file.

What each column means

Common mistakes to avoid

• Importing agents with the wrong role and silently consuming paid seats — Zendesk activates agent seats on import, not on first login.
• Loading users before organizations, so the organization column matches nothing and every user lands unattached.
• Leaving our example rows in the file — Jane Example will happily become a real end user.
• Re-importing without external_id and creating a duplicate person for every update.
• Mixing delimiters or encodings — save as UTF-8 CSV; Excel's regional settings are the usual culprit when an import half-fails.

Questions, answered

Does this match Zendesk's official import format?

The columns follow Zendesk's documented CSV user-import layout as of July 2026. It's a Market Disrupt worksheet, not a vendor file — Zendesk evolves, so validate against their current import docs before a large load.

What's the minimum I need per row?

Name, email, and role. Everything else is optional — and an empty cell is always safer than a guessed value, because you can enrich later but deduplicating is painful.

Will re-importing the same file create duplicates?

Zendesk matches on email, so identical emails update rather than duplicate. The safer pattern is carrying external_id from day one, which keeps updates clean even when emails change.

This is a Market Disrupt worksheet, not a vendor file. Import-format templates follow each platform's documented layout as of July 2026 — platforms evolve, so validate against current documentation before a large import.