Question
I noticed an end user in Zendesk Support that I do not recognize. How can a user be created in Zendesk?
Answer
There are several ways that a user record can be created in Zendesk. See the information in this table:
| Method | Details |
|---|---|
| Email to a support address* | When you receive an email at one of your support addresses, Support automatically creates a user record if one does not exist already. |
| Chat |
When a customer initiates a chat or fills out the offline message form, Zendesk Chat creates a new user record, either using the email address the user provided or creating a generic Visitor record. |
| Incoming call | When you receive a call from a new number, Zendesk Talk creates a Caller [Number] user record. |
| Facebook/X Corp | If you have a social media integration with Facebook or X Corp, a message or tweet from a customer creates a new user record if one doesn't exist already. |
| Manual registration via Help Center* | A user can manually create an account by going to your Help Center and signing up or submitting a request. |
| Manual addition by an agent in Zendesk | An agent with the appropriate role can manually create a new user via the agent interface. |
| User import | You can bulk import users via a CSV file. |
| CC on an email | If one of your users replies to a ticket or creates a ticket and CCs another email address, Support creates a new user for that email identity if one does not exist already. This happens provided the "Anybody can submit tickets" setting is enabled. |
| API request | A user can be created either via a direct request to the users API endpoint, or via a ticket creation API call that includes a new user. |
| SSO user provisioning | Depending on your SSO solution, a user record is created the first time a user visits or attempts to sign into your Help Center. |
| Salesforce integration | If you have configured Salesforce Contact/Lead to Zendesk user sync, Salesforce automatically creates user records whenever a sync is triggered. |
| Ticket sharing | When an agent at a sharing partner site shares a ticket to your Zendesk instance for the first time, Support creates a dummy user record for any users who have commented on that ticket. |
*Note: This is possible if you allow anybody to submit tickets in your account.
For more information about creating end users, see the article: Adding and managing end users.