Overview
External ID is an optional user field that cannot be set, updated, or unset in a user's profile in the agent interface. The easiest way to alter this field is through a bulk user import.
Conditions
External IDs are usually set by SSO, but they can also be set/updated/removed using the API and user imports. Users with external IDs cannot be merged, and conflicts can arise with authentication if a user's external ID and email do not match. Both of these scenarios would require you to remove or edit the user's external ID before proceeding. The easiest way to do that is using the bulk user import tool.
Procedure
- In Google Sheets or a comparable program, create a spreadsheet with three columns titled "name," "email," and "external_id". This must be typed out exactly as written.
- For each user that you want to edit, enter their name and email address as it is currently listed in their user profile
- If you want to remove that user's external ID, leave the third column blank. If you want to edit their external ID, enter the correct external ID in the third column.
- Click File > Download as > Comma-separated values
- In the agent interface, open the Customers page. In the right sidebar, select Bulk user import.
- Under Select CSV file, select the file you just created
- Make sure the Update existing users option is enabled
- Click Import
For more information on bulk updating users, see the article: How can I bulk update users?
6 comments
Mark Baker
It is possible to remove the external id from a user using the API. You need the zendesk user ID of the user. You then make a POST request to http://xxxx.zendesk.com/api/v2/users/nnnn.json (where xxxx is your zendesk subdomain, and nnnn is the user ID), with this content:
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Vladyslav
How can I find and delete the `external_id` for all users who have it?
1
Lucas Azevedo
curl https://DOMAIN.zendesk.com/api/v2/users/create_or_update.json \
-d '{"user": {"external_id": null, "email": "USER_EMAIL_TO_UPDATE"}}' \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST \
-v -u ADMIN_EMAIL/token:API_TOKEN
0
Tony
Thank you very much for sharing!
Best,
0
Liz Drews
Am I understanding correctly that there is no manual way to remove the external ID when actively updating a user profile?
0
Viktor Hristovski
I have tried to create a new user with importing the csv file, having just name, email and external ID and that works. If i use the same file to import the same user, with another ID, it overwrites it. But if i put blank ID to user, it doesnt remove it from their profile. This instruction doesnt work
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