Using macros to update tickets

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A macro is a prepared response or action that an agent can manually apply when they are creating or updating tickets (see About macros). If you created macros for support requests that can be answered with a single, standard response or action, agents can evaluate tickets and apply macros manually as needed.

Macros can be applied to one or more tickets by selecting them from the Apply macro menu or by using a keyboard shortcut in ticket comments.

Tip: Learn how to improve your agents' productivity in Graeme Carmichael's Giving different responses based on ticket content.

This article contains the following sections:

• Macros to get you started
• Applying macros from the menu
• Applying macros with a keyboard shortcut
• Previewing macros
• Using macros to update problem and incident tickets

Related articles:

• Creating macros for tickets
• Building macro action statements
• Creating macros from existing tickets
• Organizing and managing your macros

Macros to get you started

There are a number of macros you can use to get started, including:

• Close and redirect to topics

  This sets the ticket status to Closed. If it is an incident of a known problem, the requester will be informed via a comment that the ticket has been closed and recommended that they visit the forums for more information about the incident.

• Requester not responding

  This is a reminder that can be sent to the requester if they have not responded to a request for more information on a pending ticket.

• Downgrade and inform

  This tells the requester that the priority of their request has been downgraded to low and that there may be some delay in resolving their request.

• Take it!

  This macro is a shortcut for agents to assign a new request to themselves.

These macros can be used as is, edited, or cloned, so you can modify and repurpose them as needed.

Additional macros for employee services

On Employee Service Suite plans, the following macros are predefined for common HR and IT use cases:

• [SAMPLE] Start onboarding process for new hire

  This provides a list of forms that must be completed for new hires before IT can allocate a laptop and software access.

• [SAMPLE] Hardware/software request for new hire

  This requests a laptop for a new hire.

• [SAMPLE] Laptop approval

  This requests approval for a replacement laptop for an employee.

• [SAMPLE] Laptop request pending approval

  This lets the requester know the laptop request was received.

• [SAMPLE] Laptop approved and shipped

  This lets the requester know that their laptop request was approved and has been shipped to them.

• [SAMPLE] Laptop troubleshooting

  This sends the requester some basic troubleshooting advice and points them to more information on the company's website.

• [SAMPLE] Forgot password

  This sends the requester instructions on resetting their password.

• [SAMPLE] Parental leave policy

  This tells the requester where to find the company's parental leave policy.

• [SAMPLE] Payroll schedule

  This tells the requester where to find the company's payroll schedule.

See Using the sample data for employee services.

Applying macros from the menu

You can manually apply one or more macros to a ticket at the same time. Keep in mind that what one macro does can easily be undone by another macro.

Just as you can make bulk updates to many tickets at once, you can also apply a macro to more than one ticket using your views. See Managing tickets in bulk.

So why would you apply more than one macro? A typical use case is a ticket that contains more than one question or issue—let's say two in this example. You might have set up two macros that both insert a comment into a ticket to answer each issue separately. By applying each macro to the ticket, you add two comments and address both issues in a single response.

You can view which macros were applied in the ticket's events log.

Note: If you're applying a macro that updates a ticket field, the ticket field must appear on the ticket form in order for the macro to apply.

To apply a macro from the menu

1. In a ticket, click Apply macro in the bottom toolbar.

   

2. Select a macro from the list. You can filter the list by typing the beginning of a macro's name. By default, the list of macros is displayed alphabetically. You can change the order of this list. See Reordering macros manually.

   

   Typically, your five most commonly used macros from the past week appear at the top of the macros list. The most-used macros display can be disabled, in which case, you'll only see the all macros list. See Disabling the most-used macros option.

   If your macros are categorized, you can click through the levels of categorization to apply a macro.

   

   

   

   Note: Macros cannot be set up for specific channels.

   The actions defined in the macro are applied. If the macro updated the ticket comment, you can edit the text before submitting the ticket.

   In the Zendesk Agent Workspace, if you have a macro that inserts text into a ticket comment, you can set an insertion point in the ticket comment first, before you apply a macro. This enables you to control exactly where the macro text appears.

   Note: If the macro updates the ticket comment but the tab the ticket is open in is closed before the ticket is submitted, the text of the macro will still appear in the composer when you return to the ticket. However, after submitting the ticket, only the comment is updated and the macro isn't shown in the events log for the ticket.
3. To apply another macro, click Apply macro again and select another macro.
   Tip: Check out how we use macros to manage tickets with Brett Bowser's Improve escalation workflows using macros.
4. Submit the ticket.

Applying macros with a keyboard shortcut

If you have Agent Workspace activated, you can apply macros using a keyboard shortcut in a ticket comment. Using a macro keyboard shortcut can save you typing time by applying a macro to a ticket with just a few keys.

Macro keyboard shortcuts are activated by default. To deactivate macro keyboard shortcuts, see Activating and deactivating macros keyboard shortcuts.

For more information about other keyboard shortcuts, see Viewing and deactivating keyboard shortcuts.

To apply a macro with a keyboard shortcut

1. In a ticket, type a slash (/) in the ticket’s comment.
   Note: If you want to exit the Macros menu after typing a slash (/), press the space bar.

   Typically, your seven most used macros from the past week appear at the top of the macros list, including both shared macros and any personal macros you may use.

   
   Note: If your account has Chat or Messaging activated, the list displays both macros and shortcuts. See Using shortcuts in Chat.
   
2. Select one of these or begin typing a macro name to filter the list.
3. Click the macro name to apply it to the ticket.

   The actions defined in the macro are applied. If the macro updated the ticket comment, you can edit the text before submitting the ticket.

4. To apply another macro, type a slash (/) in the ticket comment.

Previewing macros

You can preview a macro from the Apply macro menu before applying it to a ticket.

To preview and apply a macro from the menu

1. In a ticket, click Apply macro in the bottom toolbar.

   

2. Find the macro you want to use in the list.
3. Click the Open preview icon ().

   Alternatively, hover your cursor over the macro to display its description tooltip. From the tooltip, you can view the macro's description (if one exists) and access its preview by pressing Shift + Enter.

   

   The preview shows the macro's title and description (if one exists), as well as the fields and elements the macro will change, add, or remove, including:

   • Ticket fields
   • Comments, replies, or notes (including placeholders and dynamic content)
   • Attachments

   

4. If the macro looks correct, click Apply Macro.

   You can also click Cancel to return to the ticket screen, or click Open in Settings to view the macro's settings in Admin Center.

Using macros to update problem and incident tickets

Use caution when applying macros with placeholders to problem and incident tickets. It's easy to accidentally populate the wrong values in ticket comments when using macros with placeholders in this scenario. To avoid this, you often need use a backward slash (\) to escape the placeholder so that it populates the appropriate value within the related incident tickets.

For example: Hello \{{ticket.requester.first_name}}