Handling identifiers during an import
Importing your data
When importing data into an application, it is crucial to prevent data loss or duplication. These types of errors can hinder the development of a clean and well-organised database, which is essential for effective data management and security.
Zoho Desk provides robust functionality for importing your data. The system intelligently automates the mapping of modules and fields to reduce the risk of data loss and maintain data integrity. Users have the advantage of verifying the field mappings in advance, thus adding an extra layer of security to the import process.
This capability is essential not only for clarity but also in mitigating the challenges associated with user adoption. For instance, clients can be accurately mapped to the Contact name field, while company names can seamlessly align with the Account name field. This approach to data management helps maintain an organised database, thereby enhancing productivity and user trust in the system.
Related knowledge base article: Importing data into Zoho Desk.
Prerequisites
- Users can upload a .csv file or a .zip file containing multiple .csv files.
- The .zip file must be named, for example, Contacts.zip, Accounts.zip, etc.
Working with the Identifier Field
When importing data into Zoho Desk, the Identifier Field is essential because it helps identify existing records and avoid duplicate entries.
What are the Identifier Fields?
Identifier fields are fields used to find and match existing records when importing data into the product. They also help link related records, like connecting a contact’s name with their email address.
Each module supports different unique identifier fields for identification, as described in the table below:
Module | Unique Identifier Fields |
Accounts | Account ID Account External ID Account Name |
Contacts | Contact ID Contact External ID Last Name First Name Phone Number Mobile |
Tickets | Ticket ID Ticket External ID Ticket Number |
Products | Product ID Product External ID Product Name |
Tasks | TaskId Task External ID |
Calls | Call ID Call External ID |
Events | Event ID Event External ID |
Article Translation | Translation: External ID Translation ID |
Custom Modules | Record External ID Custom Module Name |
Points to remember:
- While these fields help find matching records.
- So, if multiple records match the value, the first matching record will be selected automatically.
- This can lead to unexpected matches or data being updated in the wrong record if you're not careful.
For your understanding:
Some users expressed a preference for matching Contacts by Last Name instead of Email, highlighting the importance of flexibility in their workflow. Furthermore, some additional users approached matching through the use of a custom field, emphasising the need for tailored solutions to fit their unique requirements. Moreover, users requested that the functionality be enhanced by updating existing records with the relevant entity's Zoho Desk ID, aiming to streamline their processes and improve data accuracy.
Commonly used identifier fields:
- Find By is used to identify an existing record during the import process.
- Map By is utilized to link a child record to a parent record, for instance, by linking a Contact to a Ticket.
You can now select specific fields for matching, providing enhanced control and customization during bulk processes or integrations. This functionality enables more precise data handling, ensuring that the information aligns with your specific requirements. By tailoring the matching criteria, you can streamline processes, ultimately leading to enhanced efficiency and better outcomes for your team. This flexibility enables you to harness the full potential of your data.
Import Systems
Let's start by preparing the CSV file.
A sample tickets module CSV file is given below,
External ID | Subject | Contact Email | Contact Name | About |
101 | Hitman | Sharma | Rohit Sharma's journey from a gifted schoolboy to an international icon and fierce competitor reflects resilience, elegance, and remarkable leadership. | |
102 | King Kohli | Virat | Virat Kohli is a world-renowned Indian cricketer known for his aggressive batting, unmatched consistency, and passionate leadership across all forms of the game. | |
103 | Lambu Ishanth | Sharma | Ishant Sharma is a tall and experienced Indian fast bowler known for his 300 test wickets and key performances in overseas conditions. |
Then choose the appropriate Find By identifier field.
The Find By field is selected from a predefined set of fields specific to each module. It is used to determine whether a record already exists in Zoho Desk.
When using the import tool, the system searches the Desk portal for a record (e.g., a ticket) that matches the value mapped to the selected Find By field. This prevents duplicate records by identifying existing entries based on the chosen field.
- Once the file is uploaded, you need to choose a Find By Field — for instance, Ticket External ID.
- Whichever Find By field we choose must correspond to the relevant column in the CSV file. Since we've selected the Ticket External ID, the Case External ID column in your file should be mapped to the Ticket External IDfield.
If the chosen operation is to 'create new records while avoiding duplicates', and there is no existing ticket with the External ID 101, the import tool will generate a new ticket using the mapped fields. To associate the ticket to the correct Contact, the import tool utilizes the Map By field feature.Finally, choose the appropriate Map By field.
The Map By field enables users to link imported records to their corresponding dependent records, such as associating a ticket with a specific contact. This functionality ensures that when you import ticket data, the import tool actively searches for a matching Contact in Zoho Desk based on the value defined in the selected Map By field.
For instance, during the field mapping process, you can specifically choose to map the Ticket to a Contact using criteria such as the Contact's email ID. This approach enhances the accuracy of data integration by ensuring that each ticket is correctly associated with the relevant Contact, thereby improving data integrity and streamlining the support process. This meticulous mapping not only minimizes the chances of errors but also facilitates a more organized and efficient ticket management system, ultimately leading to improved customer experiences and satisfaction.
Map by identifier field functionality
The tool efficiently searches for contacts associated with the provided email address.
Search: When a user submits a ticket, the system initiates a search for contacts associated with the specified email address.
Match found: If a single match is identified, the ticket is seamlessly associated with that Contact, ensuring that all relevant customer information is readily accessible for support agents.
Multiple Matches: If numerous contacts are found with the same email address, the system will prioritize and use the first match. This helps streamline the ticketing process while maintaining clarity in customer support.
No Match Found: If no matches are found within the system, the ticket will not be created. This prevents unnecessary duplication and ensures that support agents are only working with valid, existing customer records.
In summary, the strategic use of Custom Unique Fields and External ID fields as identifiers, along with the potential for composite identifiers, positions support teams to operate more effectively and improve overall customer interactions.
Significant improvements in user experience
Transparent process and status tracking
We’ve implemented a straightforward, step-by-step process for data imports, complete with real-time status updates for each stage. This transparency enables users to monitor import progress and understand the current state of the process.
Unique identifiers for entity mapping
New fields have been introduced to help users identify if a parent entity already exists when importing related child entities. For example, users can seamlessly map a contact to an existing account in Zoho Desk, streamlining the import process while minimizing the risk of duplicate entries.
Enhanced error handling and log accessibility
We’ve made significant improvements in error handling by allowing users to download detailed error logs directly from the history page in the event of import failures. This enhancement provides users with greater insight into any issues, facilitating faster troubleshooting and resolution.
Support for custom modules
The import UI has been revamped to support custom modules, providing users with greater flexibility and customization options. This enables a more personalized and efficient data import experience.
Takeaway
For instance, a large corporation merging client data from multiple legacy systems into Zoho Desk modules will benefit significantly from automatic field mapping, ensuring that contact and account names are accurately aligned. This attention to detail not only improves the user experience but also enhances overall data integrity during the merging process.
Please stay tuned for more Desk updates.
Cheers,
Kavya Rao
The Zoho Desk Team
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Kavya Rao Addepalli
Sticky Posts
Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences
Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynoteWhatsApp pricing changes: Pay per message starting July 1, 2025
Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is shifting from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing. That means every business-initiated message you send will count. Not just the first one in a 24-hour window. Pricing updates on the WhatsApp Business PlatformLive Webinar - Work smarter with Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace integration
Hello customers! Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace are coming together for a webinar on 14th May, 2024. Zoho Workplace is a suite of productivity apps for email, chat, docs, calls, and more at one single place. Zoho Desk is closely integrated with a few toolsApple iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates for Zoho Desk users
Hello Zoho Desk users! Apple recently announced the release of iOS 17 and iPad OS 17. These latest OS updates will help you stay productive and efficient, through interactive and seamless user experiences. Zoho Desk has incorporated the updates to helpZoho Desk Cheat Sheet For The Year-End
Check out these Zoho Desk best practices to end this year on a high and have a great one ahead! #1 Set Business (Holiday) Hours - If you have limited working hours, please make sure you restrict your business hours or set them as holidays for the coming days. Let your customers know when you will, and won't, be available. #2 Update the Annual Holiday List - Check the holidays for the new year and update the holiday schedule. Usually, holidays from the current year will be carried over for the next
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
What is the difference between Zoho Campaigns and marketing hub?
Zoho Campaigns is a permission-based email marketing tool for sending marketing emails and mass emails. Marketing Automation is a multichannel marketing automation tool that caters to organizations looking for tools to engage their users across multipleWebhook not firing.
I created a webhook using the Web UI, it looks very nice and the testing worked without an issue, but when i save/ update a ticket, the webhook is not firing. Here are the details of the web-hook i get from using the API "modifiedTime": "2019-10-22T09:23:37.380Z",Duplicate customers being created in Desk
Hi I've trying to work out why I've getting duplicated customers being created in my desk. I have an external booking system that generates an email when I get a customer booking a job. A booking email gets sent to Desk where I manage the booking andCreating a custom CSV file using deluge script/
I have an application I have developed and the client wants us to place an export file in csv onto an ftp server daily. Now I don't see au options in creator to change the separator to anything else. The client wants the separator to be the pipe symbol "|" I think i would be able to create schedule with some code to create the appropriate data in a string using deluge script but I haven't seen any functionality that would allow me to deposit that data as a file anywhere or attach it to an emailCan we add custom fields to portal community profiles?
How do we add custom fields to our profile pages in our portal community? If we have the ability to add custom fields, will we be able to access those fields via API? We want to use our Desk community in our help portal as our primary community and wouldCustomer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams
Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app withinE-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Billing
Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. Invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing worksdelayed: host mx2.zoho.com (136.143.183.44): Network error: Unexpectedly disconnected (STARTTLS)
Hi Team, I'm not receiving any email. Seems to be an issue. Sender sent me the error message they received: "delayed: host mx2.zoho.com (136.143.183.44): Network error: Unexpectedly disconnected (STARTTLS)" Please advise.Interview booked through Invite but no Notifications
We have a workflow that was developed through a developer/partner that was tested and worked. Today, we pushed a candidate through the process and invited them to an in-office interview. They were sent the booking link (as usual and as tested before successfully)Additional Address - Company Name
It would be very helpful to have a "Company Name" field in the Additional Address shipping section. In a situation where you drop-ship orders to a different address or different company entirely, it may be necessary to list the company name of the receiver. I understand that the Attention field can be used for that purpose, but that's not really the intended purpose of that field.Incorrect Email Notifications for Product Reviews
Dear Zoho Commerce Support Team, I am writing to report a technical issue that occurs frequently on our platform. Problem Description: We regularly receive email notifications informing us of new product reviews awaiting approval. However, when we accessIn App Auto Refresh/Update Features
Hi, I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users. The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps. I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With theHow to Rank Tables by Row Count in Descending Order
I am trying to understand the consume of lines that grow up so fast in the last week. Is there any way to create a pivot table or query to get TABLE NAME LINES in descending order?Can we do Image swatches for color variants?
We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please hannualy customer report
we need a report per customer that looks like this invoic number cleaning laundry repair management 01 january xxx euro xx euro xx euro xxx euro 02 february xxx euro xxx euro x euro xxxx euro and so on the years 12 months is that possible to make andExport your notes from Notebook!
Dear users, The long awaited feature is now live. Yes, you can now export your notes from Notebook app in bulk. But the feature has just started with web app alone for now. You can try the export feature as mentioned below: Go to our web app, https://notebook.zoho.com Go to 'Settings' > 'Export' Now, select the format: You can select either ZNote or HTML Once done, you can use the same to import or can have this a local backup of your notes. Note: Export for other platforms are in development andour customers have difficult to understand the Statements
our costumers have big problems to understand Zohos Statements. we need a text box after the payment number to explain what the payments are for. Is it possible to develop a version of the Statement with that kind of box and if so whu can do itCanva Integration
Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,Transfer between two customers (Peters Rental account to Peters Private account)
we are a Property Management company. Our customers have to accounts (registered as two customers - Peter Rental and Peter Private On the rental account all income and costs fron rental activities are noted. On the private account all private are notedPrepopulating Fields
Hello, I have a form (Assets) with 2 lookup fields: Client (from Clients) Site (from Client Sites) I modified the code (highlighted in red below), so the Site dropdown shows the list of sites related to the Client. must have Client_Site ( type = picklistCRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive
Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage filesREPORT THAT SHOWS SOH FOR ITEMS THAT HAVE ZERO SALES
When we started Zoho we imported a lot of inventory lines directly off our suppliers price list and have never ordered / sold. I want to clean up our data base and remove all these lines. What reeport will show me what lines have zero sales as well asAutomation series : Close all tasks once the project is completed
When a project is marked as Completed, it might still have open tasks such as recurring tasks that were not marked as complete, tasks that are no longer relevant, or tasks that no longer need attention after closure. To ensure the project reflects itsDirect Feed (Bank)
Is Direct feed integration for AlRajhi and ADCB bank supported by Zoho Books in GCC/SaudiConverting Sales Order to Purchase Order
Hi All, Firstly, this code works to convert a sales order(SO) to a purchase order (PO) via a button, however I am running into an issue when I convert the SO where the values from the line items are not pulled across from the SO to the PO. The ones inAll new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs
The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest updateHorrible Connectivity!
I have used Meetings several times, but most of the time the connection is horrible. The video freezes, the audio freezes, and we end up cancelling the meeting. I am on a high speed internet connection, and Zoom works fine, so I know it's not a problemIs it really true that I can't set the default 'deposit to' account in 2025?
I've been using Books for 7 years and the default account has never been a problem. I usually manually reconcile invoices and have never had a thought about which account. It has always been my account. However, I recently noticed that for the past 4Zoho DataPrep switching Date Format
When using a pipeline that is importing Zoho Analytics data into Zoho DataPrep, the month and day of date fields are switched for some columns. For example, a Zoho Analytics record of "Nov. 8, 2025" will appear in Zoho DataPrep as "2025/08/11" in "yyyy/MM/dd"Using Another Field Value for Workflow Field Update
I'm trying to setup a Workflow with a "Field Update" action on the Lead module, but I would like the new value to actually be taken from a DIFFERENT Field's on the Lead record (vs just defining some static value..) Is this possible? Could I simply useTax information
Hello, I need help/guidance on how to add my organization's Tax/VAT information. Thank you PavlyBuild smarter Guided Conversations with Fork Blocks
When your customers arrive on your support channel, they're not there to explore. They are usually confused and stuck while trying to fix something important. We understand how stressful that moment can feel and we want your bot to make things easier,Custom item field won't allow decimal.
Hello, I have a custom item field that needs to be able to have a value with a decimal place such as 6.7 or 6.18. I have tried custom formatting the input format but can not get the correct syntax to allow this. Is this possible in Zoho?Free webinar: Zoho Sign unwrapped – 2025 in review
Hey there! 2025 is coming to an end, and this year has been all about AI. Join our exclusive year-end webinar, where we'll walk you through the features that went live in 2025, provide answers to your questions, and give you a sneak peek on what to expectHubSpot CRM to Zoho Creator Integration
I'm trying to create an integration between HubSpot CRM and Zoho Creator with HubSpot being the push source (if a contact is created or updated in HubSpot, it pushes the information to Zoho Creator). I have two questions: 1- Is it best to use Zoho FlowCustom Fields
There is no way to add a custom field in the "Timesheet" module. Honestly, the ability to add a custom field should be available in every module.Gain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! Portals is a self-service avenue through which your clients can access and manage their direct and related data in Zoho CRM. This empowers them to be more independent and enables them to experience a sense of transparencyBest-practice setup in Zoho One for managing combined candidate pools and exporting anonymised CVs
We are new users of the Zoho One bundle and operate a consulting and engineering company. Our workforce model includes a mix of permanent employees, active job applicants, and freelance/independent consultants. All three groups need to be searchable,Meet Canvas' Grid component: Your easiest way to build responsive record templates
Visual design can be exciting—until you're knee-deep in the details. Whether it's aligning text boxes to prevent overlaps, fixing negative space, or simply making sure the right data stands out, just ironing out inconsistencies takes a lot of moving parts.hard-bounced email list
Hi, Below pops up when I try to send an Email to some of my customer. Please guide me how to take it out from hard-bounced list? I am not sure how they were marked in hard-bounced listNext Page