PSA Data Export guide
Export Zendesk data
Zendesk account exports offer JSON, CSV and XML, subject to plan and export enablement by support at the account owner’s request. JSON uses newline-delimited objects. Choose a conversational export for history: CSV focuses on ticket rows and excludes descriptions, comments and deleted tickets.
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Choose the native export
Zendesk account exports offer JSON, CSV and XML, subject to plan and export enablement by support at the account owner’s request. JSON uses newline-delimited objects. Choose a conversational export for history: CSV focuses on ticket rows and excludes descriptions, comments and deleted tickets. See Exporting ticket, user, or organization data from your account.
Check format omissions and the final export window
Zendesk’s account export guide excludes deleted tickets, comments and descriptions from CSV. Tickets exceeding 1 MB omit comments in JSON and may be excluded entirely from CSV. Inspect the accompanying error file. CSV also omits multiline, multiselect and custom date fields. JSON uses UTC; CSV uses the account time zone. Export ranges use system-generated update timestamps, with a six-minute exclusion near the request. Keep these facts in the reconciliation plan rather than treating row count as conversation completeness.
Prepare a usable archive
Inventory attachment downloads and archived tickets separately. A scrubbed deleted-ticket entry is useful deletion evidence; retrieve the earlier captured conversation from your retained archive. Related official guidance: Deleting tickets.
Build the export inventory
| Record group | What makes it usable later |
|---|---|
| Tickets and custom fields | Source ticket ID, client/requester, status, dates and custom fields; join notes and files by parent ID |
| Comments and events | Parent ticket ID, ordered content, author, original timestamp and public/private visibility; reconcile child counts |
| Users and organizations | Source person/company IDs, names, email and parent organization/site; preserve inactive and duplicate-name mappings |
| Attachment metadata and downloadable files | Parent ticket/comment ID, original filename, content type and verified downloaded bytes; retain access expiry |
Validate formats and attachments
Open CSV or spreadsheet output with dates and identifiers intact. Validate JSON pagination and error handling. Download and verify file contents as well as metadata while authenticated or time-limited URLs remain accessible.
Prepare for migration
Count records by type and year, sample the oldest and most complex items, save field dictionaries, and document missing modules. Use the PSA migration checklist before cancellation.
Keep the source history useful
Store the original export, field definitions, file manifest and validation results together. Follow the source archive planning use case and keep the archive readable after cutover.
Checkpoint incremental exports
For ongoing extraction, follow Using the Incremental Exports API. Save the returned cursor after processing the batch and continue to end_of_stream. The API excludes the most recent minute. Time-based exports can overlap; deduplicate records using the documented identifiers and timestamps. Retain export checkpoints with your batch manifest.
Plan your independent PSA archive
Keep source history available after your move. Join the waitlist for invitation-only BackupPSA access, or contact us about your platform.