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Three problems with Zendesk search (and how to eliminate them forever)

Writer's picture: Eryn ChesneyEryn Chesney
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If you spend your days working inside any help desk, you know that search functionality is a critical (but often overlooked) piece of the puzzle. Great search functionality allows support teams to efficiently find the information they need to resolve customer issues. 


Like most help desks, Zendesk provides basic search functionality, but any experienced Zendesk user will tell you that it lacks the features necessary to make it as useful and effective as it could be. 


Great support teams are always looking for ways to optimize their platforms to better handle their ticket volume, so here’s an overview of the three biggest challenges users face with Zendesk’s native search functionality, and how to overcome them once and for all.


How does Zendesk’s Search Functionality Work?


The native search function in Zendesk allows you to search tickets and articles that contain a specific keyword, returning a list of results based on text. 


You can use the search tool in the top toolbar to find data like ticket details, user profiles, comments, tags, and help center articles. You can also search through live chat and messaging conversations. 


the search box in Zendesk

Admins have access to all data, while agents can only search for tickets and users within their assigned permissions. For instance, if an agent is limited to tickets in their group, their search results will only show those tickets.


The search function is meant to streamline how support agents and administrators can filter specific information, but it has a lot of limitations when compared to what most support teams need. 


In fact, it’s such a limiting experience that Zendesk even offers a free Advanced Search app, which allows you to conduct more complex ticket searches and narrow results down to specific properties. It also gives you the ability to export search results in a CSV file, which is a helpful added feature for reporting purposes.


But the overall rating and reviews quickly highlights how well it works (i.e. not so well):

Advanced search app for Zendesk

So while the Advanced Search app is a step-up from the native search functionality in Zendesk, it too comes with a host of limitations, including unpredictable search results and issues with exporting larger datasets.


Three Common Issues With Zendesk Search


There are three common issues that Zendesk users complain of experiencing when using Zendesk’s search:


  1. Complex Search Queries Slow Down Support Efficiency


A significant limitation of Zendesk’s native search is the complexity involved in constructing advanced queries. For support agents who need to find specific tickets or information quickly, this can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. The standard search lacks intuitive filtering, which means users often need to learn a set of complex query syntax to get the results they need.


For example, to search for tickets based on particular ticket field values, agents have to use precise keywords and operators. Without clear knowledge of these commands, finding specific cases, such as all tickets related to refunds within a particular timeframe, becomes cumbersome. This adds unnecessary friction to an already demanding support role.


Moreover, filtering by time periods is another area where the standard search falls short. While it is possible to search for tickets created or updated within specific date ranges, the process is not intuitive. Users must rely on date operators like created<2024-09-01 or updated>2024-10-15, which can lead to errors if the syntax is incorrect. For busy support teams, this complexity often leads to missed tickets or prolonged searches, making it harder to meet customer expectations.


Example of a complex search query in Zendesk with filters

Example of a complex search query with filters


Crafting these queries not only takes valuable time but also demands a level of familiarity with search commands that many agents might not have. This results in slower response times and can even affect the quality of service, as agents are spending more time searching for information than resolving customer issues.


To address this, consider using the Advanced Search Plus app. It simplifies the process by offering intuitive filter options through dropdown menus, eliminating the need for manual query construction. Agents can apply multiple criteria quickly and easily, ensuring that searches are both accurate and efficient.


  1. Poor Search Relevance


Another common complaint is search results having poor relevance. 


Many users find that Zendesk’s search engine doesn’t prioritize the most pertinent tickets, especially if the search query brings back a high volume of results. Irrelevant tickets will often appear at the top of the results, forcing users to have to sift through unnecessary information to find what they need.


To mitigate this, you can perform an advanced search by stringing together data property keywords, operators and search terms in your search query.

  • Data property keywords indicate that you are restricting a search to one or more specific data properties.

  • Operators are symbols used to modify the keywords and focus the search.

  • Search terms are the words, phrases, or values you’re searching for.


For example, if you were looking to find all tickets tagged with “refund” that were created before July 1, 2024, you would search:


tags:refund created<2024-07-01


In this instance, tags is a data property keyword, the symbols are operators and refund is a search term.


While doable, performing an advanced search takes some thought and can be cumbersome. It’s hard to recall the right search terms and operators.


Performing an advanced search in Zendesk takes some thought and can be cumbersome.

If your team struggles with this, using the free Advanced Search Plus app might be a better solution for allowing users to apply complex filters and combine multiple criteria quickly and easily.


How to search in the Advanced Search app for Zendesk

  1. Performance Issues


For companies with a large volume of tickets, Zendesk’s search functionality struggles with speed and performance. If you’re managing extensive customer service operations, you’ll find sluggish search speeds when querying data, and search will actually only return the first 1,000 results, even if there are way more. 


Zendesk does offer an Export Search Results Support API that allows you to pull data beyond the 1,000 result limit, however you might be better off simply using a third-party app that will allow you to export large volumes of data seamlessly. 


It gives you more flexibility, while also enabling you to avoid having to tap into development team resources altogether. 


A Better, Streamlined, Free Zendesk Search 


Fortunately, you’re not stuck with Zendesk search.


The Advanced Search Plus app — which is free forever — is a straightforward solution to addressing all the shortcomings of Zendesk’s native search functionality.


With Advanced Search Plus’s noticeably clean and user-friendly interface, your team can effortlessly create highly detailed search queries using simple (but powerful) “is” and “is not” filters. 


Using these filters in search allows you to include or exclude specific values when searching for information — creating a search process that’s far more accurate and far more intuitive for your agents and team leads.

Example of filtering with the Advanced Search Plus app

For example, if you want to find all tickets that are open, you can set a filter value where the ticket “is” open. If you want to exclude tickets that are open but not assigned to anyone, you would add a filter of “doesn't have a value” for the Assignee field. 


Export search results to CSV with the Advanced Search Plus app for Zendesk

In addition to its ability to empower your team with super precise search, one of the biggest differentiators of Advanced Search Plus is its use of drop-downs menus in the filters. This gives you the ability to choose from a list of available properties when filtering, rather than having to have prior knowledge of them, which is crucial for speed and accuracy in searches.

 

Dropdown filters in Advanced Search Plus app for Zendesk

There are a number of other incredible features in Advanced Search Plus that are worth highlighting:


  • It gives you the option to conduct complex searches for properties in organizations or users, instead of tickets. For SaaS support teams, this is a valuable feature as it allows you to filter contacts by properties like Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and churn probability. 

  • You can also select fields (like category) and filter by whether that field “has any value” or “has no value.” This kind of granular searching isn’t possible with Zendesk’s Advanced Search app, but it significantly reduces the amount of time you spend combing through search results. 

  • You can search for tickets by attachments (or lack of attachments). Within your search, you can filter for specific names (e.g. “user list” or “receipt”). 


However you search, Advanced Search Plus also allows for fast and reliable exporting of your results, so sharing searches for reporting or analysis is quick and easy. 


Once you’ve installed the app, it’s always easily accessible through the sidebar in the agent workspace, so all team members can quickly and easily use it to improve their productivity.


Don’t Settle For the Standard Zendesk Search


Your support team has plenty of challenges to work with every day — never-ending tickets, upset customers, and delivering delightful experiences.


The last thing they need is to be hampered by a poor search experience. 


Finding creative solutions to Zendesk’s native search issues is one way to address the problem, but ultimately taking advantage of a tool like the Advanced Search Plus app — which is completely free — to address the gaps is the best way to save your team time and make Zendesk work better for your support team.



 


Eryn Chesney

Eryn Chesney


Eryn is an experienced ecommerce CX leader in ecommerce with a strong background  in writing and content marketing. She’s passionate about empowering support teams and using the invaluable insights they collect to drive business success.

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