Creating an attachment deletion schedule

Removing old attachments while keeping the tickets. The best first schedule to create: most storage freed, least regret.

Removing old attachments while keeping the tickets. The best first schedule to create: most storage freed, least regret.

Create one

1. Open Admin Center, then Account, then Security, then Deletion schedules.
2. Create an attachment schedule.
3. Set the conditions: ticket age, group or tags.
4. Check your storage figure before and after the first run.

Why this one first

Attachments are most of your storage, most of your risk, and the least useful part of a two-year-old ticket. The conversation stays readable without the screenshot.

Best benefit, smallest regret.

What it removes

The files. The comment stays, so the ticket still reads sensibly and the history of what happened is intact.

The four numbers to plan around

• Deletion starts within 72 hours of a ticket meeting the criteria, not immediately.
• It runs at up to 24,000 attachments per account per day, so a large clean-up takes days rather than an evening.
• You can create 10 schedules, but only one can be active at a time.
• Deletions take up to 24 hours to show on the storage dashboard.

That last one causes most of the false alarms: checking an hour later and seeing an unchanged figure is expected, not a failed schedule.

It keeps running

A schedule is a standing rule, not a one-off sweep. Zendesk keeps finding and deleting attachments that meet the conditions until you deactivate it, so an age of six months quietly stays a six-month retention policy.

What to consider first

• Do you have warranty or contractual cases where a photograph is evidence?
• Do agents look back at old attachments in practice?
• Is anything here a record you must keep?

Where the answer is yes for a category, narrow the schedule rather than abandoning it.

A year is a reasonable starting point

Long enough that the file is genuinely finished with, short enough to make a real difference to storage. Adjust once you see what the first run removes.

Measure the effect

Note the storage figure before and after. It is the clearest demonstration that this was worth doing, and it tells you whether the period needs adjusting.

See also

• Managing data storage in your account
• What deletion schedules do
• Managing your deletion schedules