Zendesk Sets Sept. 26 for First Inactive API-Token Deletions

Sales and service teams that move Zendesk ticket data into a CRM should check the credential behind that connection. Zendesk has scheduled September 26, 2026, for its first permanent deletion of inactive Support API tokens: those deactivated on July 28 and not reactivated. The date concerns that first group of credentials, not every active ticket integration.

Zendesk’s rule deactivates a token after 30 days without use. An administrator then has another 60 days to reactivate it before permanent deletion. A disabled credential can cause authentication errors for a sync, but this is a change to API access, not a notice that ticket or customer records are being deleted. Zendesk specifies a deletion date, not an hour or a confirmed count of completed deletions.

Check the connection before replacing it

The policy covers token-authenticated requests to Zendesk Support APIs, including the Ticketing, Help Center and Voice APIs. Zendesk identifies custom scripts, middleware and ticket-updating workflows as possible uses. A team’s relevant question is whether its particular connection uses a Support API token; the announcement does not identify a plan-tier exemption.

An administrator can check status and last-used dates in Admin Center → Apps and integrations → APIs → API tokens. A token still within its grace period can be reactivated. Once permanently deleted, that token cannot be recovered. Zendesk’s OAuth migration guidance describes setting up new credentials even if the old token no longer works, including authorization-code access for a user-approved connection and client credentials for unattended server-to-server work.

The remaining deadlines

Accounts created on or after July 28, 2026, cannot create or use Support API tokens. Existing accounts lose the ability to create new ones on October 27, 2026. An existing active token can otherwise continue until April 30, 2027, subject to the inactivity rule; Zendesk says token-authenticated requests will fail after that final cutoff and integrations must use OAuth.

For a ticket-to-CRM sync owner, the immediate task is to establish whether the connection uses a token and, if so, whether that credential can still be reactivated. OAuth is the documented replacement for connections that must keep running beyond the token deadline.