How to Add and Manage Ticket Watchers in BoldDesk
In BoldDesk, Ticket Watchers allow agents to receive email notifications for ticket updates even when they are not the assigned agent. This helps teams stay informed, collaborate effectively, and monitor ticket progress without changing ticket ownership.
This article explains how to add or remove agents as watchers, how watcher notifications work, and where to view tickets you are watching.
Check out this video tutorial for more details.
Use Cases
Use ticket watchers when you want to:
- Keep supervisors informed about critical tickets
- Collaborate with other agents without reassigning tickets
- Monitor ticket progress across teams
- Receive updates on tickets you are not assigned to
- Only agents can be added as ticket watchers.
- Contacts or customers cannot be added as watchers.
- To notify customers or external users, use the CC field instead.
- There is no fixed limit to the number of watchers you can add to a ticket. You can include as many watchers as needed, making it easy to collaborate effectively with your team.
How Ticket Watcher Notifications Work
- Watchers receive email notifications for ticket updates, similar to the assigned agent.
- Notifications respect email notification settings.
- Watchers do not gain edit or assignment permissions unless their role allows it.
Add or Remove Yourself or Another Agent as a Ticket Watcher
Use the Watchers Option
Navigation Path
Tickets → Open Ticket → Watchers
Steps
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Open the required ticket.
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Click Watchers in the ticket header.
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Select your name to add yourself as a watcher or select another agent (if permitted) to add them as a watcher.
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To stop watching the ticket, click the Remove icon next to the agent’s name.
To add or remove other agents as watchers, the agent must have the Add or remove other users as watcher permission enabled.
Use the Keyboard Shortcut
- Press W while viewing a ticket to:
- Add yourself to the watcher list
- Remove yourself from the watcher list
This shortcut works only for the current agent.
Use @Mention in Ticket Replies or Notes
When you @mention an agent in a ticket reply or internal note:
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The mentioned agent is automatically added to the watcher list.
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The agent starts receiving email notifications for the ticket.
Remove an Agent from the Watcher List
Navigation Path
Tickets → Open Ticket → Watchers
Steps
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Open the ticket.
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Locate the agent in the Watchers list.
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Click the Remove icon next to the agent’s name.
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When an agent creates a ticket through the Agent Portal, BoldDesk automatically adds the agent as a watcher by design. This ensures that the ticket creator receives updates and notifications related to the ticket. Currently, there is no native setting available to disable this behavior.
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If the ticket creator no longer wishes to receive watcher notifications, they can manually remove themselves from the ticket’s watcher list.
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As a workaround, administrators can configure automation to remove watchers after a ticket is created. However, automation can only remove all watchers or specific predefined watcher users. It does not support dynamically identifying and removing only the ticket creator from the watcher list.
View Tickets You Are Watching
BoldDesk provides a predefined ticket view for tracked tickets.
Navigation Path
Tickets → Views → Tickets I Am Watching
This view displays all tickets where you are added as a watcher.
Allow Adding Other Agents as Watchers
By default, agents can manage their own watcher status. To add or remove other agents, the following permission must be enabled.
Navigation Path
Admin → Roles & Permissions → Agent Permissions
Required Permission
Add or remove other users as watcher
Once enabled, agents can manage watchers for other agents on a ticket. Explore further instructions about Managing Agent Roles and Permissions in BoldDesk.
Adding Watchers by Group
BoldDesk supports adding Ticket Watchers by selecting agents individually on the ticket. There is no single-step option to add watchers by agent group.
Workaround: Add Multiple Watchers via Automation
You can automatically add multiple agents as watchers using Ticket Automation features, such as:
- Auto Assignment
- Create Ticket Trigger
- Update Ticket Trigger
- Time Triggers
These automation rules let you add multiple agents to the watcher list in one action. Currently, you can select and add up to 48 users as watchers through automation.
Troubleshooting (watcher not receiving notifications)
Watcher does not receive ticket update emails
- Confirm the agent is listed under Tickets → Open Ticket → Watchers for that ticket.
- Confirm email notifications are enabled per the applicable email notification settings (watcher notifications respect notification settings).
Agent cannot add or remove other agents as watchers
Confirm the agent role includes Add or remove other users as watcher under Admin → Roles & Permissions → Agent Permissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Can contacts or customers be added as Ticket Watchers?
No. Only agents can be added as Ticket Watchers. Use the CC field to notify customers or external users. -
Do Ticket Watchers receive the same notifications as assignees?
Ticket Watchers receive email notifications for ticket updates. Delivery follows the account’s email notification settings. -
Does adding a Ticket Watcher change ticket assignment?
No. Ticket Watchers do not change ticket assignment or ownership. -
How can an agent quickly watch or unwatch a ticket?
Press W while viewing the ticket to toggle watcher status for the current agent. -
Does @mention automatically add an agent as a watcher?
Yes. @mentioning an agent in a reply or internal note automatically adds that agent to the watcher list. -
Is there a limit to how many watchers a ticket can have?
No fixed limit is described for manual watcher addition. Through automation, up to 48 users can be selected and added as watchers. -
Where can I find Watchers in a ticket?
In BoldDesk, Watchers are available in the ticket header.
Steps:- Go to Tickets
- Open a ticket
- Click Watchers in the top (header) section of the ticket page.
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Does BoldDesk send notifications when watchers are removed from a ticket?
No. BoldDesk doesn’t send a separate notification when a watcher is removed. Watchers only receive ticket update emails while they’re on the watcher list; once removed, they simply stop receiving future ticket update notifications.
