---
key: import-past-email-into-a-support-inbox
title: Bring older email into a support inbox
audience: staff
section: settings/communications
routes: ["/settings/communications/ticketing/inboxes/:inboxUid/import", "/settings/communications/ticketing/inboxes/:inboxUid/setup"]
permissions: ["communications.email.inbox.historical_import.manage"]
features: ["communications.ticketing"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Choose how a support inbox treats email from before it went live, preview what would come in, import it in a batch, and turn the messages that still need an answer into tickets.
keywords: [import old email, email history, backfill, migrate mailbox, cutover, old messages to tickets, historical import, switch help desk]
related: [turn-on-ticket-creation-for-a-support-inbox, add-routing-rules-to-a-support-inbox, set-up-ticket-queues]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Ticketing** under **Communications**. Under **Support inboxes**, press **Import** on the inbox. The page address is `/settings/communications/ticketing/inboxes/` followed by the inbox and `/import`. The tabs **Setup**, **Routing** and **Import & Cutover** move between the inbox's three pages.

## Before you start

- Making the inbox create tickets from new email is covered in [[turn-on-ticket-creation-for-a-support-inbox]]. This article is about email that arrived before that.
- Your role needs permission to manage historical imports. Without it the buttons on the import page stay greyed out. Turning old email into tickets also has to be part of your plan.
- Nothing is imported until you run a batch. A preview only counts.

## Steps

First, choose what the import does. This is saved on the inbox's **Setup** tab:

1. Open **Historical email handling**.
2. Choose the **Historical import default**: **From now forward** brings nothing older than the go-live moment, **From selected date** brings the window you pick, **Full history** brings everything.
3. Choose the **Historical ticketization default**: **None** keeps old email as history only. **Unread only**, **Rules only** or **All historical explicit** let imported email become tickets. The **Ticket creation from history** box explains each choice.
4. Press **Save inbox ticketing settings**.

Then run the import on the **Import & Cutover** tab:

1. Set **Historical window from** and, if you want an end, **Historical window until**. A start is required for **From selected date**.
2. Type **Batch notes** that say what you are bringing in.
3. Press **Preview historical import**. **Latest preview** counts what would come in.
4. Press **Create import batch**. The batch appears in the list, selected.
5. Tick **Run import batch in background** for a large mailbox, then press **Run selected batch**. Nova shows **Import batch queued.**
6. When the batch's status reads Completed, choose a **Ticketization queue** (or leave **Use default queue**) and, if you like, a **Ticketization max messages** cap.
7. For **All historical explicit**, tick **Confirm explicit all-historical ticketization**.
8. Press **Ticketize selected batch**. Nova shows **Historical ticketization started.**

## What you see

- **Current consequences** repeats what your saved choices will do and when the inbox goes live.
- **Latest preview** shows **Selected**, **Importable**, **Skipped** and **Ticketizable** counts, the **Skip reasons** and a few **Sample messages**.
- Each batch shows its status, when it started and finished, and how many messages were imported and ticketized. Press a batch to see **Selected batch outcome**: its window, notes, and why messages were skipped.
- Email from after the go-live moment is left out when ticketizing, because it is already handled as new email. Tick **Include active cutover window** to include it.

## If something looks different

- Every message is skipped as "Ticketization Disabled": the **Historical ticketization default** is **None**. Change it on **Setup** and save.
- **Ticketize selected batch** is refused: the batch has not finished yet, or **Confirm explicit all-historical ticketization** is not ticked.
- **Cancel selected batch** stops a batch that has not finished. A finished batch cannot be cancelled, and a cancelled one cannot be run again: create a new batch.
- **Review historical import** on the **Setup** tab does nothing there. Use the **Import & Cutover** tab.
- The batch list reads **No import batches exist for this inbox yet.**: create one with the steps above.
- You land on Email Accounts or a no-access page instead: ticketing is not part of your plan, or your role cannot see ticketing settings.

[[route:/settings/communications/ticketing|Open Ticketing]]