Zendesk has implemented a progressive disclosure mechanism for custom fields in the ticket sidebar, capping initial field visibility at 50 when ticket forms exceed 70 renderable custom fields. The change addresses a performance bottleneck that emerges when organisations accumulate extensive custom field architectures—a common outcome as CX operations mature and attempt to capture increasingly granular data across customer interactions. By deferring the rendering of fields beyond the first 50 until agents explicitly request them via a "Show more" button, Zendesk reduces initial load times and cognitive overhead without eliminating access to any fields. The form selector and Tags field remain permanently visible, and once expanded, additional fields persist for the agent's session.
The implications cut to a fundamental tension in modern support operations: the trade-off between data comprehensiveness and agent efficiency. Teams running forms with 70+ custom fields are typically those with complex data requirements—multi-product environments, heavily regulated industries, or organisations with mature integration ecosystems. For these teams, the update is pragmatic rather than transformative; it acknowledges that bloated forms degrade the agent experience without solving the underlying architectural problem. The question worth examining is whether this signals Zendesk's recognition that custom field proliferation has become a widespread pain point, or whether it reflects a broader industry shift toward lazy-loading patterns as the default response to scale. Administrators should audit their form structures to identify which fields genuinely drive resolution versus those that serve compliance or reporting functions—a distinction that becomes sharper when agents must actively choose to reveal them. For smaller teams operating below the 70-field threshold, this change is invisible; for larger operations, it's a band-aid that may mask the need for deeper form redesign or field governance strategies.
Announced on Rollout on July 22, 2026 July 21, 2026 We’re updating how custom fields are displayed in the ticket sidebar based on the number of fields in the selected ticket form.This article includes the following sections: What is changing? Why is Zendesk making this change? What do I need to do?