Canned responses for quick replies

Canned responses are pre-written message templates your team can insert into any conversation with a simple shortcode. They help your support agents reply faster, maintain a consistent brand voice, and reduce repetitive typing. Especially for frequently asked questions, greetings, and closing messages.

Creating canned responses

1. Navigate to Settings > Canned Responses.
2. Click Add canned response.
3. Enter a memorable short code. For example, /greeting, /refund-policy, or /closing. Use lowercase letters and hyphens to keep codes easy to recall.
4. Type or paste the full message content you want agents to send.
5. Save the response. It will immediately be available to your team across all conversation channels.

Using canned responses

1. Open any conversation and click into the reply box.
2. Type / followed by the short code (e.g., /greeting).
3. A dropdown will appear showing all matching responses. Select the one you need.
4. The full message content is inserted into the reply box. Review and personalize it before sending.

Best-practice tips

• Use descriptive short codes. Codes like /shipping-delay are far easier to remember than /sd1. A clear naming convention helps new team members get up to speed quickly.
• Keep messages concise. Aim for a friendly, complete answer in a few sentences. Customers appreciate clarity over lengthy paragraphs.
• Personalize before sending. Always review the inserted text and adjust details. Such as the customer's name or order number. So replies feel personal rather than robotic.
• Audit regularly. Set a recurring reminder (monthly or quarterly) to review your canned responses. Remove outdated ones, update policy changes, and add new templates for emerging questions.
• Organize by category. Prefix related codes with a common keyword (e.g., /order-status, /order-cancel) so agents can quickly filter relevant options from the dropdown.

Troubleshooting

• Dropdown not appearing? Make sure you are typing the / character at the start of a word inside the reply box. If the dropdown still doesn't show, try refreshing the page.
• Short code conflict: Each short code must be unique. If a new response won't save, check whether the code is already in use and choose a different one.
• Formatting issues: If your pasted content loses its formatting, try editing the response directly within the canned-response editor to ensure it displays correctly.

Using variables

Add placeholders that are filled in when the response is inserted: {{agent.name}}, {{agent.first_name}}, {{agent.last_name}}, {{agent.email}}, {{contact.name}}, {{contact.first_name}}, {{contact.last_name}}, {{contact.email}}, {{contact.phone}}, {{contact.company}}, {{conversation.id}}, {{inbox.name}} and {{account.name}}. The agent is whoever inserts the response. For values that can be empty, add a fallback after a pipe: "Hi {{contact.first_name | there}}" becomes "Hi there" when the contact has no name. Unknown variables stay in the text unchanged. See Template variables in canned responses for the full list with examples.

Frequently asked questions