What are Canned Messages?
Canned Messages are reusable reply templates designed to speed up customer support while maintaining consistency across your team.
Agents can access these templates directly from the message composer and insert them with a single click. Once inserted, the message can be edited before it is sent, allowing agents to personalise responses for each customer.
Common uses for Canned Messages include:
Greetings – Welcome customers with a consistent opening message.
Information requests – Ask for details such as account email addresses or order numbers.
Frequently asked questions – Provide standard answers to common enquiries.
Closing messages – End conversations with a professional sign-off.
Escalations – Inform customers when their enquiry is being transferred to another team.
Examples include:
"Hi, thanks for reaching out! I'm here to help."
"Can you share your account email so I can look into this?"
"Our business hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM."
"Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
"I'm going to transfer this to our Billing team who can assist you further."
Creating a Canned Message
To create a new Canned Message:
Go to Settings > Canned Messages.
Select New Canned Message or click the + button.
Complete the required fields.
Select Create to save the message.
The available fields are:
Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
Name | Yes | The name agents will use when searching for the message. Keep it short, clear, and easy to remember (for example, welcome or ask-for-account-number). |
Subject | No | The email subject line for email-specific canned messages. |
Message Body | Yes | The content that will be inserted into the conversation. Formatting and line breaks are preserved. |
Access | Yes | Controls who can use the canned message. Choose Everyone, Private, or specific Inboxes. |
Access Levels
Each Canned Message can be shared with different groups of users depending on how it will be used.
Everyone
Available to every agent in the workspace.
Suitable for:
Greeting messages
Frequently asked questions
Company policies
General customer communications
Private
Visible only to the user who created it.
Suitable for:
Personal shortcuts
Frequently used personal responses
Draft or experimental templates
Inbox
Available only to agents assigned to selected inboxes.
Suitable for department-specific responses such as:
Billing
Technical Support
Sales
Customer Success
When Inbox access is selected, a list of available inboxes is displayed. Select every inbox that should have access to the message.
Examples
Message | Recommended Access |
|---|---|
"Hi, welcome to Acme!" | Everyone |
"Your refund of [AMOUNT] has been approved." | Billing Inbox |
"lmk" (personal shorthand) | Private |
Using Canned Messages
To insert a Canned Message into a conversation:
Open a conversation.
Click inside the message composer.
Select the Grid icon in the composer toolbar.
The Canned Messages panel opens on the right.
Search for or browse the available messages.
Select the message you want to use.
The message is inserted into the composer.
Edit or personalise the message if necessary.
Send your reply.
Canned Messages are intended as templates rather than final responses. Before sending, always review the content, replace any placeholders, and ensure the response is appropriate for the customer's situation.
Editing a Canned Message
To edit an existing message:
Go to Settings > Canned Messages.
Locate the message you want to edit.
Open the three-dot menu (⋯).
Select Edit.
Update the required fields.
Select Update to save your changes.
Duplicating a Canned Message
Duplicating is useful when creating variations of an existing template.
To duplicate a message:
Open the three-dot menu (⋯) beside the message.
Select Duplicate.
A copy of the message is created with "(Copy)" appended to its name.
This is particularly useful when creating department-specific versions of the same response.
Deleting Canned Messages
To delete a Canned Message:
Go to Settings > Canned Messages.
Open the three-dot menu (⋯) beside the message.
Select Delete.
Confirm the deletion.
Deleting a Canned Message removes it from the available library. Messages that have already been sent in conversations remain unchanged.
Best Practices
Following these recommendations will help keep your Canned Message library organised and effective.
Use searchable names
Choose names that agents can easily remember and search for.
Good examples include:
welcome
ask-for-email
refund-approved
Avoid long or overly descriptive names that are difficult to find.
Keep the library manageable
A smaller collection of well-written templates is easier to maintain and quicker for agents to navigate.
Instead of creating dozens of similar messages, begin with your most frequently used responses and expand the library only when necessary.
Use placeholders
Include placeholders wherever information should be personalised.
Examples include:
[NAME]
[ORDER ID]
[AMOUNT]
[REFERENCE NUMBER]
For example:
Hi [NAME],
Thank you for contacting us about your order.
I've checked [ORDER ID] and can confirm your refund of [AMOUNT] is currently being processed. You should receive it within 3–5 business days.
Please let us know if there's anything else we can help you with.
Using placeholders helps ensure every response is personalised before it is sent.
Review messages regularly
Business processes, pricing, products, and policies change over time.
Review your Canned Messages periodically to ensure information remains accurate and remove any outdated templates.
Add email subjects where appropriate
When creating Canned Messages for email replies, complete the Subject field as well as the message body.
This automatically populates the email subject line, saving agents time and ensuring consistency across email communications.