7 IT Help Desk Ticket Examples and How to Handle Them Effectively

Most help desk or support tickets fall into a few familiar categories. In fact, password resets alone can make up half of IT support requests.

Answering the same old questions over and over again can be maddening. But with the right approach (and the right tools), you can handle these tickets faster, smarter, and with a smile.

In this guide, we’ll explore common IT help desk tickets, and learn how to handle each one like a pro.

What Is a Help Desk Support Ticket?

A help desk ticket is simply a record of a customer’s issue or request within a tracking system.

Each ticket has details about the request, who’s handling it, status updates, and so on.

A ticketing system, which is often part of help desk software, keeps all these tickets organized.

How to Manage Helpdesk Tickets Effectively (Quick Guide)

Implementing a few solid practices can transform your support operation from chaotic to highly efficient. Here’s the game plan:

1. Triage and Prioritize

Make it a habit to sort incoming tickets by urgency and impact.

For example, a complete system outage affecting all users should be the top priority, while a single user’s slight inconvenience can wait.

Many helpdesk tools like Heroic Inbox let you set priorities or even automate such tickets.

2. Use a Unified Helpdesk Tool

A dedicated helpdesk system is a must to handle support requests.

Tools like Heroic Inbox centralize all customer emails and support tickets into one shared inbox, making ticket management and team collaboration a breeze.

3. Leverage Canned Responses and Templates

If you find yourself typing the same sentences every day, stop!

Create and use templates for common scenarios.

Modern helpdesks let you save these and insert them with a click. It keeps answers consistent and saves your team’s sanity.

4. Enable Self-Service

Provide customers and employees with the means to help themselves.

This can be achieved by creating a comprehensive knowledge base and documenting past solutions.

Software like Heroic Knowledge Base provides all the necessary features to create and manage a robust knowledge base.

5. Automate Routine Tasks

You can also automate ticket routing.

For example, all “billing” issues could go to the billing team automatically. If a ticket has keywords like “refund” or “payment error,” your system could tag or assign it accordingly.

6. Measure and Improve

Tracking metrics such as first response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction (CSAT) can reveal bottlenecks.

7. Stay Empathetic and Professional

It’s called customer support for a reason—the human touch matters.

Templates and automation will save your time, but make sure every response still feels personal and empathetic.

Common IT Help Desk Ticket Examples

IT support teams help employees solve technology-related problems. They address behind-the-scenes issues within a company.

1. Password Reset Request (Forgotten Password)

An employee can’t log in to their computer or an internal system because—surprise, they forgot their password (or it expired).

Yes, people forget their passwords a lot and such requests can be 50% of support tickets in some organizations.

Why it happens:

• Password policies often require frequent changes, and users struggle to keep track.
• Accounts also get locked after too many wrong attempts.
• Sometimes it’s Monday morning brain fog. Who remembers what they set last Friday?

How to handle password reset tickets:

First, verify the user’s identity, especially if you are communicating via email or chat. You don’t want to reset the password for an imposter.

It is common practice to ask the user to verify a piece of information or, if possible, have them on a phone or video call.

Once verified, use your system’s admin tools to reset the password or unlock the account.

Behind the scenes, consider prevention. Frequent password resets may indicate that users could benefit from single sign-on (SSO) or password manager tools.

If policy allows, enabling features like “self-service password reset” can significantly reduce IT workload.

2. New Software or Access Request (Install or Permission Needed)

These help desk tickets are about getting something (software, hardware, permissions) rather than fixing something broken.

For example: “Request: Please install XYZ application” or “Need access to the finance shared drive.”

Why it happens:

• Companies often restrict the ability to install software or access certain data for security and license control.
• New hires might not have all the access they need out of the gate, or roles change and people require tools they didn’t before.
• Some software requires purchasing a license, so IT must handle that centrally.

How to handle it:

These requests usually have a process. As a support manager, you want to ensure proper approvals and tracking, because giving access often has cost or security implications.

Here’s a typical approach:

1. Validate the request. Many organizations require a manager or department head to approve software purchases or new permissions, especially if there is a cost or data sensitivity.
2. Check licensing and availability
3. Fulfill the request. Once everything looks good, proceed. If it’s software that IT can deploy remotely, great. Many IT departments use tools to push software to users’ machines remotely. Otherwise, you may need to schedule a quick screen-sharing session or visit the user’s desk to install it.
4. Communicate and document the request.

If for some reason you cannot fulfill the request (no licenses left, or maybe policy doesn’t allow that software), be transparent.

Offer alternatives if possible: “We’re out of licenses for Photoshop. I’ve requested an additional one from purchasing, which may take 2-3 days. In the meantime, if it’s urgent, we can install GIMP as a temporary solution – it’s a free tool for basic image editing. Let me know if that works as a stopgap.”

Best practices

• If for some reason you cannot fulfill the request (no licenses left, or maybe policy doesn’t allow that software), be transparent. And offer alternatives if possible.
• Keep track of fulfilled requests in your IT asset or permission logs.
• Update your onboarding checklists. For instance, if every new salesperson asks for CRM access, your onboarding process should include it.

3. Network or Internet Connectivity Issue

In an office setting, the issue may be a problem with the wired or wireless network. For remote workers, the problem could be with the VPN.

Either way, it’s significant because most people can’t get much work done without a network these days.

And there are many reasons for network failure:

• The problem could be the user’s machine or the network infrastructure.
• Wi-Fi access point (AP) issues
• Internet service outage

How to handle network failure tickets:

First, determine the scope. Is this one user or many? Check if multiple tickets are coming in simultaneously.

If it’s just one user, it’s likely their device or connection specifically.

Then, run through quick troubleshooting:

• Check physical layer
• IP and settings
• Alternate tests
• VPN specific changes

For multiple users or office-wide issues, escalate to a network outage protocol:

• Check core network hardware
• Check with your internet provider’s status if it could be ISP.

If you identify a widespread problem, communicate quickly and broadly. Don’t wait for 50 tickets to pile up.

Send an email or alert: “We are aware that the office network is currently down and are investigating. ETA for resolution will be updated shortly.”

4. Computer Running Slow or Freezing

This is a common help desk ticket, but it’s tricky because “slow” can be caused by many things.

It might be general slowness or specific software issues.

Often, they’ve lived with it for a while and only now reach out.

Computer running slow can be caused by many things:

• Too many background programs.
• Low memory (RAM)
• Disk issues. A nearly full hard drive can make things sluggish.
• Updates or processes stuck
• Outdated hardware
• Thermal throttling
• Software bugs
• Viruses/spyware

Here are a few things you should consider when troubleshooting your computer’s speed:

• Try rebooting PC first: A fresh reboot can clear memory leaks and stuck processes (and apply any pending updates).
• Resource check: Use Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) to see what’s hogging CPU, RAM, or disk.
• Disk health and space: Check free space. If the disk (C: drive) is like 99% full, that’s likely the culprit.
  
  Freeing up space by deleting temporary files, old downloads, and unused programs can dramatically speed up computers.
  
  Many “slow PC” issues are resolved by replacing an HDD with an SSD if the user’s hardware is outdated.
• Memory and apps: How much RAM does the system have? If it’s 4 GB, for example, and the user has Chrome with 50 tabs open plus Zoom calls, the computer will run slowly.
• Updates & Patches: Ensure the OS is up to date and also not in the middle of installing updates. Same for drivers.
• Scan for malware
• Logs: If the issue is freezing, check the Event Viewer (Windows) for clues. Crashes or system event logs may show repeated errors.
• Hardware considerations: Check to see if the device is overheating. Perhaps the fan is not working properly or the vents are clogged.

5. Email Not Working (Send/Receive Problems)

Email errors like “Cannot connect to email server” or “Bounce: Your email could not be delivered” can stem from various causes:

• Server or service outage
• Network or connectivity issues
• Client software issues
• Mailbox full or quota
• Incorrect credentials or password change
• Local device issues
• Email stuck in outbox
• Spam/junk filtering or rules

How to handle it:

Start by identifying if it’s a user-specific issue or system-wide. Ask around or check the monitoring system.

If everyone is having trouble with email, then it’s a bigger incident, and your focus should shift to alerting and fixing the server or calling your tool and email provider support.

Then, proceed with focused troubleshooting:

• Check Email Client Status
• Account status: Ensure their account hasn’t been deactivated or something weird.
• Troubleshoot the client
• Possibly re-create the mail profile if it seems corrupted. This can flush out sync issues.
• Spam/Filtering: Check to see if emails were sent to Junk or filtered. Perhaps a rule applied to them. Also, check the server-side quarantine, if applicable.
• Outgoing issues (bounces): Look at the bounce message. It often explains the reason, such as “Mailbox not found” (perhaps the recipient’s address is incorrect) or “Blocked by policy.”

You should always respond to such tickets in an investigative, encouraging, and prioritized manner.

If the fix requires time, keep the user in loop and provide alternatives.

6. Employees Onboarding and Offboarding Request

The IT help desk has to handle employees onboarding and onboarding gracefully.

Every time someone new joins or leaves, IT needs to do the groundwork or cleanup.

Onboarding typically includes:

• Creating user accounts
• Setting email address
• Adding employees to relevant groups
• Preparing hardware
• Setting up new desk

While offboarding typically includes:

• Disabling accounts
• Collecting equipment
• Preserving data (like email archives)

How to handle onboarding and offboarding tickets:

Consistency and thoroughness are key. You don’t want the new person showing up with no email or missing permissions.

Having onboarding and offboarding checklists helps immensely.

Once everything is set, test the essentials. Send a test email to their new address and ensure they have access to critical apps.

Transparent communication is also required.

Ask employees if the provided tools are working properly and if they know where to begin with their work, or in case of offboarding mention about critical company policies (such as not disclosing company secrets).

And make sure to double check after a week that nothing was missed.

Good onboarding and offboarding also prevents future tickets. Doing it right from the beginning is efficient. So, treat onboarding requests as project tasks.

7. Positive Feedback or Compliment

Not all tickets are problems! Sometimes customers or employees write in just to say something nice.

Maybe they loved a feature, or a support agent helped them greatly previously and they’re expressing thanks, or they just want to give kudos.

Or it might be from your boss, who knows 🤷

It’s basically the opposite of a complaint and a golden opportunity to strengthen goodwill.

How to positive feedback tickets:

• Express your gratitude for their feedback. Let them know it made your day.
• If they complement a specific team member or feature, make sure to pass that along internally.
• Keep the tone warm and maybe a bit less formal (since it’s a positive vibe).
• A long reply might not be necessary, but a personalized thank you is nice.
• If the compliment is huge (like they credit a support agent for saving their business day), you might even escalate it to a testimonial or ask if you can use it for marketing purposes. Initially, though, just thank them.

Final Thoughts

To conclude this guide on help desk ticket examples:

• Show empathy and use a customer-centric tone.
• Provide clear solutions or next steps.
• Own the problem and do follow up.
• Be polite and professional, adjusting your tone according to the context (casual for positive situations and formal for serious ones).
• Always tailor your approach to your company’s specific policies and the individual situation.
• Wherever possible, aim to exceed expectations.

I hope this guide provides you with a solid foundation and inspiration for turning each ticket into an opportunity to deliver excellent service.