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Mark a conversation Done or reopen it

Mark Done when you've done your part — most replies should ride the Send and Close shortcut. If a customer replies to a Done conversation, it reopens automatically. You can also reopen manually.

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Mark a conversation Done or reopen it

Marking a conversation Done is how you say “I’ve done my part.” It moves the conversation out of your Active inbox and into the Done tab, where it waits to either auto-archive (after the resolution timer) or reopen if the customer replies.

How to mark Done

Several options, in rough order of how often you’ll use them:

  • Cmd + Shift + Enter — When you’re sending a reply — sends and marks Done in one step
  • D key (with conversation focused) — When the conversation is already done from your side, no reply needed
  • Click Done button — The mouse-friendly version of D
  • Bulk Done from list — Closing several conversations at once — see Bulk actions

Send and Close (Cmd-Shift-Enter) is the bread-and-butter shortcut. Most replies are also resolutions — answer, send and close, move on.

What happens when you mark Done

  • Conversation moves from Active → Done
  • Disappears from your Active tab
  • Appears in the Done tab
  • The resolution timer starts — typically 1-3 days, after which the conversation auto-archives
  • Engagement state is preserved (Engaged or Pending) but no longer actionable

Done is NOT terminal

This is the most important thing to understand: marking Done does not lock the conversation.

If the customer replies — even days later, even after you’ve forgotten about it — the conversation reopens automatically:

  • Status flips back to Active
  • Engagement state flips to Pending (their message means the ball’s back in our court)
  • Resolution timer resets
  • The conversation reappears at the top of your Active list

So Done means “I’m finished from my side, but the door’s open if you need more.” It’s exactly the right resting state for resolved conversations.

Reopening manually

If you marked a conversation Done by mistake, or you’ve decided you need to reach out again proactively, you can reopen it manually:

  1. Find the conversation in the Done tab
  2. Open it
  3. Press D again (toggles Done off, back to Active)
  4. Or click the Reopen / Move to Active button

Reopening manually does not change engagement state. If the conversation was Engaged when you marked Done (you replied last, customer hadn’t responded), it stays Engaged. If the customer had written but you’d marked Done without replying, it remains Pending.

What about Archived?

If the resolution timer has expired and the conversation is Archived, you cannot reopen it. Archived is the true terminal state. The customer can no longer reply — if they reach out again, a brand-new conversation is created.

If you find yourself wishing you could reopen an archived conversation often, the resolution timer is probably set too short. See Configure the resolution timer.

Why “Done” instead of “Closed”

Most ticketing tools call this “Closed” and treat it as terminal — once closed, the customer must open a new ticket. Atender deliberately uses “Done” to signal the difference: this is your status, not the conversation’s permanent state. The customer’s reply is what closes the loop, not your click.

This matches how customers actually behave. They don’t think of conversations as “tickets” with finite lifecycles. If they have a follow-up question two hours later, they reply to the same email — and you should be replying back in the same conversation, with all the context still in place. That’s exactly what Done + auto-reopen gives you.

Quick reference

  • Reply and mark Done — Cmd + Shift + Enter
  • Mark Done without replying — D
  • Reopen a Done conversation — D (toggles back to Active)
  • Reopen by replying — Just send a reply — Active is automatic

See also

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