Case categories help you keep your support cases organised, easy to find, and easy to act on.
They let you classify customer service cases into categories and sub-categories, set important details like SLAs and checklists, and even use them to filter reports and work stacks for better visibility and control.
This guide gives you everything in one place:
How to create new categories and sub-categories
How to manage, edit, and disable them
How to attach checklists and configure SLAs
Why Case Categories Matter
Think of categories as folders for your cases:
Quickly see what types of cases come up most often
Attach checklists so your team never misses a step
Tie SLAs (Service Level Agreements) to sub-categories to track timelines
Use categories for reporting, filtering, and work stacks
👉 Pro Tips
Start simple: Create a few main categories first, then add sub-categories as needed.
Use SLAs wisely: They help you see which cases need attention (amber = warning, red = overdue).
Keep it clean: Disable old categories to avoid clutter.
Checklists are gold: Standardise workflows so no task is forgotten.
Where to Find Case Categories
Head to the Settings area ➡️ Service ➡️ Case Categories.
You’ll now see a full list of categories and sub-categories.
How to Create a Main Category
Click New Case Category.
Enter your category name in the Name field.
Leave “This is a root category” checked (this makes it a main category).
Skip SLA Hours (these go in sub-categories).
Skip Team (Sub-Category), and the others that specify sub-category, set them when creating your sub-category.
Tick Internal Only if this category is for internal use only (no customer contact).
Click Save.
Your new category will now show up under All Case Categories.
How to Create a Sub-Category
Sub-categories add more detail under a main category and can have their own SLAs, checklists, and settings.
From All Case Categories, click New Case Category.
Enter your sub-category name.
Choose a Parent Category from the drop-down.
Set SLA Hours if needed:
Use
hfor hours ormfor minutes (no spaces).Example:
24h= 1 day;1440m= 1 day.Cases turn amber in the last 24 hours of SLA, and red when overdue.
Adjust extra fields:
Team: Select the specific team for which the sub-category should appear; otherwise, skip this step if you want it to appear for all teams.
Priority: Default case priority.
Request Type: Choose if used.
Deductible: Deduct time from maintenance plans.
Internal Only: Mark for internal-only cases, which are hidden on the Customer Portal.
Disabled: Hides this sub-category from use.
**Maintenance Enabled: Allows time logging to maintenance plans.
**Disconnection Type: Use if tracking disconnections.
Add a Checklist (optional):
Go to Tab 2 and create checklist tasks.
Learn more: How to add a checklist to a case category.
Click Save.
Your sub-category will appear under its parent in the category list and show up in drop-downs when creating new cases.
Note: The fields' Maintenance Enabled' and 'Disconnection Type' only appear after you have saved the Sub-Category.
Learn More About SLAs
Want to go deeper into SLA setup and advanced controls? Check out:
📘 Working with Advanced SLA Profiles - fine-tune SLAs based on case details.
📘 Understanding SLA & Non-SLA Case Statuses - learn how to pause SLA timers and configure “On Hold” statuses.
Disabling a Category or Sub-Category
The activity status of a category or sub-category is shown here.
Want to clean things up?
Click a category or sub-category.
Tick Disabled.
To see all inactive categories, select Show Inactive at the bottom of the screen.
Once disabled, the Inactive category will no longer appear in the Case Window in the Category/Sub-category dropdown.
Bulk Import Case Categories
Admins with Data Manager access can import multiple categories at once. Perfect for large setups or bulk changes.
FAQs
Q. Can I export all of our case categories, including SLAs?
Yes! You can easily export them to an Excel file:
Go to Settings ➡️ Data Manager ➡️ Case Categories ➡️ Populated.
This will generate a spreadsheet of all your categories and their SLA details.
Q. Can I delete sub-categories?
Technically yes, but we don’t recommend deleting them if cases are linked. Here’s what to know:
To delete: Click the X next to a sub-category in:
Settings ➡️ Service ➡️Case Categories (expand to see sub-categories).
Recommended option: Disable the sub-category instead.
This keeps your data for reporting purposes and hides the sub-category from future use.
To see disabled items, tick Show Inactive at the bottom of the Case Categories page.