Zendesk to Intercom Migration: The Multilingual Guide

Thinking about moving from Zendesk to Intercom? You’re in good company. Many teams are making the switch to leverage Intercom's superior AI capabilities and unified workspace.

But for multilingual teams, there's a major concern: "What happens to my translations?"

With Zendesk recently sunsetting its native DeepL app (as of October 2025), many support leads are finding themselves at a crossroads. If you're migrating, you don't just need to move your articles; you need a sustainable way to manage 5, 10, or 20+ languages without the manual overhead.

This guide covers how to migrate your multilingual knowledge base from Zendesk to Intercom and how to set up a translation workflow that actually scales.

Why Teams are Migrating (The "Translation Gap")

Historically, Zendesk users relied on the DeepL integration to handle quick translations. However, with that app being phased out in favor of browser extensions, the workflow has become fragmented.

Intercom, by contrast, has built a robust "Articles" ecosystem designed for speed. When you combine Intercom's native migration tools with an automated translation partner like TranslateDesk, you aren't just moving your content—you're upgrading your entire localization engine.

Step 1: Exporting from Zendesk

Intercom makes the initial import surprisingly easy. You don't need to manually copy-paste every article.

In Intercom: Go to Articles in your sidebar.
Import: Click the "Import" button and select "Zendesk".
Authenticate: Enter your Zendesk URL and credentials.
Sync: Intercom will begin pulling your articles.

The Catch: Translation Sync

Here is the important part: While Intercom's importer is excellent for your primary language, migrating existing translations can be hit-or-miss depending on how they were structured in Zendesk.

Pro Tip: Most teams find it faster to migrate the primary language (e.g., English) and then use an automated tool to regenerate the translations in Intercom. This ensures that your Intercom internal links and formatting are perfectly preserved from day one.

Step 2: Setting Up Your Multilingual Help Center in Intercom

Before you start translating, you need to enable your target languages in Intercom.

Navigate to Settings > Help Center > Basics.
Scroll to Supported Languages.
Add every language you previously supported in Zendesk.

Step 3: Automating the Translation (The TranslateDesk Way)

In Zendesk, you likely managed translations through a mix of manual work and the DeepL app. In Intercom, you can automate the entire cycle.

TranslateDesk was built specifically to solve the "Intercom Translation Gap." Instead of exporting CSVs or using a browser extension for every single sentence, TranslateDesk syncs directly with your Intercom Articles.

How to Translate 100+ Articles in 5 Minutes:

Connect: Link TranslateDesk to your Intercom workspace.
Scan: The tool automatically detects your English articles and identifies which ones are missing translations in your target languages.
Bulk Translate: Select all articles and hit "Translate."
Preserve Formatting: Unlike copy-pasting, TranslateDesk keeps your images, videos, callouts, and internal links intact.
One-Click Publish: Push the translations directly to your Intercom Help Center.

Zendesk vs. Intercom + TranslateDesk: A Comparison

Feature	Zendesk (Native/App)	Intercom + TranslateDesk
Translation Speed	Manual or per-article app	Bulk (100+ articles at once)
Link Integrity	Often breaks during migration	Links mapped to Intercom IDs
Formatting	High risk of CSS/HTML breaks	Native Intercom block preservation
Update Sync	Hard to track "outdated" content	Automatic "Out-of-Sync" alerts
Cost	Professional translators ($$$)	AI-powered automation ($)

Common Migration Pitfalls to Avoid

1. The "Broken Link" Nightmare

When you migrate from Zendesk, your articles get new IDs. If your translations contain hardcoded links to old Zendesk URLs, your customers will hit 404s. Solution: TranslateDesk automatically handles link mapping within Intercom so your multilingual articles point to the correct internal pages.

2. Losing SEO Metadata

Don't forget your Meta Titles and Descriptions. Solution: Ensure your translation tool handles the "behind the scenes" SEO data, not just the visible body text.

3. Images and Localized Screenshots

Sometimes a screenshot in English doesn't work for a Japanese user. Solution: In Intercom, you can easily swap out specific images in the translated version while keeping the rest of the layout synced via TranslateDesk.

Ready to make the move?

The end of the Zendesk DeepL app doesn't have to mean more manual work for your team. It’s an opportunity to modernize. By migrating to Intercom and automating with TranslateDesk, you can maintain a world-class, multilingual support experience with zero additional headcount.

Want to see how your Zendesk articles look in Intercom? Try TranslateDesk for Intercom today and translate your first 3 articles for free.