---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Reopen an incident in Service Operations Workspace

# Reopen an incident in Service Operations Workspace {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
Reopen a resolved incident from the incident record in Service Operations Workspace (SOW).

## Before you begin

An incident must be created and set to Resolved state. For more information, see [Create an incident in Service Operations Workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/DX7Hz9WAFvHCv6apiiNpGg "Track the investigation, possible solutions, and resolution of a problem for a customer.").

Role required: itil or sn_incident_write

## About this task

An agent with incident write (sn_incident_write) access can view and use the Reopen option on the incident record page in SOW to reopen any incident that is assigned to them or other agents. However, on the Portal UI's such as Service Portal and Employee Service Center (ESC) portal, an agent can only view and use the Reopen option to reopen an incident if they are the caller or Opened by (Requester)
end user for that incident.

Both the caller and the Opened by (Requester) users can view and use the Reopen incident option on the Portal UIs, such as Service Portal and Employee Service Center (ESC) portal to reopen a resolved incident.

If an incident state is set to Closed, the incident cannot be reopened. However, if you request to reopen the incident by replying to the resolution notification email, a new incident is opened with
selected field values that are copied from the closed incident. For more information on reopening an incident, see [Reopening an incident](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/D46KmMpObhQpS365qo_beg "Reopen a resolved incident from the incident’s resolution notification email or from the incident form in Incident Management to further investigate an issue that is still impacting you.").

## Procedure

1. Open an incident with Resolved state.
2. Select Reopen.  
   A dialog-box opens.
3. Enter Additional comments (Customer visible).
4. Select Reopen.

## Result

A success notification message pop-up appears on the banner. The incident record state is set to In progress.
**Related concepts**   

* [Viewing incident record information using the Contextual side panel](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Is~pVulzhychaejFJSbfIg "View the incident record information, such as caller details and assets, from the Contextual side panel. Use this information to help manage an incident more efficiently.")
* [Remedial actions using Playbook](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/xJ66u1YJJn1tqsmwiBx5tQ "Resolve the CI-related issues using the remedial actions using Playbook in the Investigate tab.")
* [Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace reference](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/EEy54zsTSXlJtO7t~l_vVg "Reference topics provide additional information about Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace.")  
**Related tasks**   

* [Create an incident in Service Operations Workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/DX7Hz9WAFvHCv6apiiNpGg "Track the investigation, possible solutions, and resolution of a problem for a customer.")
* [View and update incident information on the Overview tab](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/6ZJ5lZc63TAqEOfGcrEQHg "View and update the incident information, such as summary, impact, cause, and resolution, from the Overview tab. This incident information helps you analyze the issue and resolve the incident quickly.")
* [Work on an incident list page in Service Operations Workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/JEehtYaqJl5l8F9K1_u6YQ "Perform various actions on an incident from the incident list page in Service Operations Workspace (SOW).")
* [Work on an incident record in Service Operations Workspace](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/QurZTkwKnKIiMg5xEkZyDA "If resolving the incident involves creating a problem, change, service request, and so on, you can create them directly from the incident record.")
* [Close resolved incident](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/73gjz_3ufF~D~TSgW5EVIg "Close a resolved incident when the user is satisfied with the provided resolution.")