---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Incident resolution and closure

# Incident resolution and closure {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Australia
* 
* Updated March 12, 2026
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

An incident is considered resolved when you provide the user with a temporary workaround
or a permanent solution for the issue.

When an incident is resolved, the escalators stop, and the caller can review the resolution. If
the caller is satisfied with the resolution, the caller can close the incident or the incident
is auto-closed after a certain time based on the incident auto-close properties.

If the cause of an incident is understood but cannot be fixed, the service desk can [create a problem](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/8jV1mc8YDoJDrlyueHCFfw "Create a problem, change, or request record from an incident.") from the incident to find
the root cause of the issue. The problem is then evaluated through the problem management
process.

If the incident creates the need for a change in IT services, the service desk can generate a
[change from the incident](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/8jV1mc8YDoJDrlyueHCFfw "Create a problem, change, or request record from an incident."), which is
evaluated through the change management process.

## Incident closure

You can configure incident properties to auto-close an incident.

Your organization can also generate customer satisfaction surveys when incidents are
closed. Surveys allow the service desk to gather information about the quality of their
service directly from the user.
* **[Resolve and close an incident](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/fXQXA0YCq_h2uS6adFtIFA)**   
  When the service is restored by rectifying the issue that resulted for an incident, you can set the incident state as resolved. If the user is satisfied with the resolution, the user can close the incident or the incident is auto-closed after a certain time based on the incident auto-close properties.
* **[Configure incidents to close automatically](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/GtrvW~uA6emUVLpSiQKWOw)**   
  Close incidents automatically based on the last updated date or the resolution date of the incident by configuring incident properties. You can also mention the number of days system must wait before initiating the auto-closing functionality.
* **[Close multiple incidents from list](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9xDWR8pHhH~gXvWA3udN3w)**   
  Close multiple incidents from the incident list simultaneously that can have the same resolution code.
* **[Create a UI action to close multiple incidents](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/S5Jo2MQ~3fpRZQLMeQQ8cA)**   
  Create a UI action to close multiple incidents at once from the Actions list in the list view.