Assign users to groups, project roles, and applications

When a user is created in Jira, they'll be automatically added to the default user group for your installation (jira-users, jira-software-users, jira-servicedesk-users). As an administrator, you can choose to create a more granular security model by creating multiple user groups that grant different levels of access within the Jira instance (see more about user groups in the managing groups section).

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This section will give you instructions on how to assign permissions by adding users to groups and assigning a user to a project role.

You must have the Jira administrator or Jira system administrator global permissions to manage users in Jira applications.

Add a user to a group

The best way to give a user access to specific Jira functions is to add a user to a predefined user group.

To add a user to a group
  1. Select Administration () User Management to view the user list.
  2. Find the user in the user list using the filter form at the top of the page.
  3. Select Groups in the Operations column.
  4. Use the search box to find the group that you want to add the user to. You can add more than one group at a time in that search field if you need to add the user to multiple groups.
  5. Select Join selected groups and the user will be added.

Assign a project role

One way to give users access to a project role is to grant access at the user level. If you have fewer than 50 Jira users, you can manage user permissions by manually assigning users to a project role. If you have more than 50 users, we recommend adding users to a group that can then be assigned to a project role, as explained above.

To assign access to project role on the user level
  1. Select Administration () User Management to view the user list.
  2. Find the user in the user list using the filter form at the top of the page.
  3. Select Project Roles in the Operations column.
  4. Select Edit project roles to add / remove a user from a project role. On this screen, you can also see the Groups that provide access to each project role.
  5. Check the box for the project role that you want to give access to (Administrators, Developers, or Users) and select Save to finish.

Assign a user to an application

You may need to give an existing user access to an application, or remove access to an application. Application access can be assigned and removed in the User browser. When you assign a user to an application in this manner, they will be added to that applications default group. When you remove application access, the user is removed from all the groups that could grant them access to that application. 

To assign access to an application
  1. Open the User browser.
  2. Select the user you wish to assign or remove access from. The user is displayed and the applications they are assigned to are displayed as checked under Applications and groups.
  3. Check the box for the application/s you want to assign to a user. Unselect the box to remove access. Note that the changes are made in real time, as you add or remove access, the group memberships change.
Last modified on Oct 7, 2022

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