Archive inactive projects
Identify projects to archive
You don't have to prepare a project in any way before archiving it. If needed, you can restore it at any time later.
To access project archiving in Instance optimizer:
In the upper-right corner of your Jira application, select Jira administration, and then select System.
In the sidebar, navigate to the Instance optimizer section and select Overview.
In the Project archiving, select View projects. This will open a new page with the list of all projects on your instance, where you can identify the ones that are appropriate for archiving.
You’ll see a dashboard that lists all projects you can access, along with key details. Use the table’s sort, filter, and search controls to quickly find projects. For example, sort by Last edited to surface inactive projects.
At the top of the dashboard, you’ll find a summary showing how many projects are recommended for archiving and the total number of issues in those projects.
You can see the following data on the dashboard:
Name: Project name
Key: Project key
Project type: Type of the project
Project lead: Designated lead user
Project category: If assigned
Last edited: Date of the most recent change to any issue in the project
Issue count: Total issues in the project from the search index. The count might be slightly delayed and not always reflect real-time changes.
Status: Active or Inactive, based on inactivity threshold:
Inactive: No issue in the project has been edited within the configured inactivity period (default: 365 days). The project is recommended for archiving.
Active: The project doesn't meet the inactivity criteria.
Actions: Quick actions available, such as archive, edit, and delete.
For example, if you find projects whose last issue update occurred two or more years ago, those projects will likely remain inactive in the future.
After you archive a project, it becomes restricted, and both the project and its issues no longer appear in pickers or search. All issues become read-only and accessible only with a direct link. For more details on what happens to a project after you archive it, check out Archiving a project
Change the inactivity threshold
The inactivity threshold defines when a project is marked as inactive. A project becomes Inactive if no issue has been edited for more than the configured number of days (default: 365 days). To change this threshold, update the property value (in days):
Open the Jira application properties file in your Jira home directory.
Add or update the following property (set the value in days).
jira.optimizer.plugin.projects.archiving.inactivity.threshold.daysRestart Jira for the change to take effect.
More on advanced Jira application configuration
Archive, delete, or edit projects
From the dashboard, you can manage individual projects using the Actions column:
Archive: Retain all project data, but remove the project from active operations and listings. Use this option to preserve project history without keeping the project active.
Delete: Permanently remove the project and all its issues. This action cannot be undone—make sure to back up or export any important data before deleting.
Edit: Update project details such as name, lead, or category. Changing the project key may be restricted based on project type and permissions.
Select the action that best fits your retention and cleanup requirements.
Schedule notifications for projects archiving
Admins receive in-app notifications when Instance Optimizer identifies inactive projects that are recommended for archiving.
To stop receiving these notifications, turn off Enable archiving recommendations and all related notifications in your settings. This only controls notifications, it doesn't affect automated project scans or dashboard access. Notification preferences are set individually for each admin.
Change the notification schedule
You can control how often Jira sends archiving recommendation notifications by setting a cron expression in the application properties file. The schedule uses the format:minute hour day_of_month month day_of_week
Each value is separated by a space. For example, the default value 0 0 8 ? * MON sends notifications every Monday at 8:00 a.m. How to construct a cron expression
To update the schedule:
Open the Jira application properties file in your Jira home directory.
Add or update the following property:
jira.optimizer.plugin.projects.archiving.notification.cronRestart Jira for the change to take effect.
More on advanced Jira application configuration
Automate project archiving
To automate project archiving, first use the following endpoint to get a list of projects and their statuses (active or inactive):
GET /rest/projects-archiving/latest/projectsThen, archive the inactive projects by calling the Jira Data Center REST API. By combining these endpoints, you can build an automated workflow to regularly archive inactive projects.
Explore Jira Data Center REST API