Create issues

The building blocks of any project are issues. Issues act as the packets of work that travel through their respective workflows within their projects until the work is completed. There are different types of issues within Jira Work Management, including epics, tasks, and subtasks. An issue can have child issues that can be assigned and tracked individually.

On this page, you'll learn more about creating and converting issues and child issues. You can also import multiple issues via the CSV import.

Learn how to import multiple issues from a CSV file.

For those just getting started, head over to our admin docs to learn how to configure issue types

Before you begin

You need the Create Issue project permission for the issue's relevant project. The type of issues you can create will depend on the issue types your admin has enabled for your project.

Create an issue

To create an issue anywhere in Jira:

  1. Select Create.

  2. Add a Summary for the issue.

  3. Complete all required fields and any other fields that you want.

    1. Optional: To change which fields appear when you create an issue, select Actions (•••), then Show fields. Select Custom fields from the dropdown menu, then choose the fields you want. This will update the fields in the issue you’re currently creating as well any future issues created.

    2. Optional: To create other issues with the same Project and Issue Type, select the Create another issue checkbox. Depending on your configuration and issue creation history, some fields may be pre-populated. Review these before creating the new issue.

  4. When you're finished, select Create

You can quickly add multiple issues to your project from the board. To do this, select + Create in the left-most board column, complete the summary and save. However, if you have any mandatory fields for issues you create, selecting + Create will take you to the Create dialog.

Clone an issue

Clone an issue to quickly create a duplicate of it in the same project. The cloned issue contains most of the same details stored in the original issue, like the summary, affected versions, and components. Some details aren't cloned, like time logged, comments, history, and links to Confluence pages. The issue status also returns to the first step of the corresponding workflow, and the resolutions are cleared. The cloned issue can be linked to the original issue, but doesn't have to be.

To clone an issue:

  1. Open the issue.

  2. Select Actions (•••), then Clone.

  3. If you want to, edit the cloned issue's Summary.

  4. If applicable to the issue you're cloning, you can also select:

    • Attachments to copy existing attachments

    • Subtasks to copy existing subtasks

    • Links to copy any existing linked issues

    • Clone sprint value(s), including current and closed sprint values

  5. Select Clone.

Create child issues

In Jira Work Management, we use “child” and “parent” to describe related issues. If you have a task with a related subtask, that task would be considered a parent issue while the subtask would be a child issue. Similarly, a task could be a child issue of an epic.

To create a child issue:

  1. Open the issue you’d like to be the parent issue.

  2. Select Add a child issue () under the issue summary. If you are in a team-managed project and want to create a subtask, select Create subtask ().

  3. Add an issue summary and select Create.

Work with issue types

Change the issue type in the issue view

After you create an issue, you may want to change its type to better represent the work that needs to be done. For example, you may want to turn an issue that was raised as a task into a bug.

Learn more about issue types

To change the issue type:

  1. Open the issue you're working with.

  2. Click the issue type icon in the top-left corner next to the issue key.

  3. Choose the new issue type.

Change the issue type in the issue view

If there are different fields in the new issue type, or if it has a different workflow, we'll open an additional screen to help you complete the change.

Convert a subtask to an issue

If you’re in a company managed project:

  1. Navigate to the subtask issue you would like to convert.

  2. Select Actions (•••), then Convert to Issue.

  3. In the Step 1. Select Issue Type screen, select a new issue type (i.e. a standard issue type) and select Next.

  4. If the subtask's current status is not an allowed status for the new issue type, the Step 2. Select New Status screen is displayed. Select a new status and select Next.

  5. In the Step 3. Update Fields screen, you will be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message 'All fields will be updated automatically'. Select Next.

  6. The Step 4. Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the issue, select Finish.

  7. The issue will be displayed. You will see that it is no longer a subtask, that is, there is no longer a parent issue number displayed at the top of the screen.

If you’re in a team-managed project:

  1. Open the issue and select Actions (•••), then Move.

  2. In the Operation Details screen, select Task and select Next.

  3. You will then be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message ‘All field values will be retained’. Select Next.

  4. The Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the issue, select Confirm.

  5. Once the issue is migrated, select Acknowledge.

Convert an issue to a subtask

You can't convert an issue to a subtask if the issue has subtasks of its own. You first need to convert the issue's subtasks to standalone issues, then you can convert them to subtasks of another issue if needed.

If you’re in a company managed project:

  1. Open the issue and select on the issue type icon at the top-left of the issue.

  2. Select Sub-task from the list of available issue types.

  3. Select the parent issue for the new subtask.

  4. In the Step 1. Select Parent and Sub-task Type screen, select the parent issue for the new subtask and select Next.

  5. If the issue’s current status is not an allowed status for the new sub-task, the Step 2. Select New Status screen is displayed. Select a new status and select Next.

  6. In the Step 3. Update Fields screen, you will be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message 'All fields will be updated automatically'. Select Next.

  7. The Step 4. Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the issue, select Finish.

  8. The new sub-task will be displayed. You will now see a parent issue number displayed at the top of the screen.

If you’re in a team-managed project:

  1. Open the issue and select Actions (•••), then Move.

  2. In the Operation Details screen, select Sub-task, select a parent issue, and select Next.

  3. You will then be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message ‘All field values will be retained’. Select Next.

  4. The Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the issue, select Confirm.

  5. Once the issue is migrated, select Acknowledge.

Delete an issue

To delete an issue, you must have the Delete issues permission in the project where the issue was created.

To delete an issue:

  1. Open the issue you want to delete.

  2. Select Actions (•••), then Delete.

 

Additional Help