How to disable automatic watchers on Jira issues

Platform Notice: Cloud - This article applies to Atlassian products on the cloud platform.

Summary

Disable the automatic addition of watchers to Jira issues.

Diagnosis

In Jira, users are automatically added as watchers to issues they create or work on, which can be beneficial in many cases. However, there may be situations where you need to disable this feature. This article explains how to stop users from being automatically added as watchers on Jira issues.

Cause

The autowatch feature is enabled by default, leading to users being automatically added as watchers.

Solution

There are two methods to disable the autowatch feature: Globally and Per User Setting.


Method 1: Disable Autowatch Globally for all users

To disable autowatch for all users by default, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Settings (Gear icon) > System.

  2. Select Default user preferences under the User Interface section from the left menu.

  3. Edit the default values, uncheck Autowatch own issues and click Update

This will disable the autowatch feature for all users by default.


Method 2: Enable/Disable Autowatch for Specific Users

If there's a need to disable autowatch only for specific users or to enable it for certain users after disabling it globally, follow these steps. Note that these steps must be performed by the user as they involve personal settings.

  1. Click on the user icon > Personal settings.


  2. Under the Watch your issues section, you will find three options:
    • Enabled
    • Disabled
    • Inherit from global settings 
  3. Select the option that suits your needs and click Save changes.


User-specific settings will take precedence over the global configuration for the autowatch feature. This allows customization of the feature for individual users as required.


Last modified on Jan 20, 2025

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