How to stop being added as a Watcher when working on issues

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Platform Notice: Data Center - This article applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this knowledge base article was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center knowledge base articles for non-Data Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Summary

For every new issue a user creates or works on, they are automatically added to the watcher's list.

The autowatch feature is enabled by default.

Environment

Jira Data Center.

Solution

Disabling the autowatch for a specific Jira user account

Jira users can disable the autowatch feature for their account settings by following the steps below:

  1. Go to Profile by clicking on the icon in the top right corner:
  2. Scroll down to Preferences and click on the Pencil icon:

  3. Set the Autowatch property to Disabled:
    Jira's Update User Preferences page.  The Autowatch setting is highlighted and set to Enabled, meaning the user will automatically watch issues they create or interact with.  Other settings shown include Email Type (HTML), Language (English Netherlands), Time Zone (Jira default), My Changes (Notify me), Sharing (Unshared), Keyboard shortcuts (Enabled), and External links (Open in new tab).

Setting the autowatch option to disabled by default for all Jira users

Autowatch can be disabled by default by the Jira System Administrators in Jira Administration > System > User Interface > Default User Preferences:
Jira's Administration - User Default Settings page.  The settings displayed include Default outgoing email format (html), Number of issues displayed per Issue Navigator page (50), Default sharing for filters and dashboards (Private), Notify users of their own changes (No), and Autowatch own issues (Yes). The User Default Settings section is highlighted, and the Autowatch own Issues setting is circled.  The left sidebar shows the Jira administration menu, and the top navigation bar displays standard Jira options.


Last modified on Jan 22, 2025

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