Documentation for JIRA 5.0. Documentation for other versions of JIRA is available too.

JIRA allows you to attach files to an issue.

To be able to attach files, your JIRA administrator must have enabled file attachments. 

On this page:

Attaching a File to an Issue

(info) To attach files to an issue, you need the Create Attachments project permission in that issue's project.

To attach a file to a JIRA issue:

  1. Open the JIRA issue to which you wish to attach a file.
  2. From the 'More Actions' menu, select Attach File.
  3. The 'Attach Files' dialog box will appear:

  4. Click the Browse button to search for your files.

    • You can attach more than one file at a time: after you select a file, it will appear at the top of the 'Attach Files' dialog box, followed by each subsequent file you add via the 'Browse' button.
    • If you use Firefox 3.6 or later or Chrome browsers, you can select multiple files in the browser dialog box which appears after clicking the 'Browse' button.
    • If you select a file by mistake, clear its check box to prevent the file being attached to the issue.
    • By default, the maximum size of any one file is 10MB, although this limit can be customised by your JIRA administrator. See Configuring File Attachments for more information.
    • File names cannot contain any of these characters: '\', '/','\"', '%', ':', '$', '?', '*'.
  5. (Optional) Enter a comment about the files(s) you are attaching.
    (info) If you enter a comment, then you can also set the security level for the comment by selecting the appropriate value from the padlock icon dropdown. The security level for the comment is 'All Users' by default.
  6. Click the Attach button. All selected files will be attached to the issue.

Viewing an Image Gallery

By default, JIRA displays image files (ie. GIFs, JPGs, PNGs) attached to an issue, including any screenshots, as 'thumbnails' on the issue.

Screenshot: Viewing attached image files on an issue

(info) If your 'JIRA administrator' has disabled 'Thumbnails' in JIRA's Attachment Settings, then JIRA will not display thumbnails of image files on an issue and instead, they will be part of the list of attached files.

You can click on an image's thumbnail to preview a larger version of it in a popup. If multiple images are attached to an issue, click the left and right arrows at the sides of an image preview to see previews of the adjacent attached images.

Screenshot: Previewing attached image files on an issue

Sorting Attachments

You can sort the list of attachments on JIRA issues in ascending or descending order according to the attachment file name or date of attachment to the issue.

To sort your list of attachments:

  1. Open a JIRA issue with attachments.
  2. Click the down-arrow icon to the right of the Attachments section and select the required sort criteria or order options provided in the list.

    (info) Your final sort criteria and order options will also apply to image thumbnails and all subsequent issues viewed.

Accessing ZIP-format File Contents

When viewing an issue, JIRA allows you to browse and access the contents of any ZIP-format file (such as those with a '.zip' or '.jar' file name extension) attached to an issue.

To browse the contents of a zipped attachment and access its files:

  1. Open a JIRA issue with an attached zipped file.
  2. Click the right-arrow icon to the left of the zipped file's name.
  3. The contents of the zipped file are listed. From this expanded list, you can access the zipped file's individual files by clicking their linked names or you can download the whole zipped file in its entirety by clicking the Download Zip link.

    (info) If a file is located within a subdirectory of the zipped file, then the path to that file is indicated in the content of the zipped file. For example, the content of Files.zip listed in the screenshot above shows that File 5.txt is located within the Folder 1 subdirectory of Files.zip.

(info) If your 'JIRA Administrator' has disabled 'ZIP support' in JIRA's Attachment Settings, then this feature will not be available and you must download the zip file to your computer before accessing its individual files.

Exporting All Attachments as a ZIP File

To download all the files attached to an issue (including any screenshots) as a single ZIP file:

  1. Open the JIRA issue from which you wish to export all attachments as a zip file.
  2. Click the down-arrow icon to the right of the Attachments section and select Download All from the dropdown menu.

Removing a File Attachment from an Issue

(info) To remove attachments from an an issue, you need either of the following the project permissions in that issue's project:

  • 'Delete Own Attachments' — to delete files which you have added to the issue.
  • 'Delete All Attachments' — to delete files which anyone has added to the issue.

To remove a file attachment from a JIRA issue:

  1. Open the JIRA issue from which you wish to remove a file.
  2. Click the down-arrow icon to the right of the 'Attachments' section and select Manage Attachments from the dropdown menu.

    The 'Manage Attachments' page will appear:

    (info) Note: "Only users with administrative privileges to remove an issue can remove attachments" indicates that any user with the appropriate 'Delete Issues' project permissions can remove all attachments of an issue they delete, even if they do not have the specific project permissions (above) to delete these attachments via the 'Manage Attachments' page.
  3. Locate the file you wish to delete and click the Delete Attachment icon:



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