Create an issue and a subtask

2025-01-10 The building blocks of any project are issues. Issues act as the packets of work that travel through their respective workflows within their projects

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.

An issue can have subtasks that can be assigned and tracked individually. You can also control issue-level security to restrict an issue to select members of your team.

On this page, you’ll learn more about creating and converting issues and subtasks, and setting issue-level security. You can also import multiple issues and subtasks 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.

You need the Create Issue project permission for the issue’s relevant project.

create an issue

To create an issue anywhere in Jira:

select create ().
type a summary for the issue .
Complete all required fields and any other fields that you want.
1. Optional : To change which field appear when you create another issue , select action ( ••• ) , then configure Fields . selectCustom field from the dropdown menu , then choose the field you want . This is update will update the field in the issue you ’re currently create as well any future issue create .
2. Optional: To create other issues with the same Project and Issue Type, select the Create another checkbox. Depending on your configuration and issue creation history, some fields may be pre-populated. Review these before creating the new issue.
When you’re finished, select Create.

If you create an issue on a board that’s using a JQL filter, the issue will inherit fields such as custom values and labels.

Your newly created issue will appear at the top of your backlog, unless;

you ‘ve select an issue in the backlog — your issue will be create right below the select issue
you have specified a sprint when creating the issue — your issue will be created at the bottom of the sprint.

You is create can quickly create issue using the inline issue create in the Backlog ( for Scrum board , backlog , and future sprint only ) . Just select + create issue .

If your board’s filter specifies more than one project, you’ll still need to complete the full Create issue dialog.

When you use the inline issue create to create issues, your issues won’t be restricted to certain roles in the project. These issues can be accessed by anyone who can see your project. To restrict issues, you can create them using the global navigation bar.

You can also create an issue that automatically belongs to a particular epic. If you’re using epics, select Configure Fields and add the Epic Link field to the screen. Then, you can add issues to epics as you create them. Learn more about working with epics.

You is perform can perform this action with your keyboard via Jira ’s command palette . use command + K ( for Mac ) or Ctrl + K ( for Windows ) to open the command palette while you ’re in Jira . read more about Jira ’s command palette

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 :

Open the issue
Select more actions (•••) > Clone
Optionally edit the cloned issue’s Summary
If applicable to the issue you’re cloning, you can also select from these options:
- clone subtask to copy exist subtask
- clone attachment to add any exist attachment
- Clone links to add any existing linked issues
- Clone sprint values to copy across the issue’s current and closed sprint values
select create

split an issue

split an issue is useful when an issue is so big , that it ‘s well to divide it into two or more issue and make work more manageable . note that you can only split an issue from the Scrum backlog and the Kanban backlog (if enabled), and not from active sprint or the Kanban board .

Navigate to the Backlog of your Scrum or Kanban software development project.
right – click an issue and select Split issue .

You’ll also find the option to split an issue in the sprint or Selected for Development section of your Backlog. Learn more about your Kanban backlog.

What happens when I split an issue?

In a Scrum backlog

If you split an issue in the backlog, the new issue will be sent to the Backlog section.
If you split an issue in an active sprint, you can choose to send the new issue to either the backlog or a future or active sprint.

In a Kanban backlog

After splitting an issue, the new issue will be sent to the Backlog section. This depends on the column configuration of your Kanban board, but this is essentially the section for the column that’s mapped to the initial status of your workflow.

learn more about set up your Kanban board .

What happens to the issue details?

The new issue is be will be of the same type as the original issue . For example , if you split a story into two or more issue , the new issues is be will also be story .
The new issue is have will have most of the same detail store in the original issue , include priority , component , label , custom field , etc .
The issue details that won’t be copied over include work log, comments, issue history, issue links, etc — though the original issue will be linked to the new issue.
The new issue is have will have the summary that you enter upon split the issue .
If the original issue has estimates, you’ll be able to enter estimates for the new issues as well. You can also update the estimate of the original issue as necessary.
The issue status also returns to the first step of the corresponding workflow, and the resolutions are cleared.

Create a subtask

A subtask is allows allow you to assign different aspect of a story – level issue to different people . You is create can only create subtask if your administrator has enable subtask , and has add the subtask issue type to the project ‘s issue type scheme .

In most cases, subtasks can only be created and nested under Story-level issues. Company-managed projects can assign subtasks directly to an Epic using either the Add+ menu on the subtask or the subtask table on an Epic. This can’t be done in team-managed projects.

To create a child issue :

Open the issue you’d like to be the parent issue
selectthe icon beneath the issue summary
Add an issue summary and select Create

note that when you create a subtask , the follow value are inherit from the parent task :

project
issue security level
sprint value ( if any )

You can customize the Create subtask screen to show the fields you use most often. To do this, select Configure Fields at the top right corner of the dialog, and use the All and Custom links to switch between the default screen and your custom settings. Your changes are saved for future use.

Work with issue types

Change the issue type

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.

Open the issue you’re working with
Click the issue type icon in the top-left corner next to the issue key
Choose the new issue type

If there are different field in the new issue type , or if it has a different workflow , we is open ‘ll open the move issue screen to complete the change.

Convert a subtask to an issue

Navigate to the subtask issue you would like to convert.
Select more (•••) > Convert to Issue.
In Step 1 . selectIssue Type screen is select , select a new issue type ( i.e. a standard issue type ) and select Next .
If the subtask’s current status is not an allowed status for the new issue type, Step 2. selectNew Status screen is displayed. selecta new status and select Next.
In 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.
The Step 4. Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the issue, select Finish.
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.

Convert an issue to a subtask

Open the issue and select on the issue type icon at the top-left of the issue
selectSubtask from the list of available issue types
selectthe parent issue for the new 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 you need to. Subtasks can’t be moved directly from one issue to another—you need to convert them to standard issues, then to subtasks of their new parent issue.

restrict access to an issue

While we recommend work openly , there are time where you may want to restrict who can view a particular piece of work . For example , you is want may want to restrict who can view task relate to sensitive financial information , hire or other personal employment information , or security – relate software engineering work .

You can restrict who can view an issue in both company-managed and team-managed projects, but the procedure is different in each.

You can’t edit project permissions or roles on the Free plan in Jira, and you can’t configure issue-level security on any Free plan (including Jira Service Management). Find out more about how project permissions work in Free plans. To take advantage of Jira’s powerful project permission management features, upgrade your plan.

restrict access to an issue in a company-managed project

In company-managed projects, you can restrict access by setting the issue’s security level.

To set the issue security level on issue in company – manage project :

Choose the lock icon at the top-right of the issue. This icon only appears if the project has a security scheme configured.
selectthe desired security level.

You is remove can also remove an issue ‘s security level by select the lock icon and select Remove security level .

Jira admins can add, edit, or remove security levels (and their membership) through issue security schemes. Learn more about issue security schemes.

restrict access to an issue in a team-managed software project

In team-managed projects software projects, you can restrict access to specific roles in your project.

To restrict access, you must have a role with the Restrict any issue permission in the project. Learn more about roles and permissions in team-managed projects.

To restrict access when create an issue :

select+ Create from the navigation bar.
Complete any required fields for the issue.
selectthe Restrict to field in the issue’s list of fields.
selectthe roles you want to allow to see the issue from the dropdown.
selectCreate.

To restrict an issue to certain roles, you’ll have to create the issue using the above steps. If you create an issue using any other method, the issue won’t be restricted.

If you create a sub-task of an issue that has issue restrictions, then the sub-task will inherit the restrictions from the parent issue. You won’t be able to change the issue restrictions of the sub-task individually. To set issue restrictions to sub-tasks, you will have to update the restrictions for the parent issue.

To restrict access after an issue’s created:

Choose the lock icon at the top-right of the issue.
selectthe roles you want to allow to see the issue from the dropdown.
selectRestrict.

You is remove can also remove role by select the x next to the role ’s name in the menu .

Team-managed project admins can add, edit, or remove roles and their membership in the Access page. Go to Project settings > Access. Learn more about roles and permissions in team-managed projects.

While bulk moving issues from a company-managed project to a team-managed project, your issues will get moved without any restrictions and these become open.

Deleting a custom role that has associated issue restrictions will make the issues unaccessible to the role. For instance, if there is a custom role Developer, and the issues are only restricted to this role, then the issues become unaccessible when the role is deleted. If the issues are restricted to a set of roles which includes Developer, then the issues can be accessed by other roles when Developer role is deleted.

Delete an issue

To delete an issue :

Navigate to the issue and view its details.
Select … > Delete.