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Edit a project's details

To check which type of project you’re using, look at the bottom left of your project’s sidebar to see whether you’re in a company-managed project or a team-managed project. Learn more about knowing whether your project is team-managed or company-managed.

What you can edit in both team-managed and company-managed projects

As a project admin, you can edit your project's:

  • Name (which appears when people in your Jira site search, browse directories, or use the project switcher)

  • Avatar or icon (which helps teams across your Jira site visually identify your project)

  • Project lead (who is usually the project administrator for your team-managed project)

  • Default assignee (which is a role to which all issues created in the project are assigned).

  • Key (which is typically the shorthand version of the project's name)

    • Only Jira admins can edit the key in a company-managed project

    • Project admins can edit the key in a team-managed project

  • Category (which helps larger organizations label and filter similar projects in directories)

  • Customize project background

What else you can edit in company-managed projects

As a project admin, you can edit your project's:

  • URL

  • Description

If you change the name of your project, the new name will automatically update in any filters on your Jira site.

Change your avatar for your company-managed project

Avatars help give a face to your project's name. They appear in the project sidebar and in your site's list of all projects.

To change your project's avatar:

  1. Select Project settings > Details.

  2. In the Avatar field, select your current avatar.

  3. Choose from a default icon or upload your own.

  4. Select Save details.

Change your icon for your team-managed project

Project icons help give a face to your project's name. They appear in the project sidebar and in your site's list of all projects.

To change your project's icon:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. Under the current icon, select the Change icon.

  3. Choose from a default icon or upload your own.

  4. Select Save.

Change the project lead

These are steps for changing the project lead for both team-managed and company-managed projects.

A project's lead is usually the project administrator, who controls and manages a project's settings.

You may want to change the project lead as people move in and out of your team for a longer-term project.

To change your project's lead:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. In the Project lead field, set a new person to lead the project.

  3. Save the details.

Add or change your project's default assignee for your project

These are steps for adding or changing your project’s default assignee for both team-managed and company-managed projects.

When issues are created in your project, you can set a default assignee. This is useful for open projects where everyone on the site can report tasks to your project.

The default assignee is typically a team member who prioritizes or validates that reported issues are meant for their team and distributes these tasks to their team members accordingly. By default, they receive a notification when someone creates an issue in the project.

If you’re unable to change the default assignee, then check if you’ve enabled Allow unassigned issue under system Jira’s general configuration. Learn more about configuring Jira application settings.

To change your project's default assignee:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. In the Default assignee field, nominate your project's default assignee.

  3. Save the details.

Change your project's key

To change your company-managed project's key, you’ll need to contact a Jira administrator.

Only project admins can change project keys in team-managed projects.

Project keys provide a shorthand for the issues in your project. Together with an issue's sequential number, they form a unique identifier called an “issue key”. This abbreviation is the foundation of how work is tracked and referred to in Jira. You’ll see issue keys:

  • On issues themselves, as a shorthand

  • In search results and saved filters

  • On cards on your boards or in a project's backlog

  • In links connecting pieces of work

  • In the issue's URL

  • Anywhere you need to reference the work you're tracking

Things to consider before changing a project key

  • Before making any significant changes, it’s a good idea to back up your Jira site to ensure important information isn’t lost.

  • You won't be able to create a new project with the old project key. The old project key will only be available if you delete the project it was previously associated with.

  • If you change a project key, all issues associated with the project will be updated with the new key.

  • If you use Confluence with Jira, the Jira issue macros in Confluence will continue to work. Please note, if you don't see the change straight away, allow some time for the cache to refresh.

  • Links containing the old project key will continue to work; however, link aliases within descriptions will not be updated with the new key.

    • For example, if you have a link to an issue 'EXAMPLE-1' in the description of an issue, and you change the project key from 'EXAMPLE' to 'DEMO', the alias 'EXAMPLE-1' will not be updated to 'DEMO-1'. But the link will still direct you to DEMO-1.

  • After you change a key, we recommend communicating the change to your users. You will need to update board filters, dashboard filter gadgets, and any other global queries with the new key.

Change your team-managed project’s key

To change your team-managed project's key:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. In the Key field, enter your desired key. Your project's key must:

    • be at least two characters long

    • start with an uppercase letter

    • and, contain only uppercase letters or numbers

  3. Select Save details.

After you change a key, we recommend communicating the change to your team. For example, board filters and dashboard filter gadgets need to be updated with the new key.

Assign or change your project's category

To change your company-managed project's category, you’ll need to contact a Jira administrator.

Project categories help group similar software, service, and business projects across your Jira site. They can be used in advanced search, filters, reports, and more. Your Jira admin creates and manages the categories that are available. Learn more about adding and deleting project categories.

To assign or change your project's category:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. Under Category, use the dropdown to assign your project a category.

  3. Select Save details.

Project URLs are only available in company-managed projects.

You can link team members and viewers to an external site by adding a project URL. The project URL is displayed on the Summary page of your projects and in the Projects directory of your site.

Most teams supply an address to documentation about the project, roadmaps, or other important content outside of their Jira site. If you use Confluence to collaborate, we recommend adding a link to your team's space.

To change your project's URL:

  1. From your project's sidebar, select Project settings > Details.

  2. In the URL field, enter your link.

  3. Select Save details.

Additional Help