Optimize field options
Identify and then remove unused field options across your Jira site. This reduces clutter in dropdowns and pickers, helps you stay within configuration limits, and makes projects easier to maintain—without affecting options that are still in use.
This feature is available on the Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise plans.
Required permissions
You must be a Jira site administrator to optimize field options.
Field options
Field options are the selectable values that appear in some custom fields, such as:
Select list (single choice)
Select list (multiple choices)
Cascading select
Checkboxes
For example, if you have a custom field called Region with values like APAC, EMEA, and Americas, those values are the field options.
Over time, imports, integrations, and legacy configurations can cause these option lists to grow very large, which can create:
Performance issues (slow forms, slow configuration changes)
Reliability risks (timeouts, instability)
Higher storage and maintenance costs
Optimize and remove unused field options
Identify and remove unused options from your custom fields. This helps reduce clutter in dropdowns and pickers, helps you stay within configuration limits, and keeps projects easier to maintain.
Criteria for unused options
For this optimization, an option is considered unused when:
It has not been referenced in any issues or workflows across any context since its date of creation or for two years (whichever is later).
The option was created more than one month ago (we don’t suggest removing recently created options).
Only options that meet both criteria are surfaced as candidates for removal.
Follow the steps below to remove unused options:
Go to Settings > Work items.
Under Fields, select Fields.
Find the custom field you want to review.
Select Actions (…) next to the field name.
Select Optimize.
If the field has unused options, the optimization screen shows:
The total number of options for the field
How many options are currently unused
The percentage of options that are unused
If this is the first time you are running the optimization, Jira may need to scan your site for field option usage. On large or complex sites, this can take some time to complete.
Update Scan
If your data has changed since the last scan—for example, after bulk changes, imports, or workflow updates—select Update scan (or the equivalent re-scan action) on the optimization screen so the optimizer uses the latest information.
When the scan finishes, the page updates with:
The latest counts of total and unused options
An updated percentage of unused options
Download Unused Options
Before you remove options, you can download a list of unused options for review, approvals, or record keeping:
From the Optimize screen for the field, scroll to the Unused options section.
Select Download.
Save the file in CSV format so you can open it in a spreadsheet tool.
The CSV typically includes the option values, the field they belong to, and other identifiers that may help you track what is being removed.
Cleanup
Once you’re ready to clean up the field, remove unused options in bulk:
Review the summary showing total options, unused options, and the percentage that are unused.
Select Review Actions.
In the confirmation dialog, review the summary of what will be removed, then confirm to delete the options.
This action removes the unused options from the field.
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