Enable the backlog
This page is for team-managed projects
To check whether your project is team-managed or company-managed, select more actions (•••) next to the project name in either the header or the sidebar. At the bottom of the menu that opens, you’ll be able to view whether your project is team-managed or company-managed.
If you're in a company-managed project, check out these company-managed project articles instead.
More about the difference between company-managed and team-managed projects.
The backlog view is a dedicated space for defining and prioritizing work your team will take on now and into the future.
The backlog view lists work items that your team plans to work on (in the Backlog or Sprint lists), as well as the work items currently on your team’s board (in the Board list). You can use the backlog work item list to plan work in advance so that your team members can quickly jump on the most important tasks when they’re ready.
Traditionally, teams that work in a kanban style don’t use a backlog. If you work in a kanban style, you can still help your team prioritize upcoming work with a backlog. We call this style of working kanplan, where your backlog keeps track of tasks that you want to do in the future and cleans up your board’s to-do column. Learn more about kanban software development.
If you work in a scrum style, your backlog is where you plan and prioritize work to be done in future sprints. Learn more about scrum software development.
Enable the backlog for your team-managed software project
To enable or disable the backlog:
Navigate to your team-managed software project.
Next to your project's name in the sidebar, select more actions (•••), then Project settings.
Select Features.
Enable the Backlog feature.
Another way you can enable the backlog feature is by:
In your project navigation, select add to navigation (), then select Backlog.
Select Add to navigation.
When you enable the backlog:
Any new work items created through the + Create icon in the global navigation bar will appear in your backlog.
You’ll see a new Backlog tab in your project navigation. Go there to use the backlog feature and start prioritizing upcoming work.
When you disable the backlog, all work items are moved to your board and placed in the appropriate column based on their current status.
Add work items to your backlog
The backlog view lists work items that your team plans to work on (in the Backlog or Sprint lists), as well as the work items currently on your team’s board (in the Board list).
To create work items for your team to work on in your backlog:
Navigate to your team-managed software project.
In your project navigation, select Backlog.
Scroll to the bottom of your Backlog and select + Create work item.
Work items you create in your Board list or active sprint list appear on your board immediately. Work items you create in your Backlog list or future sprints lists won’t appear on your board until you’re ready for your team to work on them.
You can create a work item anywhere in your Backlog list. Hover between two work items and select Create work item to create a work item where you want it to sit in your backlog and avoid manually reordering it.
Reorder work items
Reordering your backlog’s work items can help your team quickly pick up the work that is most important or need to happen next so your project moves along smoothly.
You can select and drag a work item around in the backlog to reorder it.
We recommend ordering your work items by importance, so you can easily drag work items off the top of the list in your next sprint planning meeting. Or, if your team needs more work on the board, they can quickly grab tasks off the top of the list.
Select multiple work items at the same time by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac). On any of the selected work items, select More (…), then Board or the name of any sprint to quickly move them between lists.
Drag the divider icon that separates lists in your backlog to quickly add the top most work items onto your board or into your active sprint.
Display the epic panel in your backlog
To view and edit epics via your backlog (rather than via your roadmap):
Navigate to your team-managed software project.
In your project navigation, select Backlog.
Click the Epic dropdown filter.
Click the Epic panel switch at the bottom of the filter list.
Within the epic panel, epics appear in the same order as they appear on your roadmap. Here you can:
Create new epics
Drag-and-drop epics to reorder them
Add/remove work items to/from epics
Move multiple work items from one epic to another (simply multi-select then drag-and-drop)
Select an epic's chevron (>) to expand more details
Add work items to epics
Agile teams can use epics to track larger sections of work. Epics represent a group of smaller, related tasks, bugs and user stories. These are called “child work items” in team-managed projects.
There are two ways to add work items to epics in the backlog:
Via the backlog’s epic panel
Go to your project's backlog.
Select the Epic dropdown filter
Select the Epic panel switch.
Drag-and-drop work items from the backlog to epics in the epic panel. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) to select multiple work items at a time.
Via a work item
Within your backlog, hover over a work item and select more actions (•••).
Select Add parent (to assign the work item to an existing epic) or Change parent (to change the work item’s epic).
Use the Epic filter to create new work items assigned to a specified epic. To do this, select an epic and click + Create work item.
Work items can only be part of one epic at a time. You can create and manage epics in the Roadmap.
Company-managed project work items can only be added to company-managed project epics, and team-managed project work items can only be added to team-managed project epics.
Move work items from the backlog to your board
Once your team is ready to start taking on that work, you can send your backlog work to the board and start moving work items from to-do to done.
To move work items from the Backlog list or planned sprints list onto your board:
Navigate to your team-managed software project.
In your project navigation, select Backlog.
Drag and drop work items from the Backlog list into the Board list (if you work in a kanban style), or into your team’s active sprint list (if you work in a scrum style using the Sprints feature).
On your board, your work items will display in the column corresponding to their current status.
Select multiple work items at the same time by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac). On any of the selected work items, select more actions (…), then Board or the name of any sprint to quickly move them between lists.
Drag the divider icon that separates lists in your backlog to quickly add the top most work items onto your board or into your active sprint.
What are filters in the backlog?
Once your project gets running, you may find that your backlog has grown. The backlog comes with a number of quick filters you can use to help find and prioritize your team's work:
The Assignee filter allows you to select and view work items that are assigned to specific people in your project. To filter by assignee, select the person's avatar in the filter bar. You can select more than one person, if you need.
The Epic filter allows you to select and view work items that belong to specific epics in your project. This filter appears after you've created your first epic in the project. Learn more about epics
The Label filter allows you to view work items that have been tagged with specific labels in your project. This filter appears after you've added a label to at least one work item in your project.
The Type filter allows you to view work items based on their work type (for example, Bug or Task work items). This filter appears after you've created more than one type of work item in your project.
Custom filters allow you to view work items based on a JQL query. This filter is available on the board and backlog, and appears after you’ve created your first custom filter. Learn more about custom filters
Learn more
For tips on keeping your backlog healthy and up-to-date, check out our Agile Coach backlog guide.
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