Set up Jira Software Cloud
Learn how to set up Jira Software Cloud and integrate it with other products and applications.
Manage columns and statuses in team-managed projects
This page is for team-managed projects
If the lower-left of your project sidebar says you're in a company-managed project, check out these company-managed project articles instead.
Learn more about the difference between company-managed and team-managed projects.
When you first start out, columns and statuses are connected to each other. This means when you create a column, you’re also creating a status. Changes to your columns and statuses can therefore be managed directly on the board.
This changes however when you assign multiple statuses to a single column or give a column and its assigned status unique names. The column and status/es become separate elements, independent of each other.
Columns and their statuses could look a little like this:
Column | Status |
|---|---|
To do | To do Gathering requirements |
In progress | In progress In review On hold |
Done | Won’t do Done |
Your board configuration is now separated from your board. To create new columns, or make any changes to your existing columns and statuses, use your Columns and statuses settings.
You must have the administrator role in your project to do the things described on this page. Learn more about team-managed project roles.
Configure your board
To access your Columns and statuses settings from your board:
If not already there, navigate to your team-managed Jira Software project.
From your project’s sidebar, select Board.
In the top, far right select More (···) > Configure board.
If you’ve previously changed these settings, you can quickly access them again by selecting Configure board () next to the rightmost column on your board.
To access your Columns and statuses settings from anywhere in your project:
If not already there, navigate to your team-managed Jira Software project.
From your project’s sidebar, select Project settings > Board.
Add or move a column
Creating a new column in the Columns and statuses settings won’t create an associated status.
Statuses are instead created and managed in the workflow editor. Learn how to view, add, or remove statuses in your project.
To add a new column:
If not already there, navigate to your Column and status settings.
Select Create column (+) next to the rightmost column.
Change the column title and set limits
Keep in mind, choosing unique names for a column and the status it’s assigned will impact your ability to edit from your board.
If not already there, navigate to your Column and status settings.
Hover over the column heading. Select Edit column ().
Choose a new name for the column.
In this modal, you may also set a maximum number of issues. The column changes color when it contains too many issues.
Delete a column
In your Column and status settings, you can only delete columns. Statuses are independent of columns in these settings. If a status isn’t assigned to a column, any issues with that status won’t be visible on the board.
Statuses are created and managed in the workflow editor. Learn how to view, add, or remove statuses in your project.
If not already there, navigate to your Column and status settings.
Hover over the column heading. Select Edit column ().
Select Delete column in the bottom left.
You can continue to configure your board, directly on your board. To do this, revert to the original one-status-per-column state, and make sure the columns and statuses share the same name.
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