We’re updating our terminology in Jira

The term ‘project’ will soon be replaced with 'space'. You may notice some inconsistencies while we make this change.

Move multiple work items

You need to have the relevant space permissions to move work items.

More about space permissions

You can bulk move work items to other spaces on your Jira site. This can help you keep your space workspaces clean and all their work items relevant to the team who’s working on them.

Move multiple work items from the backlog

You can only move multiple work items from the backlog if you’re in a software space.

To move multiple work items from the backlog:

  1. Select multiple work items from the backlog. You can either:

    1. use the work item checkboxes

    2. hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) while selecting work items

    3. hold the Shift key to select a group of adjacent work items

  2. Select More actions (•••) on one of the selected work items, then select Bulk change.

  3. Select Move work items and select Next.

  4. Select a destination space and work type, and select Next.

  5. Select a value for any required fields for this move, and if available, decide whether you'd like to send email notifications. Select Next.

  6. Review your changes and select Confirm, then Acknowledge.

Move multiple work items from the board

You can only move multiple work items from the board if you’re in a software space.

To move multiple work items from the board:

  1. Select multiple work items from the board. You can either:

    1. hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) while selecting work items

    2. hold the Shift key to select a group of adjacent work items

  2. Right-click or select More actions (•••) on one of the selected work items, then select Bulk change.

  3. Select Move work items and select Next.

  4. Select a destination space and work type, and select Next.

  5. Select a value for any required fields for this move, and if available, decide whether you'd like to send email notifications. Select Next.

  6. Review your changes and select Confirm, then Acknowledge.

Move multiple work items from the navigator

To move multiple work items using the All work view:

  1. Adjust the search criteria to show the appropriate list of work items.

  2. Select More actions (), then select Bulk change work items.

  3. Select the work items you'd like to perform the bulk operation on, and select Next.

  4. Select Move work items and select Next.

  5. Select a destination space and work type, and select Next.

  6. Select a value for any required fields for this move, and if available, decide whether you'd like to send email notifications. Select Next.

  7. Review your changes and select Confirm, then Acknowledge.

 

Things to keep in mind when moving multiple work items

Select destination spaces and work types

The work items in your destination space might have different settings than your source space, even if they are named the same. If work types use different workflows, you may lose data when bulk moving work items. So, you need to map the status and fields while selecting the destination space and work types. Your target space and work type will determine the additional steps that will be needed to migrate status and fields. If your work items have subtasks, then you will need to move the subtasks to the destination space as well.

Map statuses

The work type workflow in your destination space might use different statuses than the work type workflow in the source space. It is best to check with your source and destination space owner to know more about the space' workflow. Multiple workflows can be active simultaneously, and some statuses that are associated with a collection of work items may not be valid in the target workflow.

After selecting the destination space and work types for bulk move, you can map the statuses from your source space to the right statuses in your new workflow by selecting the status your work items should be in after the move.

When mapping statuses, it's a good idea to map work items to similar status categories, or you might throw off a team looking to pick up their next task.

Work with your space owners to understand what statuses mappings make the most sense before completing your bulk move operation.

Update fields

The destination space’s work types may have different field settings than the source space. You can either update the field’s value or retain the field’s current value.

After mapping the statuses, you can update the values for any required fields. For each field listed, update the value that should appear on the work items you’re moving, or select Retain to leave the field’s value unchanged.

While selecting Retain, the fields need to be of the same custom field type and they need to be named the same. Jira might not display the value of the field, but the value is still stored in the background.

More about editing fields for multiple work items

 

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