Cannot start sprint with error "There can only be one active sprint" in Jira Cloud
Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps on the cloud platform.
Summary
When an administrator tries to start a sprint, an error message indicates, "There can only be one active sprint on each board." No other Sprints show up on this board.
This article is for Jira Cloud only. If you are using Jira Software Data Center, please refer to Cannot start sprint with error "There can only be one active sprint" in Jira DC
Solution
The Sprint you're trying to start was created on another board, which includes Issues from another Project. It is recommended that Sprints be created on the appropriate Project Board rather than on a Global Board. This prevents the crossover of projects on a single sprint.
Remove and re-create the sprint on a project-specific board
The sprint that is generating the "There can only be one active sprint on each board" error must be deleted and re-created on a board that includes only issues from that single project.
Go to the sprint's origin Board (contact Atlassian support to get assistance on identifying the board)
Remove the sprint that generates the error
Go to the Project-specific board and re-create the sprint
Enable parallel sprints in your Jira instance
This error only occurs when parallel sprints are disabled in Jira. If you wish to run multiple active sprints on your boards simultaneously, you can simply enable parallel sprints.
For instructions, please refer to our documentation on using parallel sprints.
Common causes
This issue is likely to occur when a single "global board" includes many projects and is used to create/manage multiple sprints.
Example Scenario:
One board named "All Sprints" was created to show All Issues and Sprints within the environment
Project A and Project B both exist with their own boards
Project B has issues in an active sprint, which displays on Project B's board
A sprint (Project A - Sprint) was created while viewing the "All Sprints" board
On Project A's Board, the sprint Project A - Sprint is visible, but it can't be started and generates the error "There can only be one active sprint on each board"
Even if Project A Sprint includes issues only from Project A, the error still occurs when the sprint is started on Project A's board
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