Done or Resolved issues appear unexpectedly in a Jira scrum board backlog
Platform Notice: Cloud and Data Center - This article applies equally to both cloud and data center platforms.
Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Summary
Issues that have been completed and resolved (meaning the Resolution field is set) appear in the backlog section of a Scrum board.
It is not expected to see completed issues in a Scrum backlog outside of an active sprint.
Diagnosis
Environment
Jira Software Server / Data Center 7.0.0 and above.
If you're experiencing issues with a Kanban board instead of a Scrum board, please refer to: Issues are not showing in Kanban board
Confirm the related status is mapped to the proper board column
In our example, the completed issues are in a status named "Done."
Visit the board
Select ... (More options) > Configure board
In the Columns section, check which column the Done status is mapped to
In our example, the Done status is mapped to a column that is not located on the far right:
Cause
By design, Jira Software only hides issues in a status mapped to the last (rightmost) column of a Scrum board. If the status of these issues is mapped to a column that is not on the far right, they will always show in the backlog view. Even with a Resolution set, the issue still appears, though with a strikethrough on the issue key. The strikethrough simply means that their resolution field is set.
Solution
Remap the status to the rightmost column on the board
You can successfully reconfigure the board columns in two ways
Move the Done status to the rightmost column
Move the column the Done status is mapped to all the way to the right
After you do that, the backlog page will stop showing any issues in the Done status.
If needed, repeat this for any additional statuses that represent completed work, but that aren't in the rightmost board column.
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