Issues missing from the Active sprint when swimlanes are configured to use Epics

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. 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

Some issues are missing from the Active sprints but appear in the backlog and search results in the Issue Navigator.

Environment

Jira Data Center on any version from 8.0.0.

Diagnosis

Check for parent Epics outside of the board filter. Only Epics included by the board's filter will be shown. Therefore, issues that are linked to Epics from projects outside the board filter will disappear from the Active sprints. These issues are still shown in the backlog and Issue Navigator due to the board's filter.

Root Cause

This behavior is caused by the following bug: JSWSERVER-11318 - Stories from external epics disappear in swimlanes

Solution

As a workaround, you can edit the board's filter to include the Epics from other projects, by following the steps below:

  • Go to the board's general configuration via Board > Configure > General

  • Click on the Edit Filter Query link

  • Edit the filter by adding the section below to the right of the JQL query (and before the section "ORDER BY Rank ASC" if that statement is part of the query):OR (project = <KEY_OF_THE_PROJECT_THE_EPIC_IS_FROM> AND type = Epic)

  • Verify that the new JQL query returns the Epic issue from the other project

  • Save the filter

  • Go back to the Active Sprint in the Board, and verify that the issues that belong to the Epic are not longer missing

Alternatively, you can move the parent Epics into a project that is already included in the board's filter.

Updated on April 8, 2025

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