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Fix duplicated email addresses

In Cloud, all users must have a unique email address. The migration assistant lets you identify users who don’t meet this requirement. Then, you can either update them in the user directory or fix automatically during migration.

How to access the user assessment

This page only describes the options that you can choose after completing the assessment in the migration assistant. If you haven’t done the assessment yet, see this page instead:

Learn how to assess and prepare users for migration

Before you begin

Check this information before you start.

What isn’t supported

Fixing email addresses is only supported when you migrate with the Jira or Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant. Jira Site import isn’t supported.

For Jira, merging duplicated users isn’t compatible with the ‘Migrate all data at once’ migration option. You need to use ‘Choose what to migrate’. Remaining options are supported.

Best practices for fixing invalid email addresses

Fixing duplicated emails in the migration assistant is intended to resolve problems with old or unimportant accounts. Actual users who will be working in Cloud should be updated in your user directory.

Learn more about assessing and preparing users for migration

Active directories

If you have an active directory connected to Jira, we recommend that you fix important users in the active directory and apply the Merge duplicated users option to the remaining users. Treating users with the same email address as a single user and migrating them as such helps you avoid problems after you sync the directory to Cloud.

The other option you can choose is creating new emails, in different configurations. Having the same users with different emails in the active directory and in Cloud might result in the following issues:

  • In Cloud, users are matched by emails, so the ones from your directory won’t be linked to their migrated equivalents that got the new emails.

  • If you later fix the user’s email address in the directory, they will be provisioned as a new account if this address is different from the one generated here.

Changing options between migrations

For duplicated emails, choose one option and stick to it until you complete the whole migration. Changing options during migration (after migrating only some projects) might result in data inconsistency and some users ending up duplicated in Cloud.

Learn more about changing options when fixing duplicated email addresses

Choose an option to automatically fix users during migration

After you’ve identified important users and updated them in your user directory, choose one of the automatic options to fix the remaining users during migration.

  • The changes will be applied to users created in Cloud, not your original users.

  • The changes won’t be applied right away, but only after you start a migration.


Options available in the migration assistant

Here’s an overview of options you can choose:


Do nothing

We won’t make any changes. Your migration will be blocked unless you update users in your user directory.


Merge duplicated users

Supported only with the ‘Choose what to migrate’ option.

Users who share the same email address will be merged into a single account.

  • One account is chosen randomly as the main account that includes content and activity from the remaining accounts.

  • Permissions and groups are also merged. If one user had admin permissions, the merged account will also have these permissions in Cloud. This also includes accounts that were deactivated in Server or Data Center.

  • User profiles aren’t migrated, so avatars or preferences won’t be included.

In Server or Data Center

In Cloud

  • charlie1 (user@atlassian.com)

  • charlie2 (user@atlassian.com)

  • user@atlassian.com (charlie1, including content and activity from charlie2)


Merge duplicated users up to a certain date (Jira only)

Supported only with the ‘Choose what to migrate’ option.

Users who last logged in before the chosen date, or who never logged in:

  • Are merged into a single account. For more details, see the Merge duplicated users option above.

Users who logged in after the chosen date:

  • Receive pre-generated email addresses and are migrated as individual and active users. For more info, see the Create new emails option below.


Create new emails

Users get pre-generated email addresses that unblock the migration, because they’re valid and unique. Users with such emails:

  • Are migrated as active and individual users

  • Consume the license if they’re migrated into a group with product access

  • Have every activity, such as comments or history, preserved and correctly displayed under their name

  • Can’t log in, because they don’t have access to the email address

This option isn’t used to preserve access for users, but to preserve their identity. The email address is based on userID and a domain most common in your user directory.

In Server or Data Center

In Cloud

  • charlie1 (user@atlassian.com)

  • charlie2 (user@atlassian.com)

  • useri_10101@atlassian.com (charlie1)

  • useri_10102@atlassian.com (charlie2)


Update users based on a CSV file (Jira only)

You can download a CSV file that includes a list of duplicated users and then upload the modified file back. It let’s you apply the above options in a more granular way, for example you can generate or enter new emails for the majority of users, but then select just a few that should be migrated as Former user (for duplicated users, this option is available only when using the CSV file).

Learn more about updating users based on the CSV file


Next steps

Select Review changes to see the updated results. You’ll then have an option to apply your changes to every migration you created in the assistant. When you start to migrate, the users created in Cloud will reflect the changes you’ve chosen here.

Additional Help