How to bulk edit issues & revert bulk changes in Jira

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Sometimes, you need to simultaneously change sprints, assignees, or priorities for multiple issues or move them to another project. It could be annoying to update issues one by one.

Luckily, it’s possible to avoid unnecessary and time-consuming actions. Bulk editing in Jira is a great way to save time when applying changes to multiple tasks. In this post, we'll walk you through the steps to efficiently bulk edit issues in Jira and how to reverse those actions if needed.

What is a bulk change in Jira?

Bulk change in Jira is an operation that allows you to perform changes for multiple tasks at once, instead of updating them one by one. It is possible to update up to 1000 issues. You will need permission for both the global Make bulk modifications and the appropriate permission for each project in order to execute a bulk operation.

To open Bulk change, go to All issues from Filters menu.

For the next steps of bulk operation, you need to:

• Choose Issues
• Choose Operation
• Operation Details
• Confirm

What bulk operations can you perform?

With bulk editing, you can transition, delete, or link issues to other tasks. Additionally, you can modify various fields, such as assignees, priorities, statuses, and more. Here are the main actions available with bulk operation.

Bulk editing of Jira Issues: What fields are available?

When bulk editing Jira issues, you have the ability to update several key fields across multiple issues. The Bulk Operation menu will show you what fields and actions are available and also those that aren’t. Basically, fields that can be modified during a bulk edit include:

✅ Assignee, Priority, Status, Labels, Components, Sprint, Comment, Due Date, Fix Versions, Reporter, Resolution, and some of the custom fields.

By bulk editing these fields, teams can quickly align issues with current project priorities and ensure that tasks are up-to-date without manual, individual adjustments.

Bulk revert multiple changes for Jira issues

So, Jira allows you to edit multiple issues simultaneously. What if you need to revert those actions? Let’s say you changed the assignee for some tasks and need to roll back those changes. Another example might be if the automation changes some values of fields, and it turns out those updates are undesirable.

If you've performed a bulk edit and need to reverse those changes (whether due to an error or a shift in project needs), you can try the options described below.

• Potentially, you can use Bulk change to edit the previously made updates.

Example. You changed the status from “To Do” to “In Progress” for multiple issues. Now, you want to turn it back:

1. Filter issues by JQL: project = Software and status = "In Progress" and updated >=2024-10-10

2. With the help of the “Transition Issues” operation, update the status again to the “To Do”.

But in this case, you cannot know what the status was before. You have to look at the change log to know which status you need to return to.

For fields like status and assignee, everything is simple. Bulk change can massively reverse such changes quickly. What if the changes were in text fields, such as Description?

Description is one of the fields that Jira Bulk Operation does not support (other unsupported fields).

• Bulk Revert option with Issue History for Jira app.

Example from user's experience. An automation change description for 100 issues. It would be too time-consuming to revert those changes manually. Let’s say you spend 1 minute to roll back unwanted changes. Then, you’ll need 100 minutes to complete the revert. But, in fact, it might not be that easy as history doesn’t store the previous formatting.

With the Bulk revert option, you'll be able to fix issues without manual effort.

Note: This option is available as part of the Advanced plan. Users in the trial period can also access and test it.

How does it work?

1. Filter issues where you want to revert changes.
2. Select issue fields.
3. Start the Bulk revert operation.

Fields available for Bulk Revert operation

Currently, the app supports the Bulk revert for such fields:

• Assignee, Reporter, Labels, Summary, Description, Environment, Date, DateTime, User picker fields, Checkbox fields
• Status field - supported, but if the transition to the status is not possible from the current status (blocked in settings), then there will be an error
• Priority and Issue type - supported, but if the task was moved from one project to another, it may not be reverted.
• Parent - supported, but it is not possible to take away for subtasks, so the checkbox for such cases will be disabled
• Sprint - it is impossible to revert a closed sprint; only an active or future one.

Learn more in documentation

Key Points

Bulk editing and reverting changes in Jira are essential tools for managing large sets of issues efficiently. Whether you're making updates or correcting mistakes, these features streamline your workflow and help keep your projects organized.

• Bulk change is a built-in option that allows you to edit, transit, move, and delete multiple tasks at once.
• Bulk revert is an option to undo modifications and restore the issues to their previous state. Available with Issue History for Jira.

Contact us at support@saasjet.atlassian.net if you would like to try it.