How do I grant a member permission to delete a task and sub-task in Jira work management?

[Millie]

I created a list of tasks and sub-tasks using Jira Work Management and added the team responsible for updating the tasks. They are unable to delete a task. Where do I go to change the permissions for members to have the ability to delete a task?

[John Funk]

Hi Millie - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

I STRONGLY suggest you do not give users permission to delete work items/issues. They will end up deleting the wrong thing and it will be gone forever. 

Instead you should add a status to your workflow like Cancelled or Abandoned or Aborted or something like that. Then users should just transition the work item to that status if not needed or is a duplicate or a mistake or whatever. 

[Thorsten Letschert _Decadis AG_]

I agree with @John Funk here (like always!?) - the risk of accidental deletion is too significant without recovery options.

Besides, I don't like gaps in the consecutive numbering of work items.

[Karan Sachdev]

I agree with @John Funk on this. Deletion is permanent and irreversible.

Since it shows you have a Premium plan, you can consider archiving work items. This way you will have an option to restore them whenever required.

The permission configuration will still be the same. By default, only administrator role has the permission to archive issues, so you'll have to create a custom role. Just utilise the archive issues permission instead of the delete issues permission.

Thanks!

[Karan Sachdev]

Hey @Millie

Welcome to Atlassian Community!

The permission configuration would depend on the type of project you're using: Company-managed, or team-managed.

In company managed projects, you can navigate to Project Settings > Permissions and grant the 'Delete Issues' permisison to the required users.

In team-managed projects, the permissions are governed by project roles. Out of the default roles, only the administrators role has the permission to delete issues (work items).

However, you can create custom project roles and grant the required permissions to those roles. Then assign these roles to the required users under Project Settings > Access.

Thanks!

[Millie]

Could you please provide the steps to do this? 

You can create custom project roles and grant the required permissions to those roles. Then assign these roles to the required users under Project Settings > Access.

[Karan Sachdev]

Sure, this document will help: Create a role in your team-managed software project

[Millie]

Thank you for the prompt response!