Restore deleted Jira work items

With Issue History for Jira (Work Item History) app, you can not only find a deleted work item but restore it to the project where it was deleted. The app also allows for restoring parent-subtask relationships, considering subordination.

Please note that storing deleted work items begins only after the option is activated. Read how to activate the feature in Keep deleted work items section.

How does it work?

Press the Recycle bin button to open deleted work items.

Or filter your work items list by the “Deleted work items” option and select a project.
Log the date range if needed.

You will get a table with deleted work items for the specified project (and dates).

3. Hover the mouse over the task, and you will see the Restore button.

4. Press it, and you will open the card preview window and see how the work item will look after recovery.

If the field had some records, they would be restored. For instance, summary or assignee on the screen below.

If the field had no values, you also would be informed. For instance, comments on the screen below.

5. Click the Restore button to confirm your final decision, and your work item will be restored immediately.

The app allows restoring all main work item fields such as assignee, reporter, summary, description, comments, etc.

After you press the Restore button, you receive a notification with a link to your restored work item. The work item key will be different from the initial one.

The Restore button for work items that were previously recovered by any user who has access will be marked with a gray color.

To open the restored work item, hover the cursor over it and click the arrow.

Parent-Subtask hierarchy

You can restore the parent work item every time you restore a subtask, and vice versa: get back all subtasks when restoring the parent. Just activate the toggle to get this option.

Steps to restore tasks/subtasks

Click the “Restore” button.

Activate the toggle “Restore with parent/subtasks”.

Here, you can checkmark which task/subtask you want to restore or restore all of them. Click Confirm.

Now, click the “Restore” button here.

Do not close or refresh the window while the app is restoring data.

You will get a message that the work item has been successfully recovered with a new key.

Now, you can open it. All subtasks are recovered.

What fields can be restored?

Jira Cloud

Team-managed fields	Restore supported
Checkboxes	YES
Date	YES
Dependent dropdown	YES
Dropdown	YES
Labels	YES
Number field	YES
Paragraph	YES
People	YES
Short text	YES
Time stamp	YES
Time tracking	NO *You can see the logged time only in the deleted task, but after restoring, there is no data in this field
URL	YES

Company-managed fields	Restore supported
Checkboxes	YES
Date picker	YES
Date time picker	YES
Labels	YES
Number field	YES
Paragraph (supports rich text)	YES
Short text (plain text only)	YES
Radio Buttons	YES
Select list (cascading)	YES
Select list (single choice)	YES
Select list (multiple choice)	YES
URL Field	YES
User Picker (single user)	YES

Standard fields	Restore supported
Summary	YES
Description	YES
Status	NO *after restore status changes to the default for the project
Assignee	YES
Labels	YES
Reporter	YES
Created	NO
Updated	NO
Key	NO *a new key is created for the new work item, and the old one is recorded in the deleted tasks before restoring
Issue type	YES
Flag	YES

Time fields*	Restore supported
Log Work	NO
Original estimate	NO
Remaining Estimate	NO
Time Spent	NO
Time tracking	NO
Σ Original Estimate	NO
Σ Remaining Estimate	NO
Σ Time Spent	NO

*Time fields: You can see the logged time only in the deleted task, but after restoring, there is no data in this field because the time is logged on behalf of the user who logs in, and during the restore, the app makes changes

Sprint fields	Restore supported
Sprint	YES
Story point estimate	YES

Commonly-used fields	Restore supported
Priority	YES
Due date	YES
Environment	YES
Time tracking	NO *You can see the logged time only in the deleted task, but after restoring, there is no data in this field
Start date	YES

Other fields	Restore supported
Epic Name (For Epics)	YES
Epic Link / Parent	YES
Linked Work Items	NO
Attachment	NO *only the name of the attachment is saved
Comments	YES
Affects Version	YES
Fix Version	YES
Component/s	YES

Advanced custom field types	Restore supported
Date of first response	YES
Days since last comment	NO *you can see the data in the deleted task, but after the restore, it changes to the relevant one
*Domain of assignee (visible on the grid)	YES
*Domain of reporter (visible on the grid)	YES
*Global rank (visible on the grid)	NO *you can see the data in the deleted task, but after the restore, it changes to the relevant one
Group picker (multiple groups)	YES
Group picker (single group)	YES
*Last commented by a User Flag (visible on the grid)	YES
*Last public comment date (visible on the grid)	NO *you can see the data in the deleted task, but after the restore, it changes to the relevant one (restored comment replaces the last one)
Message Custom Field (for edit)	The field cannot be changed
Message Custom Field (for view)	The field cannot be changed
*Number of attachments (visible on the grid)і)	NO there is data on the grid with deleted tasks, but the attachments will not be restored, accordingly, their number becomes 0
*Number of comments (visible on the grid)	YES
Parent link	YES
Participants of the work item	YES but new ones will be added if someone changes the task after the restoring
Project picker (single project)	YES
Text field (read only)	YES
*Time in status (visible on the grid))	NO *You can see the logged time only in the deleted task, but after restoring there is no data in this field
User Picker (multiple users)	YES
User Property Field (<255 characters)	NO
Name of last updater or commenter	YES *will change to Issue History for Jira app after the restore because the app will restore the task and become the last updater
Version Picker (multiple versions)	YES
Version Picker (single version)	YES

Jira Service Management

System fields	Restore supported
Affected hardware	YES
Affected services	YES
Approvers	YES
Approvers group	YES
Assignee	YES
Attachment	NO
Business application	YES
Component	YES
Description	YES
Impact	YES
Investigation reason	YES
Labels	YES
Linked work items	NO
Operational categorization	YES
Organizations	YES
Pending reason	YES
Priority	YES
Product categorization	YES
Reporter	YES
Request participants	YES
Request language	YES
Request Type	YES
Root cause	YES
Source	YES
Summary	YES
Urgency	YES
Workaround	YES

Jira Discovery

System fields	Restore supported
Assignee	YES
Atlas goals	displayed by code
Atlas project	displayed by code
Atlas project status	not presented on the grid
Attachment	NO
Comment	YES
Confidence	YES
Created	YES (the date of restore)
Creator	YES (the add-on)
Customer segments	YES
Date of change	YES (the date of restore)
Delivery	not presented on the grid
Delivery status	not presented on the grid
Description	YES
Designs ready	Checkbox on the grid
Documents	YES
Effort	YES
Goal	YES
Idea archived	Archived work items cannot be deleted
Idea archived by	Archived work items cannot be deleted
Idea archived on	Archived work items cannot be deleted
Idea short description	YES
Impact	YES
Impact score	not presented on the grid
Insights	not presented on the grid and in the idea
Work Item Type	YES
Key	YES (Key after restore)
Labels	YES
Linked Work Items	Does not save when deleted
Product	YES
Product Area	YES
Project start	displayed by code
Project target	displayed by code
Reporter	YES
Roadmap	YES
Spec ready	NO
Status	YES (the initial one)
Summary	YES
Team votes	displayed by code
Teams	YES
Updated	YES (the app)
Updated by	YES (the date of restore)
Value	YES

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