Restore deleted work items in Jira Cloud using local backup files

Summary

When a Jira work item is deleted, it is removed from the database and can no longer be accessed or viewed. Atlassian backups cannot be used to restore work items.

Solution

Restore deleted work from local backup files

At this time, it is only possible to restore accidentally deleted data to Jira Cloud if you have an existing backup file to import via the steps outlined in the Import Issues documentation.

1. Restore XML backup (from before the work item was deleted)

2. Export the work item

   1. Instructions found here: Export search results to CSV

3. Import the CSV data

   1. Instructions found here: Import data from CSV

Manually recreate the work item by piecing together notification information

If there is no exported backup file to use, you may be able to manually create the work item with the same information it had originally.

To find that information, you can review the notification scheme which is configured for the project. When work is created, deleted, or updated, a notification will be sent to the added users on the respective work items. By default, Jira sends Issue Created notifications to these users:

• All Watchers

• Current Assignee

• Reporter

You can check with users belonging to this project to see if they have a copy of the notifications in their inbox. Please note, this will mean you have a different work item number.

You can also check for apps available in the marketplace to restore the deleted work items. This will not allow you to restore work that was deleted before add-ons were installed, but can help in future instances.

We have an ongoing feature request to implement a recycle bin like component which would allow recovering deleted work items and various other Jira data that would work as a safety net for such incidents in the future:

• JRACLOUD-36415 - Have a Trash/Recycle Bin in JIRA for issues