Custom project templates are Jira’s newer feature that helps teams get new projects up and running as quickly as possible with predictable processes. Setting up Jira projects takes up a lot of time, especially from scratch. While Jira offers built-in templates for niches like software development, finance, and marketing, these only go so far.
You still need to configure permissions, boards, workflows, and more. Also, keeping setups consistent across projects is challenging.
Custom Jira project templates solve this by letting you create your own templates and use them to quickly create new projects. In this article, we’ll cover what custom project templates are and how to use them effectively to speed up creating new projects.
We’ll take it further and walk you through how to make project creation even quicker with Jira automation and the Easy Issue Templates for Jira app.
What are Jira custom templates?
Custom templates in Jira allow Jira admins to save existing projects as templates. Then use these to create new, similar projects. What exactly does this mean?
What are Jira custom templates?
Custom templates in Jira allow Jira admins to save existing projects as templates. Then use these to create new, similar projects. What exactly does this mean?
Let’s say your software development team runs bi-weekly sprints for each product. Each sprint project follows the same structure:
- Same workflow: To Do → In Progress → Code Review → QA → Done.
- Same issue types: Story, Bug, Task, Subtask.
- Same custom fields: Sprint Goal, Release Version, Client Priority.
- And so on.
Instead of setting up a new project from scratch every 2 weeks, you can save one of the projects (completely set up) as a template. Then use this template to create other similar projects. The template includes preconfigured workflows, issue type schemes, custom fields, and more. All of which makes creating new projects faster and more consistent.
Example: Hardware Product Rollout Across Multiple Regions
Let’s say your company rolls out a new hardware product line across multiple regions.
Each rollout requires a dedicated Jira Space that follows the same operational structure.
Standardized configuration includes:
Workflows
Planning → Procurement → Assembly → Testing → Certification → Deployment → Closed
Issue types
Initiative, Task, Risk, Change Request, Defect
Custom fields
Region, Manufacturing Partner, Compliance Status, Batch Number, Launch Date
Permission scheme
Operations Team + Engineering + QA (edit access)
Regional Manager + Executives (view access)
Boards and reporting
Rollout tracking board
Risk dashboard
Executive progress report
Instead of configuring a new Space from scratch for every regional launch or production batch, you can create one fully configured rollout Space and save it as a template.
Whenever a new rollout begins, you create a new Space from that template — instantly inheriting:
• Predefined workflows
• Preconfigured issue type schemes
• Custom fields already attached
• Permission and notification schemes applied
• Boards, filters, and dashboards ready to use
This approach ensures:
• Every rollout follows the same operational and compliance standards
• Reporting is consistent across regions
• Setup time is reduced from hours to minutes
• Jira admins are not a bottleneck
In short, templates turn complex, repeatable initiatives into a scalable and predictable process.
NOTE: Custom project templates in Jira were one of the announcements made at Team 25. Currently, only Jira admins can create custom project templates, and this feature is available only on the Jira Enterprise plan. It works for both team and company-managed projects.
Why this matters
Custom templates are an important addition to Jira’s productivity features for the following reasons:
- They eliminate repetitive setups – Jira admins don’t have to recreate things like issue type schemes, workflows, etc for recurring work, initiatives, or internal processes. The template has this pre-configured specifically for the project.
- They allow teams to be more productive – Because they make Jira project setups easier, teams can spend more time doing impactful work instead of configuring project settings.
- They ensure consistency across projects – You can define standardized settings in one project (the template) and use the same setup for all other similar projects.
Teams working on many similar projects stand to benefit the most from Jira’s custom project templates. They won’t have to go through the hassles of setting everything up from scratch, which frees them up to do more meaningful work.
How are custom project templates different from standard Jira templates?
Project templates aren’t new to Jira. For a long time, Jira has offered project templates for various industries and niches, including marketing, design, software development, and finance. So, how are they different from custom project templates?
For one, Jira offers standard templates out of the box, while custom project templates are created by the Jira admin. This doesn’t mean that they can’t be used together; quite the contrary. As a Jira admin, you can use a standard template to create a project, which you can then convert into a custom template for other similar projects.
That aside, Jira’s standard project templates are generic, whereas custom templates are usually specific to a project.
To recap, here’s how standard and custom project templates in Jira differ:
| Feature | Standard templates | Custom templates |
| Who defines it? | Atlassian. | Jira admin. |
| Does it include project- or organization-specific configurations? | No. It’s generic and intended for general use. | Yes. Based on the organization’s past projects. |
| Ideal for? | Quick setups and new users. | Mature teams that want repeatability. |
| Who can use them? | Any user if the Jira admin permits. | Only the Jira admin. |
If we put numbers on this, we would say standard templates cover about 60–70% of your project setup process, while custom templates cover about 90–95%. With that in mind, let’s look at what is included in a custom project template and what isn’t.
What is included in a Jira custom project template and what isn’t?
A custom project template will copy the source project’s entire structure and configuration. When you create a project from a custom template, you’ll get a new project with all these settings in place:
- Boards – How you’ve configured Scrum and or Kanban boards, including their columns, quick filters, etc.
- Issue type scheme – The set of issues you use for such projects (Bug, Task, Requirements Management, Epic, and so on).
- Complete workflows for each issue type – Including their statuses (To Do → In Progress → Done), transitions, and validators.
- Fields – This includes all custom fields, their configurations, and their arrangement across various screens.
- Roles – Default roles plus any new roles created in the source project.
- Permissions – Definitions on who can perform what actions in the project.
- Notification scheme – Specifying who receives email notifications on issue events.
- Issue security: This includes security schemes that dictate who can view specific issues.
- Shortcuts – Such as quick links to external resources (for example, a code repository or Confluence space) set up in the source project.
What is excluded?
Here’s what the project template will leave out:
- Work items from the original project: Custom templates only copy the structure, not the project’s content.
- Apps – Because app installations are often tied to specific Jira instances or global settings, apps won’t be automatically installed in the new project created from the custom template.
- Automations – Automations are built to respond to unique conditions in a project, so they aren’t copied over.
- Enabled features – Features such as Roadmaps will not be copied directly into the template, allowing teams to enable the features they’ll use for the project.
- Feature-specific settings – For instance, story point configurations, roadmap visibility settings, estimation techniques, and so on.
Essentially, a custom template copies the project’s structure while intentionally omitting data and dynamic elements.
Now we know what custom project templates in Jira are. Let’s go over how to create and use them.
How to create and use custom project templates in Jira
As a Jira admin, you can create a custom project template in the following steps:
- Create a project and configure all necessary settings, such as issue type schemes, workflows, and boards. In case you don’t know how to do this, here are detailed walkthroughs on how to configure a Jira project.
If you have already done this, you don’t have to do it again.
2. On the left side panel, hover over the project and click on More actions (represented by three dots…).
3. To create a template from this project, click on Save project as template.
4. Enter a name and description for your project. This will help you identify this template when you want to use it to create a new project.
4. Click Save to finish.
Now this project will be available to you as a template for creating other similar projects. To use it to create a project:
- Go to the projects menu and click the plus(+) button to create a new project.
- On the project creation screen, click on Custom templates.
- Choose the template you wish to use and click on Use template. Once this process is done, you can start working on your project.
Custom project templates are one of the easiest-to-use Jira features. Provided you understand how to set up a single project, you can replicate a project’s structure in many other projects.
Custom templates do a great job of speeding up project setup. You can further speed up project setup by filling in some of the gaps left by the app and its automations.
Enhance project setup with custom templates using Easy Issue Templates for Jira and automation
Jira custom templates will define your project’s structure (issue types, boards, workflows, etc), giving you a great place to start when creating your projects. You can go further and create issue templates to speed up issue creation when setting up your projects.
To do this, you’ll need the Easy Issue Templates for Jira app.
Speed up issue creation using the Easy Issue Templates for Jira app
While the custom templates feature lets you create templates at the project level, Easy Templates lets you do so at the issue level. With this app, you can create templates for all types of issues, including:
- Epics.
- Stories
- Tasks and subtasks.
- Any other custom issue types you’ve created.
Easy Templates works similarly to the custom projects template feature. You save an issue as a template and then use it to create new issues.
Easy Templates saves all links from the source issue, allowing you to quickly and easily recreate complex hierarchies.
You’ll save a template once and use it as many times as you want, which will boost your team’s productivity. Its integrations with third-party tools, such as Checklists, ensure you won’t miss anything.
What does using Easy Templates with Jira custom project templates look like?
Custom project templates give you an issue type you can use, for example, Bug. Easy Templates will allow you to create a pre-filled, standardized Bug issue from a Bug issue template. You don’t need to fill in basic information like the description or create a checklist.
Automatically Create Issues When a New Project Is Created
Jira project templates define configuration such as workflows, issue types, and schemes. But they do not generate actual work items.
If every new project in your organization requires the same initial structure, manual setup quickly becomes repetitive and error-prone.
This is where Jira Automation and Easy Issue Templates work together.
Use Case: Generate a Standard Issue Structure on Project Creation
Let’s say every new customer project must include:
- “Customer Onboarding” epic
- “Delivery Roadmap” epic
- predefined task structure under each epic
- compliance or documentation checklist
Instead of asking a project manager or Jira admin to create this structure manually each time, you can automate it.
How to Configure It
- Go to Project (Space) Settings → Automation
- Create a new rule
- Select the trigger Project (Space) created. Note: Projects was rebranded to “Spaces” by Atlassian.
- Add the action Create issues from template (provided by Easy Issue Templates)
- Choose the template that contains your predefined structure
Once configured, whenever a new project is created, Jira will automatically generate all issues from the selected template.
What Gets Created Automatically
Depending on your template setup, the rule can generate:
- Multiple epics
- Parent and child issue hierarchies
- Linked issues
- Pre-filled descriptions and custom fields
- Standardized checklists
The new project is not just configured; it is also being tested. It is operational from the start.
Why This Matters
Native Jira project templates copy configuration.
Automation combined with Easy Issue Templates creates an execution structure.
This approach helps you:
- Standardize project initiation across teams
- Reduce dependency on Jira admins
- Eliminate missed setup steps
- Ensure every project starts with the same baseline
For organizations that frequently create new projects, this small automation can save hours of setup time and significantly improve consistency.
Jira Custom Project Templates Best Practices
1. Create Templates for Repeatable Work
Custom templates make the most sense when teams regularly create similar projects.
Typical examples include:
- Customer onboarding projects
- Marketing campaign projects
- Product launch projects
- Regional rollout projects
If a project type is created only once, a template is usually unnecessary. Templates are designed for recurring scenarios, not one-off initiatives.
In some cases, you may not need a custom project template at all.
If you already have a well-configured project, Jira allows you to create a new project based on an existing project’s shared configuration. During project creation, you can select which existing project to copy the configuration from. This includes shared workflows, issue type schemes, and screens.
This approach works well when your goal is to reuse a configuration without maintaining a separate template.
2. Design Templates with Maintenance in Mind
Templates should evolve alongside your Jira configuration.
Instead of creating multiple similar templates, maintain a single source of truth and update it when processes change.
To simplify maintenance:
- Use shared schemes for workflows, issue types, and screens
- Keep configuration company-wide rather than project-specific
- Document each template in Confluence, including its purpose and intended users
This reduces fragmentation and makes future updates easier.
3. Review and Update Regularly
Workflows, screens, and governance models change over time. When they do, previously created templates can become outdated.
To keep templates relevant, schedule regular reviews, either quarterly or biannually.
During each review, verify that:
- Workflows reflect current processes
- Required fields are still accurate
- Permission schemes align with your structure
Templates should support how your teams work today, not how they worked in the past.
4. Test Before Deployment
Before rolling out a new custom template across the organization, create a test project from it.
Validate that:
- Workflows behave as expected
- Screens display the correct fields
- Permission schemes are properly applied
- Boards and reports function correctly
Testing helps you catch configuration issues before they affect real projects.
Understand the Limitations
A custom project template standardizes configuration. It does not create a fully operational project.
You may still need to:
- Install or configure apps
- Set up automation rules
- Create initial issue structures
- Enable required project features
If your goal is to automatically generate predefined issue hierarchies when a new project is created, you will need to use automation alongside tools such as Easy Issue Templates.
Also note:
- Custom project templates apply only to new projects
- Existing projects must be updated manually
- Only Jira Enterprise admins can create custom project templates
Understanding when to use shared configuration, when to use custom templates, and when to extend setup with automation will help you design a scalable and maintainable Jira environment.
Conclusion
Jira’s custom project templates speed up project creation and ensure consistent work across projects. This feature is suitable for teams that work on many similar client projects and recurring workloads, such as onboarding new clients. You can further speed up project setup by combining custom templates with the Easy Issue Templates for Jira app and Jira automation.
Easy Templates lets you create reusable issue templates for recurring issues, while automation automates repetitive tasks.
Combine custom project templates, Easy Issue Templates, and automation to speed up project setups and spend more time working.
