As a Jira user, you’re well aware of the significance of efficiently managing project data within the system. But what about when you need to export Jira issues for reporting, analysis, or sharing with external people? The best practices for exporting Jira issues should be on your radar.
In this post, we’ll dive deep into the various options available for exporting issues from Jira, so you feel empowered to get exactly the data you need in the right format.
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Why export issues from Jira?
Exporting issues from Jira serves multiple critical purposes in project management:
- It allows you to create custom reports that provide business insights beyond Jira’s reporting.
- It facilitates data migration if you ever need to switch issue-tracking systems or consolidate multiple instances.
- You can export issues to integrate Jira with other platforms like project management, analytics, or billing and invoicing tools.
- It facilitates collaboration with external stakeholders or team members who may not have direct access to the Jira platform.
- Clean data exports enable building scripts and applications on top of Jira.
Whether the aim is improved reporting, intersystem communication, or advanced functionality, exporting issues gives portable access to Jira’s data for further manipulation.
5 options to export Jira issues
Exporting Jira issues using built-in features
How to export Jira issues directly on the platform? Jira has native options for exporting issues. Among available Jira issue export formats are RSS, Word, XML, HTML, CSV, and Excel CSV. These options cover off basic needs like one-time reports, backups, or small migrations with up to 1000 issues. Some formats also allow for the inclusion of issue fields and comments in the exports.
To initiate the export process, navigate to Filters > View All Issues and search for the specific issues you wish to export using filters or JQL. Once you’ve identified the issues, click on the Export button and select the format that best suits your needs.
Limitations when exporting issues from Jira
- Not all content from Jira issues can be exported. The native Jira options usually export data without transitions, attachments, and comments on issues.
- You can export only 1000 Jira issues at a time.
Exporting additional content from Jira issues to Excel and CSV
You can also export additional content from Jira issues to Excel on Jira Cloud and Jira Data Center. It’s possible to export more than 1000 issues, transitions, comments, and attachments. For this, you need to use apps from Atlassian Marketplace, like Exporter for Jira.
Also, Jira Cloud and Jira Data Center allow exporting Jira issues to CSV with additional content, such as comments, the history of issue transitions, and modifying the delimiter (point, colon, semicolon, etc.). Here, you also should use the Exporter for Jira tool.
Leveraging Jira apps and plugins for exporting issues
The Atlassian Marketplace offers a range of apps and plugins for enhanced exporting functionality. They enable automated scheduled exports, customized export formats, and integration with business intelligence tools. With 150+ export apps, you can find plugins matching your specific needs. Apps help overcome some limitations of built-in exports for managing large data sets.
Using the Jira API for exporting issues
For advanced custom exports, Jira also provides a REST API for piping data in real-time to other apps and external databases. Custom scripts and applications can leverage the API for streaming issue changes to systems beyond Jira’s UI constraints. With proper development resources, you can build automated, updated exports and integrations. For complex yet extensible exporting capabilities across products, leveraging the REST API is ideal.
Exporting Jira issues with automation tools
Dedicated tools facilitate one-time or ongoing batch exports from one Jira instance to another or between Jira and other platforms. They allow smooth data migration and synchronization using API connectivity and integrations. Some also enable bi-directional updating of issues between systems. Validation mechanisms additionally give admins confidence in export completeness and accuracy.
With an array of pre-configured connectors, automation tools, including Unito, Coda, and Elements Copy & Sync, simplify exporting efforts to migrate or integrate Jira with targets like Confluence, GitHub, Salesforce, and Azure.
Collaborative export options for teams
When working in a team environment, collaborative export options can be beneficial for sharing and distributing issue data. Tools like Confluence, which integrates seamlessly with Jira, allow you to export issues directly into Confluence pages or documents.
Additionally, you can use tools like Zapier and Jira Connector by Smartsheet that enable you to export issues into Trello and Smartsheet platforms, fostering cross-team collaboration and visibility.
Jira data export best practices
When exporting Jira issues, it is important to follow certain best practices to ensure proper data integrity, security, and efficiency. Key points include:
- Organize exports by project or filter views to export only the most relevant issues for the intended use case rather than all data. Apply date ranges as well to prevent outdated information.
- For migration testing, first export a small batch of non-sensitive issues prior to a full copy. Confirm import successfully before proceeding with all data to avoid disruption.
- Utilize full issue history exports to migrate data as completely as possible, including activity logs for full context beyond just issue field values alone.
Conclusion
Exporting issues is vital for leveraging Jira’s data beyond the system’s basic reporting. With the 5 methods to export Jira issues and the best practices discussed in this guide, you now have a comprehensive toolkit at your disposal. Let 2024 be the year to get productive and strategic with your Jira data!
