Jira Comment Deleted: How to View Who Deleted It and When

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The comment history is vital in Jira as it records decisions, discussions, and the context of all work items. However, once a comment is deleted, the entire communication related to task performance can be easily disrupted.

Although Jira currently displays that a comment was deleted, who deleted it, and when, it still doesn’t show what was in it. The absence of this data makes the audits, compliance checks, and project accountability more complicated.

When your team uses Jira to manage regulated or high-visibility projects, not being able to view the contents of deleted comments can pose a real threat, including the loss of information due to compliance lapses.

In this article, we’ll explore how to track deleted comments using native Jira functionality and how to gain complete visibility into comment edits and deletions using Issue History for Jira app by SaaSJet. 

Why Comments Disappear in Jira

Comments in Jira are the foundation of communication for every work item, including capturing context, facilitating discussions, and supporting team-wide decision-making. The disappearance of a comment can cause immediate doubts: Is it deleted on purpose? Did it get lost because of the automation?

Let us examine the key causes why it can happen:

1. Manual deletion by users

Any user with edit or delete permissions can delete their own comments, as well as those of other users (depending on project settings).

Jira records the date and the person who deleted the comment, but not the comment's content.

2. Permission or role changes

When a user loses access to a project or work item, some comments may be hidden or inaccessible. To others, it may appear that the comment has disappeared, even though it is partially visible.

3. Bulk updates and automation

Some automations, cleanup scripts, or integrations can delete comments when performing bulk actions or data maintenance operations. In such situations, Jira can record the deletion event, but will not save the deleted text.

How to Track Deleted Comments in Jira

Let’s find out how you can track comment deletions effectively in Jira.

Using the Work Item Activity Feed

If you need to see if a comment was deleted, open the needed work item and go to the Activity section → History tab. When a comment is deleted, Jira displays an entry such as:

It gives you basic visibility. You’ll know who deleted the comment and when. However, it doesn’t show what was deleted (the comment content). For most teams, this is enough for awareness, but not suitable for auditing or compliance.

Using Issue History for Jira to Track Comment Changes

Jira's built-in tracking shows who deleted a comment and when, but not what was deleted. To most teams, particularly when they operate in an environment of strict compliance or documentation, that lack of content can be a significant gap.

That is where Issue History to Jira app from SaaSJet team comes in. It provides you with the complete change history for all work items, including comment edits and deletions.

After the app installation and activation of “Tracking comment changes” feature in it, the app starts tracking all changes made to your Jira work items comments.

Here’s what it captures:

• Comment creation, edits, and deletions.
• Who made each change and when it happened.
• Original and updated comment text (so you can see what was changed or removed).

Using the app, you can track comment changes related to the specific work item. For that, open that work item, go to Activity →🕒 Issue History tab. Set the specific date range, choose the updater if needed, and in Field filter select Comment. 

You’ll see the all changes related to the comments in a convenient format.

You can export the work item change history in Excel, CSV or PDF formats. 

Also, using the app’s Table View, you can see changes related to multiple work items, including comment modifications. You can set the filters and choose a specific project, date range, and the updater if needed, in the Columns menu select Comment, and you will get such a report: 

You can export the generated report in Excel or CSV formats. 

Why it’s useful:

🔍 Transparency: You can see exactly what was changed, deleted, no missing information.
🧾 Compliance: Ideal for teams in regulated industries like finance, healthcare, or government.
💬 Context preservation: Never lose important discussion threads or decisions again.
📤 Data export: Export comment history for audits or internal reports.

➡️ Try Issue History for Jira by SaaSJet today and take full control of your comment tracking and work item change history.

Summing Up

In today’s fast-moving projects, keeping a clear record of what happens in Jira is essential.

Jira’s native features allow seeing that a comment was deleted and who did it. However, but they don’t show what was deleted. 

Issue History for Jira solves this by saving every version of each comment, including edits and deletions. That's how your team always has a full picture of what changed, who changed it, and when.

It’s an easy way to make your Jira work items more transparent and audit-ready, without adding extra manual steps.