"Why Your Jira is Slow: Understanding Bloat and How to Fix It"

[#1]

“It’s not Jira. It’s the junk we’ve thrown into it over the years.”

You’ve probably heard complaints like:

• “Jira takes forever to load.”

• “Dashboards crash half the time.”

• “Searching tickets is painfully slow.”

And the worst part? Most of the time, Jira isn’t the problem — it’s the bloat that’s built up over time.

 What Is Jira Bloat?

“Bloat” refers to unnecessary or excessive configuration data that accumulates over time — kind of like hoarding in a digital attic. It includes:

• Hundreds of inactive projects

• Thousands of custom fields no one uses

• Screens, workflows, schemes created per project and never reused

• Orphaned automation rules, unused filters, and stale dashboards

• Legacy issue types still lingering from teams that no longer exist

Real-Life Signs of a Bloated Jira Instance

• Searching issues slows down or times out

• Dashboards with complex gadgets fail to load

• Admin screens like "Custom fields" or "Workflows" take minutes to open

• Field context edits crash or timeout

• New projects take longer to configure due to sheer config volume

Why Does This Happen?

• Every team wants their own workflow or custom field

• Projects are never archived, even after years

• Admins fear deleting anything due to audit or compliance concerns

• There’s no governance model, so duplicate configs explode

How to Fix It (Without Breaking Anything)

1. Start with a Configuration Audit

• List out all custom fields — check usage frequency

• Find inactive projects (no updates in 6+ months)

• Identify screens, workflows, schemes not associated with any active project

• Flag automation rules that haven’t run recently

2. Use Tools (Built-in or Apps)

• Leverage Jira’s field usage insights

• Use Marketplace apps like Optimizer for Jira or Cleaner for Jira

• Create Forge-based internal tools to identify unused items

3. Clean Up with a Risk-Aware Approach

• Instead of deleting, retire fields and workflows (rename to z_Retired_FieldName)

• Take XML backups before deletion

• Archive or export old projects instead of deleting

• Clean in waves: one category (fields, workflows, projects) per quarter

4. Establish a Governance Model

• Create guidelines for:

  • When to create new custom fields

  • Project archiving timelines

  • Workflow reuse policy

• Assign clear admin roles and use change logs to track who did what

Result? A Faster, Smarter Jira

With the clutter gone:

• Admin tasks become faster and less error-prone

• Users don’t scroll endlessly in transition screens

• Dashboards load quickly

• New team onboarding becomes smooth

Final Word

Jira is a powerful engine — but if you overload it, it sputters.
Take a weekend to clean up your house, and suddenly, it feels brand new again. The same applies to Jira.

[Yatish Madhav]

Thanks @Akhand Pratap Singh 

Firstly, definitely easier said than done ... BUT I do totally agree with everything in your post.

It is tough to create governance, better management and improved project/configuration management and workflows across an instance that you take over that has been badly managed over years.

To add to the above, I would also suggest or add to the "How to Fix It":

- Review user base at least every 6 months - Org admins, Jira admins, project admins, product admins

- Ensure there is a level of control of how and how many tickets are created - Eg integrating tools can tend to auto-create tickets that may never be worked on. Jira is for task management, not just a log/database of 'stuff'

Jira should be a tool that aids in "Work smarter, not harder" with the plethora of features it comes with!

Thank you again

Yatish