Can't remove Done issues from New Board

@eaigner like others have pointed out, there isn't an easy way to achieve what you are after. The only option I can think of is to use filters to hide items that are done. 

If you want a little more flexibility, including the ability to easily hide items that are done, take a look at BetterBoard in the marketplace. 

In addition to more display options, it also features improve color coding, better filters and bulk actions and keyboard shortcuts. 

I'm part of the team building it, and used to be the head of product for Jira in the past. What we are building now is the vision for boards I never got to build at Atlassian before I left. 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Jens

Hello @eaigner 

Can you share with us the type of Space you are working with? Click the ellipsis button next to the space name in the navigation panel on the left and let us know what the last two lines of the pop-up say. It will be something like:

Software space
Team-managed

Also can you confirm for us that this is a Kanban board, if you are working with a Software space?

If you are working with a Team-managed Software space Kanban board, that UI has been affected by recent changes listed here:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Upcoming-Changes-to-Software-Boards-in-Team-Managed-Spaces/ba-p/3240014

In particular the option to clear the done column has been removed, and items are not hidden by being included in a Released version. Items in the done column can be hidden only by using the Hide Done Items After time frames from the View Settings.

It sounds like you’re running into a common point of frustration with how Jira handles "Done" items, especially with the recent UI updates. Depending on your board type, there are two main reasons why those issues are "piling up":

1. If you are on a Kanban Board

Kanban boards have a specific setting to auto-hide completed items, but it has a "gotcha": the timer is based on the Updated date, not the Resolution date.

• The Setting: Go to Board settings > General and look for "Hide completed issues older than..." (usually set to 1, 2, or 4 weeks).

• The Problem: If anyone adds a comment, changes a field, or even moves a "Done" issue, the "Updated" timer resets. This makes the issue stay on your board for another 2 weeks from the moment of that edit.

• The Fix: If the built-in setting isn't aggressive enough, you can force them off by editing your Board Filter JQL to include:
  AND (resolved >= -2w OR resolved is EMPTY)
  This ensures that once an issue has been resolved for 2 weeks, it disappears regardless of any recent comments or edits.

2. If you are on a Scrum Board

Scrum boards do not have a "Hide completed" toggle because they are designed to be cleared by the Sprint cycle.

• The Behavior: Issues will stay in the "Done" column for as long as the Sprint is active.

• The Fix: You must Complete the Sprint (using the button at the top right) to clear those issues off the board. Once the sprint is closed, the completed items move to the archive/reports, and the board starts fresh for the next sprint.

3. Team-Managed Projects

If you are using a Team-managed project, the setting has moved. You won't find it in the "Configure Board" menu. Instead:

• Click View Settings at the top right of your board.

• Look for the Hide completed issues toggle there.

If you've checked these and they still won't budge, it’s worth verifying that your "Done" column is actually mapped to a status in the "Done" Category (Green) in your board's Column settings. If the status is accidentally mapped to an "In Progress" (Blue) category, Jira won't know the work is finished!

Verified Sources:

• Kanban board shows or hides completed work unexpectedly in Jira Cloud | Jira and Jira Service Management | Atlassian Support

• https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-86404

• Customize cards | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

Hi @eaigner

I wanted to add that on the updated board, the View settings at the top right let each person toggle them for their own view, so one teammate can still see Done issues even if you have hidden them. Right, @Alexandre Pezzini

You can also check whether the issues are truly resolved when using some JQL to filter. Sometimes your workflow sets the status but not the resolution.

Also, I found that my team-managed software board shows the "Remove done items..." directly on the done column and not in the view settings.

Hi @eaigner,

I would suggest you look at the advanced Agile and Kanban boards we have created to improve the experience with embedded boards.

In addition to hiding items, we have column groups, best-in-class WIP limits, advanced dependency tracking, automatic flow efficiency calculation, identification of suck items, and many more.

I would be happy to present it in detail.

Thanks,

Yuri

Two documented things switch that option off, and it's worth ruling both out before you write it off entirely.

Sprints first. Atlassian's team-managed doc says it flatly, if you have the Sprints feature enabled you won't be able to manually clear work items from your board. Second one is permissions, only space admins and Jira admins can clear Done work items. If you're not a space admin on that space it isn't there for you at all.

With sprints off and admin rights, the control sits on the Done column itself. Hover it, More actions, then Clear Done work items. That's an actual remove now rather than another timer.

If both of those check out and it's still missing, then it is the migration that took it, and that's worth saying on the rollout article. The article doesn't actually say the manual clear was removed, it goes quiet on it.