Cannot delete backlog item as admin

[Minjung Shin]

Hi, I am using the same account that created jira project to delete a backlog item. Still I get a no permission error. And I am JIRA master administrator. What should I do?

[Fazila Ashraf · Accepted solution]

Hi @Minjung Shin 

Look at the permission scheme of the jira project to see which groups/roles have access to 'delete issues'.

More about the permission scheme in https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiracloud/managing-project-permissions-776636362.html

[Minjung Shin]

Hi Fazila, I am the administraor. Should I still give myself permission? It doesn't make sense.

[Fazila Ashraf]

Yes, being an admin doesnt give all the access to everything.. Please give yourself/jira-admin group the necessary permission. Its for the best :)

[Minjung Shin]

OK, can you please walk me through how to find the menu to grant this?

[Fazila Ashraf]

As in the link given above:

Choose the Jira icon > Projects.

Search for and select the project you want to change permissions for.

Select Settings to view the project's settings.

Select Permissions from the sidebar. This displays the current permissions scheme.

Then lookup on who can delete issues and modify it

[Minjung Shin]

Thanks so much! I can delete now. :)

[Joe Pitt]

Do not delete issues. When you delete it is GONE. Hardly a week goes by without someone wanting to restore an issue. Deleting issues will come back and bite you when it is the most inconvenient. I suggest closing with a resolution value of Deleted anything you want to delete. I implement a special transition only the project lead can execute and it requires filling in a reason field from a select list (such as entered in error, OBE, Duplicate, Other) and explanation text.

Deleting issues destroys historical data. Missing issue numbers will eventually cause a question about what it was and why was it deleted even if it was done properly. Missing data always brings in the question of people hiding something that may have looked bad.

The only viable way to restore an issue is to create a new instance of JIRA and restore a backup that has the issues. Then export them to a csv file and import them to your production instance. You will lose the history.