How to do mass update for Issues in Jira cloud

[Vlad Mo]

Hi,

I'm facing a task to edit around  500 issues to remove old company name which can be in Summary or Description or in one of the Comments.
So far I see that the best scenario would be .
1.  Export     Issues in the list to CSV  ( in batch, not sure how to do this yet)
2.  Process CSV with external tools to remove old names
3.  Delete   issues from Jira  (in batch, using some script ?)
4.  Recreate  issues using Import tool  from updated  CSV.

 I assume that we will lose   original Issue_Key and will get new  Issue_Key/ID, is this correct assumption, or there is a way to preserve original Issue_key ?

Thanks to all

V

[Ash H_]

Hi @Vlad Mo , I'm Ash from Appfire. 

Updating multiple issues at once in Jira Cloud is a common task, and the most direct native way to handle this is through the "Bulk Change" feature. To get started, you can perform a search in the Issue Navigator (Filters > All issues) to find the specific set of issues you need to modify. Once your list is ready, you can click the "..." (three dots) in the top right corner and select "Bulk change all issues." This wizard will guide you through selecting the issues, choosing the "Edit Issues" operation, and then specifying which fields - like Summary, Description, or Priority - you want to update for the entire group. It’s a powerful tool, though it does require navigating through several confirmation screens to ensure everything is mapped correctly.

If you find yourself needing to do these mass updates frequently or prefer a more visual, spreadsheet-style approach, JXL for Jira might be a great fit for your workflow. Based on the public documentation, JXL allows you to view and manage your Jira issues in a highly customizable table that works much like Excel or Google Sheets. This means you can perform mass updates by simply copying a value from one cell and pasting it across multiple other cells, or even dragging to fill values down a column. It supports inline editing for most standard and custom fields, which can significantly speed up the process of cleaning up data or reassigning tasks across many issues without having to leave the list view or go through a multi-step wizard.

Hope it helps, 
Ash

[Paul Glantschnig _Appfire_]

Hey @Ash H_, thanks for bringing up JXL! I'm Paul from the team behind it.

@Vlad Mo, let me add some specifics to your case.

First, on the original plan: with delete-and-reimport, the original keys are gone. Re-imported work items always get new keys, and deleting permanently removes history, links, attachments, and worklogs (there is no recycle bin in Jira Cloud). So I would update the 500 work items in place instead.

One nuance on native Bulk Change: its edit operation sets the same value for every selected work item, so it can't strip a company name out of 500 different summaries. For Summary and Description, an Automation rule with a smart value like {{issue.summary.replace("Old Name","New Name")}} does the per-item replacement, as @Arkadiusz Wroblewski outlined.

In JXL, this clean-up would work like so: pull all 500 issues into a sheet via JQL, copy the Summary or Description column into Excel or Google Sheets, run a regular find and replace there, and paste the column straight back. The work items are updated in place, so keys, history, and links all stay intact.

This is how editing in bulk looks in action:

One honest caveat: like Jira itself, JXL can add comments in bulk but cannot modify existing ones, so the REST API remains the way to clean those up, comment by comment.

Cheers, Paul

[Vlad Mo]

Thanks much Ash and Paul, digesting all this now.  
I assume that this all 3rd party tools/apps we need to buy/install , is this correct?

I feel that Jira need 3rd party app for any moderate complex task.

Best

V

[danylo_iliukha]

Hello @Vlad Mo, 

I would avoid deleting and recreating those issues. Even if you re-import with matching keys, you still lose comment history, links, attachments, and audit data along the way. Jira Cloud has no recycle bin for deleted work items.

For find-and-replace across ~500 issues, I would split the work by field:

Summary and description

These fields are excluded from Jira's bulk change wizard, so the classic "Bulk change work items" flow will not help here. Jira Automation is the most practical native option: scope the rule to your issues (JQL trigger or manual run), then use smart values to rewrite the text, for example replacing the old company name in `{{issue.summary}}` and `{{issue.description}}`.

Comments

Bulk change can add a new comment, but it cannot search or replace text inside existing comments. For that you need the REST API: fetch comments per issue, check for the old name, and update each comment by its ID.

CSV import (optional)

If you are a site admin, another path is to export the issues, run find/replace externally, and re-import with the **Issue Key** column included. Jira updates matching keys instead of creating new ones, so keys and history stay intact. Comments are harder to handle cleanly through CSV alone.

Before you run anything at scale, take a full export as a backup and test your automation rule or script on one or two issues first.

Hope that helps,

Danylo

[danylo_iliukha]

@Vlad Mo One more option for the summary, description, and comment cleanup, especially if you want more visual control than an automation rule gives you.

If you are open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, JXL for Jira lets you load all affected issues in a spreadsheet-style sheet via JQL. Summary, Description, and Comments are editable columns. A workflow that works well for find-and-replace is to copy the column into Excel or Google Sheets, run replace there, and paste the corrected values back across hundreds of cells in one action.

That keeps your issue keys and history intact and avoids the REST API work for comments.

I work on the team that builds JXL.

Best regards,
Danylo

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Hello @Vlad Mo 

Hm Automation and Smart values should be able to do that.

Best,

Arkadiusz 🤠 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Vlad Mo 

PS: The approach depends on which of these listed fields should be edited.

Description and summary should be doable with Automation, Comment rather with Rest API. 

[Vlad Mo]

Dz Arkadiusz!  
I might need  to edit all types for fields.
You mentioned that for Comments need API !!?  I  thought if you export an issue everything should be included.

If I delete issue will it be completely erased from the Cloud, ot still will be logged in some History tables?

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Vlad Mo 

I was just giving you possibilities 

While CSV exports can include comments, I strongly advise against deleting and recreating your issues🤔. Doing so permanently destroys their history, links, attachments, and metadata—and Jira has no native recycle bin to recover them.

If you want to use CSV, use it to update existing issues, not to delete and recreate them. For that, the CSV must contain the existing Work Item Key / Issue Key. If Jira finds an existing issue with that key, it updates that issue instead of creating a new one.

For your 500 issues, the best thing to do is:

Backup first: Take a full export before changing anything.

 Summary & Description:Use Jira Automation with text-replacement smart values to update the text inline.

 Comments: Use the REST API to fetch the comments, check for the old company name, and update them by their specific comment ID.

 Test small: Verify your automation and API scripts on 1 or 2 issues before running it against the entire batch.

Best,

Arkadiusz🤠

[Vlad Mo]

dzięki A!
That's sound like a best plan for my situation. Will try to present this plan