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Overdue Subtasks in a Story aren't highlghted / don't show as Red

Michael Green
Contributor
May 7, 2026

Overdue Subtasks in a Story aren't highlghted / don't show as Red

How do I get Jira to highlight overdue sub-tasks in Red ????

 

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3 answers

0 votes
Utsav Kothari
May 8, 2026

You can try setting up an automation rule to add a flag to the work items that have crossed the due date. Flagged work items get highlighted automatically.

Screenshot 2026-05-08 125305.png

0 votes
Ivan Manolov - JXL
Contributor
May 8, 2026

@Michael Green Trudy is right - Jira doesn't have a native way to colour-code issues or sub-tasks based on their due date. The board and backlog views don't surface due-date-based visual alerts at the row level.

There are a couple of partial workarounds within native Jira:

  • Due date indicator on the board: If you enable the Due date field in your board card layout (Board settings → Card layout), each card will show the due date with a red badge when it's overdue. This only works on the board view, not in lists or the issue detail panel.
  • JQL filter + saved filter: You can create a saved filter like due < now() AND resolution is EMPTY and pin it as a quick filter on your board to isolate overdue issues, though this hides rather than highlights them.
  • Automation: You could set up a Jira automation rule that adds a specific label (e.g., overdue) when due < now() and the issue is unresolved, then create a board quick filter on that label. It's a workaround rather than a visual highlight, and it needs to run on a schedule.

None of these give you red rows across the full issue hierarchy the way you'd expect.

Cheers,

Ivan

Ivan Manolov - JXL
Contributor
May 8, 2026

@Michael Green following up on my earlier answer - if red-highlighting overdue items is important to how your team works, it's worth knowing that if you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, JXL for Jira handles exactly this with its conditional formatting feature.

You can define a rule like "if Due Date is in the past and status is not Done, colour the entire row red." This applies to every issue level in the view - stories, sub-tasks, epics - so overdue items stand out at a glance regardless of where they sit in the hierarchy.

conditional-formatting-due-date-v2.gif

You can combine multiple rules (e.g., amber for due within 3 days, red for already overdue) and they stack cleanly.

Disclosure: I work for the team that builds JXL.

Cheers,

Ivan

0 votes
Trudy Claspill
Community Champion
May 7, 2026

Hello @Michael Green 

What type of Space does this concern?

In which view are you hoping to see this highlight?

My initial thought is that there is not native functionality that will highlight a row as red based on comparing the "Due date" field to the current date.  But if you provide the requested information then I may be able to provide an answer with more confidence.

Michael Green
Contributor
May 7, 2026

Thanks.... but why is the type of Space relevant ?  Its a Story with Subtasks....

Trudy Claspill
Community Champion
May 8, 2026

The Space type is relevant because there are some different options available based on the type of Space this concerns, and...:

  1. What exactly you mean by "highlight"
  2. What view you want to see this in (i.e. List View, generic Search Work Items view, Board view)

 

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