Removing Orphaned Sprints on free tier

[Shahbaz Hafeez]

Hi, 

We have a few old sprints that were orphaned when a project was deleted. There are no tickets in that project but they're listed in current projects in sprint dropdowns in our Jira Cloud site

I’ve verified: - The REST API confirms the existence of current project sprints but calls to the old board ID (returning `rapidViewId` error) confirm that board no longer exists. JQL `Sprint in ("<old sprint name>")` returns “Sprint with name does not exist or you do not have permission to view it.”

So it seems these are orphaned sprint records left behind by a deleted board.

I've followed the workaround captured against https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSWCLOUD-11263 plus those comments left by others but to no avail. 

Does anyone have any ideas what else could be done? 

As we're on the Free Jira Cloud plan, I can’t open a support ticket for someone with backend access to do the cleanup because the workaround didn't work. 

[Christos Markoulatos]

Hi @Shahbaz Hafeez 

You’re correct, when a board is deleted, its sprints can remain in the system as “orphaned.” Since you’re on the Free plan (no Atlassian support), here are the two main workarounds that usually work:

1. If the orphaned sprint is active (cannot complete it)

• Create a new board using the same filter as the deleted board (or as close as possible).
• Open the new board → Complete Sprint.
  (If the sprint had no issues, create a temporary project/board, add a dummy issue to the sprint, then complete it.)
  Ref: JSWCLOUD‑11263

2. If you just need to delete the orphaned sprint

• Go to any Company‑managed Scrum project backlog.
• Pick an issue in the backlog (not in a sprint).
• Edit its Sprint field → assign it to the orphan sprint.
• The sprint now appears in the backlog → click … → Delete sprint.
• Alternatively, use the Sprint REST API to delete it.
  Ref: JRACLOUD‑90816

There’s no direct UI option to bulk-remove orphaned sprints.

Hope this helps!

[Shahbaz Hafeez]

Thanks Christos! I tried the first option but the sprint wasnt listed. I assume they have an interal ID which doesnt match hence why it's not displayed. this would make sense for security reasons should a project be deleted then at some point in the future someone creates a new Project and inadvertently ressurrects old data.

It was a team-based project, we aren't using company-managed scrum projects. 

The REST API method I tried but the orphansed sprint (which was active) isn't being associated with the board of the new project with the same project key. 

[Christos Markoulatos]

Lets dive into it @Shahbaz Hafeez 

The issue here is that team-managed projects complicate things because they don’t have the same backlog/sprint management options as company-managed projects, and orphaned sprints often lack a valid board association.

Why the workaround fails for team-managed projects

• Team-managed boards are auto-generated and tied to the project. When the project is deleted, the board and its context vanish.
• Orphaned sprints remain in the global sprint table but without a valid rapidViewId, so they can’t be surfaced in UI or linked to new boards.

What you can still try

1. REST API Delete Sprint
   • Use DELETE /rest/agile/1.0/sprint/{sprintId}.
   • You can find the sprintId via GET /rest/agile/1.0/sprint?state=active|future|closed.
   • Even if the board is gone, the sprint entity usually responds to DELETE.
   • Requires Admin permissions, but works on Free tier.
2. Temporary Company-Managed Project
   • Create a company-managed Scrum project (even on Free tier).
   • Add a dummy issue → manually set its Sprint field to the orphan sprint.
   • The sprint should appear in the backlog → delete it from UI.
   • This works because company-managed projects can reference global sprints.

Let me know if it worked!