Why is my backlog empty when the Backlog Status is unmapped?

[Keith Tasker]

Hello - I'm working in Jira Cloud with a new-ish company-managed scrum project. I don't recall having the following problem at prior companies with their instances of Jira Cloud. As you can see in the screenshot, I have the Backlog status unmapped because I have no need to map an item in Backlog status to a scrum board column.

My problem is that having the Backlog status unmapped is preventing items in that status from showing up in the backlog list. However, If I map the Backlog status to a column on the board, then those items appear in the backlog list. Additionally, when I pull backlog items into a sprint, the status remains "Backlog" rather than updating to the first status on the board (Selected For Development).

What I'm trying to accomplish:

• When creating a new work item, default status is Backlog
• All items with status Backlog appear in the backlog list
• When a backlog item is assigned to a sprint, the item's status defaults to the first status on the board (in my case, Selected For Development)

I've checked my board filter and it does not appear to be filtering out Backlog status items.

I was away from Jira for the 2nd half of 2025 so maybe something has changed or maybe my memory of prior behavior is not accurate. Any insights from the community will be very much appreciated!

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Keith Tasker 

Short answer: please move the Backlog status to the left-most column of board mapping, and when adding work items to a next / active sprint, change the status to "Selected For Development".  You could do those status changes with a bulk update or an automation rule triggered on adding things to the sprint when they are in a "Backlog" status.

For a Company-managed, Scrum board:

• the left-most Board column is "not started" work items, regardless of status
• the items shown on the Board are determined by: the filter, active Sprint selection, and status mapping to Board columns
• the Backlog section of the backlog displays work items which are "not-done" and not in an active / not-started sprint, regardless of their status  in the "Backlog" status when it is in the "not started" / left-most board column 

This is how it has worked for a long time, and perhaps became more visible when Team-managed projects added that extra wrinkle where items need to be explicitly added to the board.

Kind regards,
Bill

PS: Updates to the Backlog section display information from Trudy's comment.

[Trudy Claspill]

One correction to what @Bill Sheboy stated above...

In a Company Managed Scrum board the "backlog" section on the Backlog tab displays issues in any status (excluding unmapped statuses and the statuses mapped to the right-most column of the board) that are not included in a currently active or not-started Sprint.

The "backlog" section is not based on the status of the issues, but rather on whether they are are "not-done" and not in an active/not-started sprint.

...and that match the board filter.

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks, @Trudy Claspill for the correction!  I will update my post to avoid people reading it later and being confused by it.

[M Chandra Shekar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Keith Tasker I would suggest you to create a new column Backlogs And Move the backlog status to that column. And try automation that when sprint assigned move ticket to select for development state.

[Keith Tasker]

You all definitely helped me adjust my thinking and get this sorted out...thank you!

[Keith Tasker]

Thank you, everyone! Your suggestions all make sense. I'm struggling with the concept of needing to map the backlog status to a board column, given that the board is to visualize work-in-progress and given that I want those items to appear only in the backlog view. I guess I'm just having a mental block about it.

[Trudy Claspill]

I recommend that you change your perspective on what "backlog" means.

In Scrum "backlog" does not necessarily mean a single status. I see it as a bucket for all the things that need to be scheduled, regardless of their current status.

An item may have been "in progress" and work temporarily halted. It needs to move into the "backlog" bucket for rescheduling in a later sprint. I would want to know that the item has had some work done, so I would not want to change its status to Backlog again. I would want to move it into the backlog bucket while retaining visibility that the work has been "in progress".

Note that Company-managed Kanban boards are different. In that configuration you can use Statuses to segregate items to the backlog bucket by mapping those statuses to the Kanban backlog column.