Jira Import – HTML Formatting in Description Field

Question

Hi Atlassian Community, I am currently working on a Jira migration and need to import issues from an Excel/CSV file into Jira. The Description field in the source data contains content in HTML format. During the import, Jira is treating the HTML tags as plain text instead of rendering/converting the content into the appropriate Jira description formatting. For example, the imported description contains HTML such as:

Sample description

Important: Please review this. After importing, Jira displays the HTML tags directly instead of displaying the formatted content. I would like to know: * Is there a supported way to import HTML-formatted descriptions into Jira while preserving the formatting? * Can Jira automatically convert HTML content into the Jira ADF (Atlassian Document Format) or another supported description format during import? * Is there a recommended approach, migration tool, or REST API method to convert the HTML content before importing? * Are there any Jira Cloud import limitations or specific formatting requirements that need to be considered? Any guidance or recommended approach would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Gabriela - LeanZero · Answer

Hi Akshad,

The tags showing as text isn't the importer getting it wrong, because Jira Cloud doesn't render HTML in the Description field; Atlassian's KB says the field only runs the wiki markup renderer or the default text renderer, and that the HTML has to be converted to one of those first. So no importer will turn your strong tag into bold.

What the classic CSV importer does take is wiki markup; the docs show mentions as [~email:user@example.com], and JRACLOUD-79205 records [link|http://example.com] working while markdown links don't. If you land on the new import experience, switch to the old one, and leave the Map field value box unticked, because ticking it strips line breaks and wrecks tables. I couldn't find anything documenting whether the new experience renders wiki markup, so I'd treat that as untested.

The conversion is yours to do before import, since I couldn't find an Atlassian HTML-to-wiki converter and the Automation function people usually reach for goes the other way, wiki to HTML. If you're already scripting the migration, the JSON import doc says the importer format is more basic than what the REST API accepts, and the v3 issue docs say Description takes ADF, which skips the importer.

Are you on the new import screen or the classic wizard?

John Funk · Answer

Hi Akshad,

Take a look at this documentation for the Jira Markup language - it don't not use straight HTML.

https://jira.atlassian.com/secure/WikiRendererHelpAction.jspa?section=all&permissionViolation=true&page_caps=&user_role=USER