Clean up list of labels in Jira Software

[Vanessa Becker]

Hi guys!

How do I clean up my list of labels in Jira i.e I want to remove it from my project completely

See picture.

[Marc Koppelaar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Vanessa Becker

If you don't want to see the Labels field completely in your project, then remove it from the screens used in the project. Be aware if the screen scheme the screen is in is used in more project this will impact al related proects.

If you want to move them from the more fields section, you will need to adjust this in the Issue Layout section in the project settings.

You need to do this for the issue types where you want to move the Labels field to the More fields section. This via Edit Layout.

In the required layout then move the field from the "hidden when empty" section. But if someone does provide a label the field will be made visible by default

If you are looking to completely remove a value from all the labels, this is only feasible by searing for all the issues with that label and remove the label from all the issues.

[Bharath · Accepted solution]

Hi @Vanessa Becker ,

I am not sure if this helps, but it looks like we already have a suggestion on how we can delete Jira labels, here's a mass ticket #https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-33672

The ticket stated "To delete a label to be completely removed from a project in JIRA, the label must be removed from all the issues in that project. Once it is removed from all issues, it will no longer be suggested in autocomplete or when browsing a project's labels."

Cheers!

[Vanessa Becker]

Thank you how do you do a bulk search for a specific label?

[Madelen Smedenteg]

I cleaned up my labels with this JQL search:

project = YOURPROJECT labels in (YOURLABEL)

and then bulk-removed the label I wanted to get rid of. The tricky part is if you have more than just this label on a specific issue, then I needed to do it manually on that issue because the bulk-remove label will empty the whole label field... Maybe there is a smarter way, but I haven't found one...

[Lewis Cook]

If you setup an automation rule in the "edit issue" action you are able to select which labels you wish to remove from the issues.

Unfortunately from what I was looking at recently if you set it up as a "triggered" automation you will need to do it individually per issue.

If you set the automation up as scheduled you are then able to trigger the rule directly.

So use the filter suggested by Madelen as a condition on the rule then remove the labels. You can then amend the automation rule condition and action for the next label.

Thanks

Lewis

[Oliver Siebenmarck _Polymetis Apps_]

Hi @Vanessa Becker ,

In addition to the other answers, there's also the option of using an app.

In my biased opinion Project Labels is a terrific app to manage labels, as it allows you to get an overview of all labels used in your instance as well as renaming/removing much more easily than with the bulk approaches outlined by @Madelen Smedenteg and Lewis. 

This is what it looks like in practise:

Hope that helps,
 Oliver

Full disclosure: I work for Jodocus, the Marketplace Partner behind Project Labels. Let me know if you need any help getting started or have any questions or feedback.

[Mykenna Cepek]

Jira Automation can easily handle this. Here's an example (tested) rule:

[Mykenna Cepek]

Here's what the trigger configuration looks like in the rule above. The Cron expression simply assures that it only runs when triggered manually with the "Run rule" button.