Why can't I assign a new user away from a former user?

[Max Clendenning]

 I have a bunch of tasks in the backlog that were once assigned to someone that is longer at the company (nor has a Jira account). When I try to assign these tasks to anyone else (including myself), the operation is ignored and it stays assigned to this generic former "User". 

 I understand there may be clumsy workarounds, such as cloning the issue. But it seems like a pretty straightforward bug if I can't just reassign from a dead account...?

[Max Clendenning · Accepted solution]

Apparently this is a known bug in the backlog. :(

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-74815

[Trevan Householder_Isos-Tech-Consulting_]

@Max Clendenning If you have the proper permissions you should be able to change the assignee. If all the issues are being moved to the same person, I'd suggest using Bulk Edit to change the assignee in one action.   Have you tried Bulk Edit?

If you have access to make bulk edits, you can get to it by clicking the ellipses button in the top right corner of the screen (if you're using the old navigation view):

If that doesn't work for you, I'd look at permissions.  If that doesn't resolve this for you I'd recommend opening a support case to let Atlassian help you with this.

[Max Clendenning]

I've got the usual permissions. I don't have any normal problems assigning tasks from one person to another - only in this case where it is assigned to a dead account.

Bulk Edit is not usable for dead accounts either, unless you know of a way to specify a dead account in the Search query? Since they are just called "User", that isn't an available option to select, even when typing it in manually.

I'll open a support case.