JIRA creates a new "External issue ID" field for every import. why? Can be removed?

[Deleted user]

Can we remove them safely?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

If they do not contain data you might want to keep, then yes, absolutely feel free to kill the fields off.

I would check by

Rename all of those fields slightly, changing them to something like External issue id 1, 2, 3, etc, so you can tell the difference

Run a search for "external issue id 1 is not empty", then for 2, then 3 etc.   When you get 0 hits, it's perfectly safe to remove it (note that you should check that you can see the projects affected!)

[Deleted user]

But if not empty? Should I keep them?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

That's a business decision.  The question to ask each project owner is if they need the data you find there.  If they do not, then you can kill the fields.