query all issues in backlog

[Jo]

I need to bulk change all the issues that are still in the backlog.

But I cannot find the right query.

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Jo - why can't you just do Project = ABC and status = Backlog

[Brian Pipa]

Not all tickets in the backlog are in the "Backlog" status. Many are in OPEN or TODO.

[John Funk]

Then Project = ABC and status in (Backlog, Open, "To Do")

[b.gupta]

It does not work as there is nothing with Status = backlog

[John Funk]

Well, then what are you trying to bulk change then? If there are no issues in Backlog, then there is nothing to move out of backlog. 

[Pragnesh Patel]

Try this...

Project = 'ABC' and Sprint is EMPTY

[Lars Jendrzejewski]

@John Funk , you are ab-so-lutely right. If there are no issues, nothing is to move.

But why Do I see Issues in the Backlog and no Issues in the search when I use status = backlog ? Did the Jira-Manager make a wrong configuration because the Backlog is not a status? "Sprint is EMPTY" is giving me more Issues than in the backlog,

[Pragnesh Patel]

Lars - Along with Sprint is EMPTY make and condition --> AND Type NOT IN ( Subtask ).

[Lars Jendrzejewski]

Thx, I think i get near the search string. For Example I have issuetype not "Type" in the Cloud , but it´s the direction I needed. A little bit unfortune tho that we do not have the backlog term in the search area.

[Pragnesh Patel]

Gr8 - it helps to you. Not sure, but I am having "Type" in the Cloud.

[Bill Gray]

How would one do this on Kanban board?  openSprints() is always empty.

[Fazila Ashraf]

Hi @Jo 

How about your board's filter query + and sprint is empty ?

I mean that is to get the ones in the backlog and not added to future sprints also.. 

If you want to include future sprints items in the backlog section, you can also use + or sprint in futureSprints()

Refer to functions in https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwareserver/advanced-searching-functions-reference-939938746.html#Advancedsearchingfunctionsreference-fsfutureSprints() 

[Susan Weber]

The JQL that works for me is 

project = *project* AND (sprint is EMPTY OR Sprint not in (openSprints(), futureSprints())) AND resolution = Unresolved and status != Closed

[Jeff Shelby]

I'm pretty sure this will miss tickets that were in any currently open or future sprints that were then moved back to the backlog. To be fair, though, I'm going off past experience. I did not test it again today.

[Susan Weber]

Just tested by moving an issue from the backlog into the current sprint and back into the backlog, then filtering the backlog by product. The moved issue still shows in the filtered backlog.  Seems to work as expected. 

Perhaps the behavior you recall seeing was a Jira Cloud bug that has since been fixed? 

[Jeff Shelby]

Aha! The real genius here is in this piece: "AND resolution = Unresolved". All of the tickets in our closed sprints are (naturally) resolved so this is taking the place of trying to filter out the closed sprints without, at the same time, filtering out issues that used to be in the closed sprints.

I'm also a little surprised that "not in" is working differently with closedSprints() than with openSprints() and futureSprints() but the inconsistency works in my favor so, play on.

I have the occasional issue that went through status changes that prematurely left it with a Resolution that would fail this search but I can live with that.

Thanks so much for your post!

[Colin_McDermott]

Susan, I think you are onto something

Just some tips. Use statusCategory in ("To do", "In Progress") or not in ("done)

By using statusCategory you get 'closed' 'resolved' and all your 'green' status's

[Richard Williams]

Following.  I'm looking to do the same.  In the Sprint Planning Board items that don't have a Sprint associated with them are found in Backlog.  (note: Backlog isn't a status in this case.) Yet, in the Advanced Filter, you can't search for <none> in the Sprint category.  Grrrr

[Pragnesh Patel]

Below query will give you all the items which are listed under Backlog 

project is '{xxxx}' and Sprint is EMPTY

[Mike Jones]

'Sprint is Empty' only includes items that have never been in a sprint. The sprint field stays populated if an item is returned to the backlog (currently no sprint) with all of the sprint history, so anything that is currently not in a sprint, but was in a sprint, will not have the Sprint field empty. How do I include these items in my query?

[Germán Isaurralde]

I think this can work 

project = "XYZ" AND statusCategory != Done AND (sprint is EMPTY OR Sprint != SpirntNumber) 

Where SprintNumber is the number of the current sprint.

[Pragnesh Patel]

Germán Isaurralde - with your suggestion, it will give items which are also in other backlog sprints or closed sprints.

The requirement was to get items only in Backlog.

[Jeff Shelby]

<I had an approach that initially seemed to work but I found problems with it and I can't seem to delete this reply.>

[Geneviève Girouard]

You can get everything that was in a previous sprint but put back in the backlog using:  status in ("To Do") and (sprint is EMPTY or sprint in closedSprints())    Status must be put back to to do though when item sent back to backlog.

[Rachel Clements]

Next to my Backlog, there is an icon of four little lines and a square that is 'view in issue navigator' - when clicked that takes me to the issue navigator with the query at the top being:

project = [MYPROJECT] AND status in ("10000", "10001", "3") AND issuetype != "10000" AND status not in ("10001") AND (cf[10014] is EMPTY OR cf[10014] not in futureSprints() AND cf[10014] not in openSprints()) ORDER BY Rank ASC

So maybe try putting your project name in there and see if that works?

[Germán Isaurralde]

You can filter the issues that are in the backlog using openSprints(). For example: 

project = ABC AND Sprint not in openSprints()