How do I bulk add a bunch of existing issues into an epic

[Jules]

I want to bulk move issues to tie them to an epic. 

[Fernando Bordallo · Accepted solution]

Hello @Jules

I see you posted this in the next-gen channel. For next-gen specifically, you can only access this feature through the global issue navigation. Steps:

Visit the issues and filters page by click on 'Issues and Filters' in the global view of navigation (if you are in a project, first click on the Jira logo on the top left), then on navigate into 'Search issues':

Here you can filter out the issues you want to move using the filter bar. Once your filter is set up, click on the top-right menu to open the dropdown where 'Bulk edit' lives:

That will take you to the multistep process where you can choose to edit/move all your issues in one go 🚀

[Jules]

Thank you

[Joe Shepherd]

This doesn't work for me. When I select the issues to bulk edit, if I select "Move" under Choose Operation then I only get options to move to a new project or to migrate the issue-type into another issue-type.

If I select Edit Issues then I can alter a large number of fields but none are to do with the Epic.

I also can't seem to assign an EPIC if I try a bulk import from CSV. The only option that looks like it might work is parent-id but this errors as I believe it's intended for you to link sub-tasks to parents rather than to an epic.

[Hannah Fick]

I'm having the same issue as Joe. Help please!

[Jamie Langskov]

Same issue. No field in the Edit Fields view to manage epics at all.

[Deleted user]

Same issue here, editing Epic link isn't available.

Is anyone reading these comments at all?

[Andrew McIntyre]

There is no Change Epic option. Instead, select Change Parent and then search for the epic you want to associate the task with.

In this context, tasks are to epics as sub-tasks are to tasks, i.e., an epic can be the parent of the task in the same way a task can be the parent of a sub-task.

[Samantha Carlin]

@Andrew McIntyre I'm not seeing a "change parent" option? 

[Andrew McIntyre]

Hi @Samantha Carlin I'm not familiar enough with Jira to know for sure why you don't see Change Parent, but my gut feeling is you are trying to change the parent of an issue that you don't have editing right for.

With that in mind, I suggest you try to apply bulk edits to only one issue that you have editing rights for and see if Change Parent appears then.

If Change Parent appears, then you must identify which issues you want to apply bulk edits to that you don't have rights to edit and I guess contact either your Jira administrator or the person who owns the project those tasks are in.

If Change Parent doesn't appear, I suggest you contact your Jira administrator for more information about whether you have the permissions that are necessary to apply bulk edits.

I'm not an administrator nor am I familiar with permissions in Jira, this is just my best guess.

[robert Mugabuhamye · Accepted solution]

hello @Jules .

the easier way i can think of is to search for those issues, then use the bulk edit

1. click on the tools menu(see image) and select "All"
2. choose the issues to edit then next
3. choose Edit option
4. select the epic link field
5. choose your epic
6. and follow the instructions 

Regards

[robert Mugabuhamye]

if you don't see the tools menu, it means you don't have the bulk edit permission. 

[Irina Lemus]

@robert Mugabuhamye I am a site admin. This used to work. I wonder if with changes made in the last few months to the "Epic Link" this issue started happening again. Here is what I see at the bottom of the bulk edit option for "unavailable Actions". The children I have are a combination of stories, bugs, and now subtasks (a new feature that finally can be mapped to an Epic). Are you seeing this, too?

UPDATE: I was able to see the function when I excluded issue types tasks and subtasks. I think this is a bug introduced when subtasks came along recently to inherit the parent epic field.

Unavailable Actions

• Change Linked Issues
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Issue Type
  NOTE: There are no issue types available for selected issues.
• Change Security Level
  NOTE: This field is hidden for at least 1 issue in at least 1 project for the selected issues.
• Change Parent
  NOTE: Selected issues must be on the same level of your issue type hierarchy to bulk edit this field.
• Change Approvals
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Atlas project key
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Atlas project status
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Epic Link
  Use the Parent field instead of Epic Link.
• Change Locked forms
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Open forms
  NOTE: This field is not available for bulk update operations.
• Change Organizations
  NOTE: Service project is not enabled or you do not have permission to perform this action. Please enable and configure your service project first.
• Change Parent Link
  To set a parent, use the Parent field instead.