How to show subtasks on Backlog and Kanban Board?

[Dmitry Linov]

I know this question has been asked many times before, but none of the solutions I could find work for me. So here's my setup:
- Jira Cloud
- a team-based project
- Kanban board.
Also, I have all Admin permissions.

The suggestions that I found on the Internet (not working for me):
1) Adjust Swimlanes configuration - There are no swimlanes in the Board setup
2) Change the default query/filter for the Board - There is no way to do it, no setting like that

So something must be eventually wrong there. Could you help me out?

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Dmitry Linov 

Welcome to the community. 

With a Team Managed Kanban board you will not be able to view the Subtasks in the Backlog screen. This symbol will show on a card to indicate it has subtasks.

You'll have to view that specific issue to see the subtasks associated with it. They will not be displayed as independent cards in the Backlog.

In the Board view you can view them only when you set the Group By option to Subtasks (in the upper right corner).

[Dmitry Linov]

Hi @Trudy Claspill , Thank you for the explanation!

The "Group by" is really a workaround. However, if I still want to see subtasks as regular tasks on the board, what do I have to change - the board type or the project type?

Is the Kanban board some default characteristic of a board, or does it just mean that the sprints are turned off?

[Trudy Claspill]

There are some default characteristics of a Kanban board vs. a Scrum board. The most obvious one is that Sprints are not part of a Kanban board and they are part of a Scrum board.

Additionally
- the Backlog screen is optional for a Kanban board

- "Done" issues are automatically hidden on a Kanban board when they have been done for 2 weeks or longer.

With a Team Managed project it is not possible to show both Subtasks and their parent issues as cards on the board at the same time, regardless of whether the board is Kanban or Scrum.

With a Company Managed project it is possible to see both on the Board view.

For both types of projects, the boards will not show subtasks in the Backlog view because it doesn't make sense to do so. Subtasks are a piece of the parent issue. They can't be prioritized independently from the parent issue, or added to a sprint independently of the parent issue. Therefore, there is no reason to show the subtasks separately in the Backlog view.  

2024-02-21: Atlassian has released changes in Jira Cloud so that subtasks may be displayed in Backlog screens. Refer to https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-articles/Coming-soon-View-subtasks-directly-on-your-backlog/ba-p/2506271

[Dmitry Linov]

Thank you, it makes sense. However, a subtask can be assigned to a different person than the main task and has to appear on this person's board. If it was not so, there should not have been an Assignee field in the Subtask.

[Trudy Claspill]

When you say "on this person's board", do you mean that separate boards are being created that filter issues based on the Assignee?

If people set up their own boards to view only the issues assigned to them they need to configure the board in such a way that it includes the parent issue of their subtask, if they are not also the assignee on the parent issue.

For showing the Subtasks in the Backlog screen, though, there is not solution.

[Dmitry Linov]

No, it's not a personal board, it's a common board. Sometimes we need to filter the board to see only the tasks assigned to one person - e.g. at a daily call. Or a person in the team may do the same to see what tasks they have. In both cases, we don't see the Subtasks, and it doesn't make sense :-(

[nick.verze]

I'm having the same issue as Dmitry, using the cloud version of Jira.

In an active sprint, I'd like to organise my board via Epics, tasks and then subtask.

Subtasks will "not" show unless the board is grouped by subtask.

I'd prefer the sprint grouped by epic and to be able to see the tasks and sub-tasks within each epic. Why are sub-tasks hidden within the parent?

[Osborne, Beth]

We have stopped creating sub-tasks because we can't see them on our Kanban board.  Instead, we create tasks and link them to the stories or other tasks.  Although we're not thrilled with this process change, it's the only way we've been able to work effectively and collaboratively to maintain organization and easier visibility.

[Pablo]

Agree with @Osborne, Beth  got the same issues.. we just delete and move all our subtask as task.. otherwise is super confuse! great idea to link task- Thank you

[Aline Camargo]

We just started using JIRA to track activities in one of our core areas, but its been a surprise to find out that you are not able to track sub-tasks in the kanban board. Seems to me a easy solution to activate a filter to show/not show sub-tasks. Can the @JIRA community please advise whether this would be possible?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Aline Camargo 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

What type of project are you using? Get that information from the Type column of the View All Projects page under the Projects menu.

The answer I provided to the original poster of the question concerned Kanban boards for Team Managed Software projects. Nothing has changed in that regard since my last update.

You cannot force such a board to display tasks for both the parent issues and their subtasks. It simply is not possible. So whether you could create a Quick Filter to show or hide subtasks is irrelevant in that context.

If your context is different, please share the details.

Additionally, to get wider community visibility on your future questions, start a brand new Ask The Community Question rather than posting an update in an old existing Question. Creating a brand new Question will result in your Question appearing on the first pages of the Questions forum, and being part of the Unanswered Questions filter results. The only people who see updates on existing Questions are the original author and people who responded to it. If you find a an existing question that you think is relevant, include a link to it in your new Question.