path: root/doc/user/project/issues/managing_issues.md

---
stage: Plan
group: Project Management
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Manage issues **(FREE ALL)**

After you create an issue, you can start working with it.

## Edit an issue

You can edit an issue's title and description.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project, be the author of the issue, or be assigned to the issue.

To edit an issue:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select the title of your issue to view it.
1. To the right of the title, select **Edit title and description** (**{pencil}**).
1. Edit the available fields.
1. Select **Save changes**.

### Remove a task list item

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/377307) in GitLab 15.9.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project, or be the author or assignee of the issue.

In an issue description with task list items:

1. Hover over a task list item and select the options menu (**{ellipsis_v}**).
1. Select **Delete**.

The task list item is removed from the issue description.
Any nested task list items are moved up a nested level.

## Bulk edit issues from a project

> - Assigning epic [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/210470) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Editing health status [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/218395) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Editing iteration [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/196806) in GitLab 13.9.

You can edit multiple issues at a time when you're in a project.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project.

To edit multiple issues at the same time:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**.
1. Select **Bulk edit**. A sidebar on the right of your screen appears.
1. Select the checkboxes next to each issue you want to edit.
1. From the sidebar, edit the available fields.
1. Select **Update all**.

When bulk editing issues in a project, you can edit the following attributes:

- Status (open or closed)
- [Assignees](managing_issues.md#assignee)
- [Epic](../../group/epics/index.md)
- [Milestone](../milestones/index.md)
- [Labels](../labels.md)
- [Health status](#health-status)
- [Notification](../../profile/notifications.md) subscription
- [Iteration](../../group/iterations/index.md)
- [Confidentiality](confidential_issues.md)

### Bulk edit issues from a group **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/7249) in GitLab 12.1.
> - Assigning epic [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/210470) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Editing health status [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/218395) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Editing iteration [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/196806) in GitLab 13.9.

You can edit multiple issues across multiple projects when you're in a group.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for a group.

To edit multiple issues at the same time:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your group.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**.
1. Select **Bulk edit**. A sidebar on the right of your screen appears.
1. Select the checkboxes next to each issue you want to edit.
1. From the sidebar, edit the available fields.
1. Select **Update all**.

When bulk editing issues in a group, you can edit the following attributes:

- [Epic](../../group/epics/index.md)
- [Milestone](../milestones/index.md)
- [Iteration](../../group/iterations/index.md)
- [Labels](../labels.md)
- [Health status](#health-status)

## Move an issue

When you move an issue, it's closed and copied to the target project.
The original issue is not deleted. A [system note](../system_notes.md), which indicates
where it came from and went to, is added to both issues.

Be careful when moving an issue to a project with different access rules. Before moving the issue, make sure it does not contain sensitive data.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project.

To move an issue:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, select **Move issue**.
1. Search for a project to move the issue to.
1. Select **Move**.

### Bulk move issues **(FREE SELF)**

#### From the issues list

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/15991) in GitLab 15.6.

You can move multiple issues at the same time when you're in a project.
You can't move tasks or test cases.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project.

To move multiple issues at the same time:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**.
1. Select **Bulk edit**. A sidebar on the right of your screen appears.
1. Select the checkboxes next to each issue you want to move.
1. From the right sidebar, select **Move selected**.
1. From the dropdown list, select the destination project.
1. Select **Move**.

#### From the Rails console

You can move all open issues from one project to another.

Prerequisites:

- You must have access to the Rails console of the GitLab instance.

To do it:

1. Optional (but recommended). [Create a backup](../../../administration/backup_restore/index.md) before
   attempting any changes in the console.
1. Open the [Rails console](../../../administration/operations/rails_console.md).
1. Run the following script. Make sure to change `project`, `admin_user`, and `target_project` to
   your values.

   ```ruby
   project = Project.find_by_full_path('full path of the project where issues are moved from')
   issues = project.issues
   admin_user = User.find_by_username('username of admin user') # make sure user has permissions to move the issues
   target_project = Project.find_by_full_path('full path of target project where issues moved to')

   issues.each do |issue|
      if issue.state != "closed" && issue.moved_to.nil?
         Issues::MoveService.new(container: project, current_user: admin_user).execute(issue, target_project)
      else
         puts "issue with id: #{issue.id} and title: #{issue.title} was not moved"
      end
   end; nil
   ```

1. To exit the Rails console, enter `quit`.

## Reorder list items in the issue description

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/15260) in GitLab 15.0.

When you view an issue that has a list in the description, you can also reorder the list items.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project, be the author of the issue, or be
  assigned to the issue.
- The issue's description must have an [ordered, unordered](../../markdown.md#lists), or
  [task](../../markdown.md#task-lists) list.

To reorder list items, when viewing an issue:

1. Hover over the list item row to make the grip icon (**{grip}**) visible.
1. Select and hold the grip icon.
1. Drag the row to the new position in the list.
1. Release the grip icon.

## Close an issue

When you decide that an issue is resolved or no longer needed, you can close it.
The issue is marked as closed but is not deleted.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project, be the author of the issue, or be assigned to the issue.

To close an issue, you can either:

- In an [issue board](../issue_board.md), drag an issue card from its list into the **Closed** list.
- From any other page in the GitLab UI:
  1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
  1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
  1. In the upper-right corner, select **Issue actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**) and then **Close issue**.

### Reopen a closed issue

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project, be the author of the issue, or be assigned to the issue.

To reopen a closed issue, in the upper-right corner, select **Issue actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**) and then **Reopen issue**.
A reopened issue is no different from any other open issue.

### Closing issues automatically

You can close issues automatically by using certain words, called a _closing pattern_,
in a commit message or merge request description. Administrators of self-managed GitLab instances
can [change the default closing pattern](../../../administration/issue_closing_pattern.md).

If a commit message or merge request description contains text matching the [closing pattern](#default-closing-pattern),
all issues referenced in the matched text are closed when either:

- The commit is pushed to a project's [**default** branch](../repository/branches/default.md).
- The commit or merge request is merged into the default branch.

For example, if you include `Closes #4, #6, Related to #5` in a merge request
description:

- Issues `#4` and `#6` are closed automatically when the MR is merged.
- Issue `#5` is marked as a [related issue](related_issues.md), but it's not closed automatically.

Alternatively, when you [create a merge request from an issue](../merge_requests/creating_merge_requests.md#from-an-issue),
it inherits the issue's milestone and labels.

For performance reasons, automatic issue closing is disabled for the very first
push from an existing repository.

#### Default closing pattern

To automatically close an issue, use the following keywords followed by the issue reference.

Available keywords:

- Close, Closes, Closed, Closing, close, closes, closed, closing
- Fix, Fixes, Fixed, Fixing, fix, fixes, fixed, fixing
- Resolve, Resolves, Resolved, Resolving, resolve, resolves, resolved, resolving
- Implement, Implements, Implemented, Implementing, implement, implements, implemented, implementing

Available issue reference formats:

- A local issue (`#123`).
- A cross-project issue (`group/project#123`).
- The full URL of an issue (`https://gitlab.example.com/group/project/issues/123`).

For example:

```plaintext
Awesome commit message

Fix #20, Fixes #21 and Closes group/otherproject#22.
This commit is also related to #17 and fixes #18, #19
and https://gitlab.example.com/group/otherproject/issues/23.
```

The previous commit message closes `#18`, `#19`, `#20`, and `#21` in the project this commit is pushed to,
as well as `#22` and `#23` in `group/otherproject`. `#17` is not closed as it does
not match the pattern.

You can use the closing patterns in multi-line commit messages or one-liners
done from the command line with `git commit -m`.

The default issue closing pattern regex:

```shell
\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?|\b[Rr]esolv(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ii]mplement(?:s|ed|ing)?)(:?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?: *,? +and +| *,? *)?)|([A-Z][A-Z0-9_]+-\d+))+)
```

#### Disable automatic issue closing

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/19754) in GitLab 12.7.
> - [Changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/240922) in GitLab 15.4: The referenced issue's project setting is checked instead of the project of the commit or merge request.

You can disable the automatic issue closing feature on a per-project basis
in the [project's settings](../settings/index.md).

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Maintainer role for the project.

To disable automatic issue closing:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > Repository**.
1. Expand **Branch defaults**.
1. Clear the **Auto-close referenced issues on default branch** checkbox.
1. Select **Save changes**.

Referenced issues are still displayed, but are not closed automatically.

Changing this setting applies only to new merge requests or commits. Already
closed issues remain as they are.
Disabling automatic issue closing only applies to issues in the project where the setting was disabled.
Merge requests and commits in this project can still close another project's issues.

#### Customize the issue closing pattern **(FREE SELF)**

Prerequisites:

- You must have [administrator access](../../../administration/index.md) to your GitLab instance.

Learn how to change the default [issue closing pattern](../../../administration/issue_closing_pattern.md).
of your installation.

## Change the issue type

Prerequisites:

- You must be the issue author or have at least the Reporter role for the project, be the author of the issue, or be assigned to the issue.

To change issue type:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. To the right of the title, select **Edit title and description** (**{pencil}**).
1. Edit the issue and select an issue type from the **Issue type** dropdown list:

   - Issue
   - [Incident](../../../operations/incident_management/index.md)

1. Select **Save changes**.

## Delete an issue

> Deleting from the vertical ellipsis menu [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/299933) in GitLab 14.6.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for a project.

To delete an issue:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. In the upper-right corner, select **Issue actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**).
1. Select **Delete issue**.

Alternatively:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select the title of your issue to view it.
1. Select **Edit title and description** (**{pencil}**).
1. Select **Delete issue**.

## Promote an issue to an epic **(PREMIUM ALL)**

You can promote an issue to an [epic](../../group/epics/index.md) in the immediate parent group.

NOTE:
Promoting a confidential issue to an epic makes all information
related to the issue public, as epics are public to group members.

When an issue is promoted to an epic:

- If the issue was confidential, an additional warning is displayed first.
- An epic is created in the same group as the project of the issue.
- Subscribers of the issue are notified that the epic was created.

The following issue metadata is copied to the epic:

- Title, description, activity, and comment threads.
- Upvotes and downvotes.
- Participants.
- Group labels that the issue had.
- Parent epic.

Prerequisites:

- The project to which the issue belongs must be in a group.
- You must have at least the Reporter role the project's immediate parent group.
- You must either:
  - Have at least the Reporter role for the project.
  - Be the author of the issue.
  - Be assigned to the issue.

To promote an issue to an epic:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. In the upper-right corner, select **Issue actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**).
1. Select **Promote to epic**.

Alternatively, you can use the `/promote` [quick action](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics).

## Promote an issue to an incident

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/296787) in GitLab 14.5.
> - Quick actions to set issue type as incident upon creation [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/376760) in GitLab 15.8.

You can use the `/promote_to_incident` [quick action](../quick_actions.md) to promote the issue to an [incident](../../../operations/incident_management/incidents.md).

## Add an issue to an iteration **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/216158) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Moved to GitLab Premium in 13.9.

To add an issue to an [iteration](../../group/iterations/index.md):

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, in the **Iteration** section, select **Edit**.
1. From the dropdown list, select the iteration to associate this issue with.
1. Select any area outside the dropdown list.

Alternatively, you can use the `/iteration` [quick action](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics).

## View all issues assigned to you

To view all issues assigned to you:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. From the dropdown list, select **Issues assigned to me**.

Or:

- To use a [keyboard shortcut](../../shortcuts.md), press <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>i</kbd>.
- On the left sidebar, at the top, select **Issues** (**{issues}**).

## Filter the list of issues

> - Filtering by iterations was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/118742) in GitLab 13.6.
> - Filtering by iterations was moved from GitLab Ultimate to GitLab Premium in 13.9.
> - Filtering by type was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/322755) in GitLab 13.10 [with a flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `vue_issues_list`. Disabled by default.
> - Filtering by type was [enabled on self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/322755) in GitLab 14.10.
> - Filtering by type is generally available in GitLab 15.1. [Feature flag `vue_issues_list`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/359966) removed.
> - Filtering by health status [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/218711) in GitLab 15.5.

To filter the list of issues:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**.
1. Above the list of issues, select **Search or filter results...**.
1. In the dropdown list that appears, select the attribute you want to filter by.
1. Select or type the operator to use for filtering the attribute. The following operators are
   available:
   - `=`: Is
   - `!=`: Is not one of
1. Enter the text to filter the attribute by.
   You can filter some attributes by **None** or **Any**.
1. Repeat this process to filter by multiple attributes. Multiple attributes are joined by a logical
   `AND`.

### Filter with the OR operator

> - OR filtering for author and assignee was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/23532) in GitLab 15.6 [with a flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `or_issuable_queries`. Disabled by default.
> - OR filtering for label was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/23532) in GitLab 15.8 [with a flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `or_issuable_queries`. Disabled by default.
> - [Enabled on GitLab.com and self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/104292) in GitLab 15.9.

FLAG:
On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is available.
To hide the feature, an administrator can [disable the feature flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `or_issuable_queries`.
On GitLab.com, this feature is available.

When this feature is enabled, you can use the OR operator (**is one of: `||`**)
when you [filter the list of issues](#filter-the-list-of-issues) by:

- Assignees
- Author
- Labels

`is one of` represents an inclusive OR. For example, if you filter by `Assignee is one of Sidney Jones` and
`Assignee is one of Zhang Wei`, GitLab shows issues where either `Sidney`, `Zhang`, or both of them are assignees.

### Filter issues by ID

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/39908) in GitLab 12.1.

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**.
1. In the **Search** box, type the issue ID. For example, enter filter `#10` to return only issue 10.

![filter issues by specific ID](img/issue_search_by_id_v15_0.png)

## Copy issue reference

To refer to an issue elsewhere in GitLab, you can use its full URL or a short reference, which looks like
`namespace/project-name#123`, where `namespace` is either a group or a username.

To copy the issue reference to your clipboard:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, next to **Reference**, select **Copy Reference** (**{copy-to-clipboard}**).

You can now paste the reference into another description or comment.

Read more about issue references in [GitLab-Flavored Markdown](../../markdown.md#gitlab-specific-references).

<!-- Delete when the `moved_mr_sidebar` feature flag is removed -->
If you don't see this action on the right sidebar, your project or instance might have
enabled a feature flag for [moved actions](../merge_requests/index.md#move-sidebar-actions).

## Copy issue email address

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/18816) in GitLab 13.8.

You can create a comment in an issue by sending an email.
Sending an email to this address creates a comment that contains the email body.

For more information about creating comments by sending an email and the necessary configuration, see
[Reply to a comment by sending email](../../discussions/index.md#reply-to-a-comment-by-sending-email).

To copy the issue's email address:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, next to **Issue email**, select **Copy Reference** (**{copy-to-clipboard}**).

## Assignee

An issue can be assigned to one or [more users](multiple_assignees_for_issues.md).

The assignees can be changed as often as needed. The idea is that the assignees are
people responsible for an issue.
When an issue is assigned to someone, it appears in their assigned issues list.

If a user is not a member of a project, an issue can only be assigned to them if they create it
themselves or another project member assigns them.

To change the assignee on an issue:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, in the **Assignee** section, select **Edit**.
1. From the dropdown list, select the user to add as an assignee.
1. Select any area outside the dropdown list.

The assignee is changed without having to refresh the page.

## Similar issues

To prevent duplication of issues on the same topic, GitLab searches for similar issues
when you create a new issue.

Prerequisites:

- [GraphQL](../../../api/graphql/index.md) must be enabled.

As you type in the title text box of the **New issue** page, GitLab searches titles and descriptions
across all issues in the current project. Only issues you have access to are returned.
Up to five similar issues, sorted by most recently updated, are displayed below the title text box.

## Health status **(ULTIMATE ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/36427) in GitLab 12.10.
> - Health status of closed issues [can't be edited](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/220867) in GitLab 13.4 and later.
> - Issue health status visible in issue lists [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/45141) in GitLab 13.6.
> - [Feature flag removed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/213567) in GitLab 13.7.
> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/218618) in GitLab 15.4: health status is visible on issue cards in issue boards.

To better track the risk in meeting your plans, you can assign a health status to each issue.
You can use health status to signal to others in your organization whether issues are progressing
as planned or need attention to stay on schedule.

Incorporate a review of issue health status into your daily stand-up, project status reports, or weekly meetings to address risks to timely delivery of your planned work.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Reporter role for the project.

To edit health status of an issue:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Plan > Issues**, then select your issue to view it.
1. On the right sidebar, in the **Health status** section, select **Edit**.
1. From the dropdown list, select the status to add to this issue:

   - On track (green)
   - Needs attention (amber)
   - At risk (red)

You can see the issue's health status in:

- Issues list
- Epic tree
- Issue cards in issue boards

After an issue is closed, its health status can't be edited and the **Edit** button becomes disabled
until the issue is reopened.

You can also set and clear health statuses using the `/health_status` and `/clear_health_status`
[quick actions](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics).

## Publish an issue **(ULTIMATE ALL)**

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/30906) in GitLab 13.1.

If a status page application is associated with the project, you can use the `/publish`
[quick action](../quick_actions.md) to publish the issue.

For more information, see [GitLab Status Page](../../../operations/incident_management/status_page.md).

## Issue-related quick actions

You can also use [quick actions](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics) to manage issues.

Some actions don't have corresponding UI buttons yet.
You can do the following **only by using quick actions**:

- [Add or remove a Zoom meeting](associate_zoom_meeting.md) (`/zoom` and `/remove_zoom`).
- [Publish an issue](#publish-an-issue) (`/publish`).
- Clone an issue to the same or another project (`/clone`).
- Close an issue and mark as a duplicate of another issue (`/duplicate`).
- Copy labels and milestone from another merge request or issue in the project (`/copy_metadata`).