Clone a work item in Jira and see what gets copied

Company and team-managed spaces

The native clone flow is the same in both space types. You need the Create work items permission, and Jira creates the copy in the same space as a separate work item linked to the original.

1. Open the source work item

   Open the work item you want to reuse and select More actions (•••) → Clone.

2. Rename the clone

   Jira prefixes the Summary with Clone. Replace it with a specific outcome so the new work item does not look like an accidental duplicate in search results.

3. Set the people fields intentionally

   Review Assignee and Reporter. Do not assume the clone should retain the original owner: that depends on your space configuration and the work being copied.

4. Choose optional content

   Use Include to bring across the optional content Jira offers. The available choices depend on the site's configuration.

5. Create and inspect the clone

   Select Clone, then open the new work item. It is linked to the original, but changes to one do not update the other.

Good to know

Clone is a shortcut for creating a related work item, not a database copy:

• Jira links the original and clone. They are still separate work items, and you can remove that link later.
• Attachments, subtasks, links, comments, and epic children are optional. Select them in the clone dialog when Jira offers them.
• Custom fields depend on configuration. A custom field is copied only when it is configured to be cloned.
• Don’t trust the Sprint field to copy. Its behavior on a clone is inconsistent, so verify where the new work item landed rather than assuming it matched the original.
• To copy into another space, use Move or create a new work item. Native clone creates the copy in the same space.