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Create a personal My work board across all your Jira spaces

By Jens Schumacher, former Head of Product for Jira

If your work spans several Jira spaces, "what's on my plate?" is a surprisingly awkward question to answer. Jira's built-in "My open work items" filter does look across all spaces, but it's a flat list, not a board you can work from. To get an actual board of just your work, you build a saved filter and (in company-managed spaces) create a board from it. Here's how, plus the team-managed wrinkle, and how BetterBoard makes a personal cross-space board a one-step setup.

Compare the steps

Company-managed board 5 steps Team-managed board 4 steps BetterBoard for Jira 1 step

Company-managed board

To get an actual board (not just a list) of your work across spaces, you save a filter and build a board from it. The board-from-filter feature is company-managed only.

  1. Search for your work in Advanced search

    Go to Filters → Advanced work item search and enter JQL like assignee = currentUser() AND statusCategory != Done ORDER BY Rank. The currentUser() function means the filter works for anyone who runs it.

  2. Save the filter

    Click Save as and name it (e.g. "My work"). Keep it private if it's just for you.

  3. Go to Boards → Create board

    From the top nav, open Go to all: Boards, then Create board.

  4. Create the board from your saved filter

    Choose Kanban (usually the right fit for a personal view), then Board from an existing saved filter and pick "My work."

  5. Configure columns

    Map your statuses to columns. Because your work may span spaces with different workflows, expect to map a few statuses so nothing hides.

Team-managed board

Team-managed spaces can't host a board built from a filter, so a cross-space personal board isn't available natively. The closest option is the built-in "My open work items" filter or a saved filter you view as a list.

  1. Try the built-in "My open work items" filter first

    From the top nav, open Filters and select My open work items: it already spans all spaces you can access, with no setup.

  2. Or build your own in Advanced search

    Enter assignee = currentUser() AND statusCategory != Done for more control over what's included.

  3. Save and favorite the filter

    Save it and star it so it lives in your favorites for quick access.

  4. View it as a list

    This stays a list view. To turn cross-space work into an actual board, you'd build a company-managed board from the saved filter (per the section above): team-managed spaces don't support creating boards from filters.

BetterBoard for Jira

A personal board of everything assigned to you, across every space, is the kind of view BetterBoard is built for. Make a board scoped to the spaces you work in and filtered to your own work: and it stays current as new work items land on you.

  1. Make a board filtered to your work across your spaces

    Add the spaces you work across, then filter to your own assignments from the filter bar. You get a working board: drag, group, bulk-edit — not a read-only list, and it updates as new work is assigned to you.

Good to know

What to expect building a personal cross-space view in Jira:

  • "My open work items" is a list, not a board. It spans spaces but you can't work it like a board.
  • Boards from filters are company-managed only. Team-managed spaces can't create them, so a team-managed personal board across spaces isn't natively possible.
  • Workflow mismatches need column mapping. A cross-space board mixes workflows; unmapped statuses hide work items.
  • Use currentUser() in JQL, not your name. A hardcoded display name breaks if it changes and won't work for anyone else. currentUser() keeps the filter portable.
  • Sprints don't unify across spaces, so a personal board spanning spaces won't give you one clean sprint view.
  • Scope creep. Filters across "all spaces" can surface work from spaces you'd forgotten you had access to. Add a project in (...) clause to contain it.

Your work, every space, one board

Not a list: a real board you can drag, group, and edit, scoped to just your work. Free to try with your Jira.

Try BetterBoard free

FAQ

How do I see all my Jira work items across multiple spaces?
The quickest way is the built-in "My open work items" filter under Filters, which spans every space you can access. For more control, use Advanced search with assignee = currentUser() AND statusCategory != Done. Both produce a list rather than a board.
Can I turn "my work items across spaces" into a board?
In a company-managed space, yes: save a filter using assignee = currentUser(), then create a board from that saved filter. Team-managed spaces can't create boards from filters, so a native cross-space personal board isn't possible there.
Why should I use currentUser() instead of my own name in JQL?
currentUser() resolves to whoever runs the filter, so it stays correct even if your display name changes and works as a shareable template. Hard-coding your name makes the filter brittle and only valid for you.
Why does my "My open work items" list show spaces I don't recognize?
It includes every space you have permission to see, which can include ones you've forgotten about. Add a project in ("A", "B") clause to your JQL to limit the view to the spaces you actually care about.
Can I make variations like "due this week" or "waiting on me"?
Yes. Each is a different JQL filter, for example due <= endOfWeek() AND assignee = currentUser(). In native Jira each variation is its own saved filter (and board, if company-managed). In BetterBoard they're just different filters on the same board.
How does BetterBoard make this one step?
You add the spaces you work across to a single board and filter it to your own assignments from the filter bar. The result is a working board, not a list, and it updates automatically as new work is assigned to you: no saved filter or board-from-filter setup.