Jira Work Item: How to Undo Description Changes

We are used to tools like Google Docs, where you can restore previous versions of a document in just a few seconds. But what happens if someone edits a Jira work item description and overwrites important details?  Can you undo description changes in Jira?
Yes, but the native Jira functionality has limitations.

In this article, we’ll explore how Jira stores description changes, why manually reverting descriptions is painful, and how to easily restore them if needed.

What is the work item description in Jira?

The work item description is one of the Jira fields where you can explain a task and provide as many details as possible to make it clear to the assignee. It can include steps to complete, lists, tables, images, etc. Overall, it answers what should be done and what results are expected.

Description example:

A ticket description is an essential part of a Jira ticket, as it informs all team members of the ticket’s goal and scope. It guarantees everyone can collaborate well and move toward a solution or job completion. Therefore, it’s crucial to see any changes to the task description.

How to see updates made to the work item description?

In Jira, you can easily track any updates to the work item, including changes to the description field, by checking the History under the Activity section. You will find a changelog of all work item events and modifications in chronological order.

Open a task → scroll down → select History tab under the Activity section. 

So, we have good news: History tab records and keeps all updates made to the Jira work item description. The bad news is that it doesn’t keep the formatting like tables, lists, colors, etc. So, the text will have an “unpresentable and crumpled appearance”.

How to revert changes anyone made to the description in Jira?

• Copy&paste can work for a small description

As the history stores the previous version of the description, you can try to copy and paste it. If there are insignificant changes to the short description, it can work out for you. But longer descriptions, intense corrections, and lost table or text formatting will require time-consuming manual work. 

• Revert changes automatically with Issue History for Jira

Two clicks and you will undo any changes you or someone else made to the work item description. The formatting will be saved, so you can roll back any version with its previous look. 

Step-by-step instructions to undo description changes in Jira

1. Select the needed work item, go to the Activity section and choose 🕒 Issue History. There’s a 30-day free trial of the app available on the Marketplace if you haven’t installed it yet.
2. Search for the description you want to revert and click the Revert arrow. 

3. Review the changes you are about to revert in the pre-revert window. Click Revert✨

The description will be reverted, and you will see it in its previous state and format.

What should you do if you need to review changes across multiple work item descriptions and revert them? You can also use Issue History for Jira app from SaaSJet. For that, do the following:

1. Open the Table View of the app and add a description field to the table columns.

2. Select the project, sprint, assignee, date range, etc., to narrow the work item list down.

3. Find the required work item. The Revert button is available only for descriptions that have changes, so you can quickly identify which issues are revertable.

4. Click the Revert to review the changes you are about to roll back in the pre-revert window. Click Revert again to confirm your decision ✨

Takeaway

In the description field, users provide a thorough and concise explanation of the task. This is the place to clearly state the issue, expected results, and other pertinent details that could aid in others’ understanding of the task. If someone makes changes to the description, you can check the issue history and copy the previous version, but in most cases, it is a time-consuming, manual process. So, it can work only for insignificant updates. If you need to undo the description changes with a few clicks and save all previous formatting, check out the revert option from Issue History for Jira –  test a free 30-day trial.