Jira Ticket: How to Undo Description Changes

When you write something on paper and make a mistake, the correction will be noticeable in most cases (e.g., ticket issue). That’s why it is more convenient to type the text on the laptop, where you can make adjustments easily. In Google Docs, you can even go back to the previous version and roll back changes. What happens with the text you type in the Jira description? Is there a way to undo description changes for the Jira ticket? Here, you will find the answers.

What is the issue description in Jira?

A description is one of the Jira issue fields where you can explain a task or issue 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:

An issue’s description is an essential part of a Jira issue since it informs all team members participating in resolving the issue’s goal and extent. 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 ticket description?

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

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

So, we have good news: Issue History records and keeps all updates made to the Jira ticket 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”.

Let’s compare how the description looks in the task versus how it looks in the history version.

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 ticket 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. Open the Issue History for Jira app. There’s a free 30-day trial available on the Marketplace if you haven’t installed it yet.
2. Add a description to the table columns.
3. Select the project, sprint, assignee, date range, etc., to narrow the issue list.
4. Find the required issue. If you know what issue you exactly need to revert to, you can select it in the issue filter.

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

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.