Two Ways to Export Issue History from Jira + Report Example

Export issue history from Jira is essential when you need a complete picture of how work evolves. In Jira, you can view the history of each issue. It is like you open and read only one page from a book or, let’s say, a diary, as it also records past events. While it can be helpful to remember some particular activities, this extract doesn’t represent a comprehensive picture of the issue lifecycle or team activity. Therefore, it’s also useful to have a helicopter view of all issues and their changes over time. Moreover, sometimes we need to export issue history and perform statistical analysis or visualize trends in the analytical system. 

Exported issue history from Jira can significantly enhance project management by providing insights into past activities. Detailed historical data fosters improved communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing within teams, facilitating effective sprint retrospectives, performance reviews, and tracking project progress. 

Exported files can help to:

1. Sort the data into an appropriate format for analysis and clean it to eliminate any discrepancies.
2. Create visual dashboards in Tableau or Power BI, or use other analytical techniques like pivot tables in Excel to glean insights.
3. Share issue history reports with stakeholders, managers, and team members.

1. Can You Export Issue History from Jira natively?

Jira doesn’t offer history export right out of the box. Using the REST API is a decent choice if you don’t mind doing some programming and manual work. Below, you can see an example of a Forge code that gives back a paginated list of every changelog for an issue, arranged chronologically from the oldest. 

Following this link: Get changelogs on developer.atlassian.com, you can find and copy the code depending if you are using Java, Python, PHP, etc.

The drawback of this approach is that you can only retrieve the history of a single issue at a time – not the entire list of issues.

2. How to Export the Complete Issue History?

The other option is to use apps from the Atlassian Marketplace, which allows you to effortlessly export history for one or multiple issues. Issue History for Jira is your all-inclusive solution for creating custom reports and exporting them for in-depth analysis. It’s safe and easy to use and available for Jira Cloud and Data Center users.

With Issue History for Jira, you have all possible options: 

• export the history of a single task, 
• export the history for the list of issues, 
• export custom reports with issue updates, 
• export past activities gadget from Jira dashboard. 

Additionally, you can extract the data immediately with two clicks or schedule automated emails with reports for designated recipients. 

Export the full history of one task in Jira

To export the whole history of one task in Jira, you need to do the following:

1. Install Issue History for Jira app from Atlassian Marketplace.
2. Open the needed work item and navigate to the Activity section.
3. Click More and choose 🕒Issue History.
4. Click Export button and choose the preferred format (Excel, CSV or PDF).

For example, you’ll get such a report related to issue history in Excel format:

You’ll be able to see all changes made to the task: status updates, field edits, comments (added, edited, or deleted), reassignments, and more.

Export the history of multiple tasks in Jira

To export the history of changes related to multiple Jira issues, follow the next steps:

1. Open Issue History for Jira app from the Apps menu.
2. Use filters to select the data you need (e.g., by project, sprint, updater, date range, etc.).
3. In the Columns menu, choose the fields needed (e.g., priority, original estimate, due date, time spent, etc.).
4. Click Export button and choose CSV or Excel.

For example, you will get such a report in Excel format:

You will have every update across all selected Jira tasks. Such an export of issue history is perfect for audits, retrospectives, compliance reports, and team analysis.

Example of advanced reports

Also, you can try the Advanced Excel export. It includes Field changes duration and Field changes total count reports. For example:

Takeaway

While Jira’s native interface provides a granular view of individual issue histories, it lacks the functionality to offer comprehensive insights across multiple issues or export them to perform detailed analyses directly. Exporting issue history using Jira’s REST API or third-party apps like Issue History for Jira can bridge this gap. Project managers can use these tools to create customized reports, statistical analyses, and visualizations that turn raw historical data into insights that can be put to use. Improved visibility leads to improved teamwork and communication as well as more efficient decision-making and performance monitoring. These solutions enable teams to streamline their processes and promote project success, whether it is through instantaneous data exporting or scheduling of automatic reports.