Jira keyboard shortcuts: the official list, plus Mac-native ones

In Jira Cloud, press C to create a work item and O to open the selected one. Press I to assign it to yourself, M to comment and ? to see the full dialog for the screen you are on. Below are the keys Atlassian documents publicly. The in-app dialog adds a few more for the specific app you are using.

The official Jira Cloud keyboard shortcuts

Atlassian's support page lists a short set of keys and sorts the in-app dialog into four groups: Global, Navigating work items, Work item actions and App-specific. Source: Atlassian Support: Use keyboard shortcuts

Atlassian renamed "issues" to "work items" in Jira Cloud, so the dialog now says "work item" where older guides say "issue". The keys did not change.

Global

Navigating work items

Work item actions

These are single letters, with no modifier key. You press C on its own, not ⌘C.

Why the list is short

Nine keys plus the ? dialog is a short list for a tool this large. There are two reasons.

First, the public page is a summary. The dialog under ? is the real reference, and it changes with context. A board shows board keys and a backlog shows backlog keys. Jira Service Management and Jira Product Discovery add their own under "App-specific". So the full list of Jira shortcuts depends on the screen you're on. Open the dialog there.

Second, Jira runs in a browser tab. A single-letter shortcut only works when the page has keyboard focus and no text field is active. That causes the two most common complaints:

• You are typing in a field. Click into a summary box, a comment box or a search field and every letter goes into the text. Press Esc or click empty space on the page first.
• The tab is not focused. If you just came from another app, another tab or a dialog, click once on the board background to give the page focus.

Jira's keys also only work while the Jira tab is in front, and no setting changes that. Once you switch to your editor, your terminal or Slack, no key takes you back to a Jira work item, because the shortcuts belong to the browser tab and not to macOS.

Moving around a board with J, K, N and P

Learn the four navigation keys first. With them you can work through a sprint board without touching the trackpad.

1. Click once on the board background so the page has focus.
2. Press J and K to move down and up inside a column.
3. Press N and P to move to the next or previous column.
4. Press O to open the selected work item.
5. Press I to assign it to yourself, or M to comment.

J and K move the same way they do in Vim and Gmail. N and P move between columns, not between work items, which catches people on their first try.

Starlie shortcuts on macOS

Starlie is a native Mac app for Jira Cloud, so its shortcuts are ordinary macOS shortcuts. They use ⌘, appear in the menu bar and work whenever the app is in front. Starlie's menus still say "issue", which is what Jira now calls a work item.

Three worth learning first

• ⌘K to open anything. Type a few letters of an issue key, a board or a project and press Return. It works like Spotlight and saves most clicks in the sidebar.
• ⌘⇧C to copy the issue key. The key is what you paste into a branch name, a commit message or a chat thread.
• ⌘1 and ⌘2 to switch views. ⌘1 shows the sprint as a list for scanning and sorting. ⌘2 shows the same sprint as a board for dragging cards between columns.

If subtasks are part of your day, ⌘⇧S opens the Structure window and shows epics, stories and subtasks as one tree. In the browser this takes several clicks. See how to create a subtask in Jira.

Shortcuts in a browser versus shortcuts on a Mac

Browser shortcuts work inside one tab. Mac shortcuts work inside an app that has its own window, its own menu bar and its own place in ⌘Tab.

Atlassian has no desktop app for Mac. It ended support for its Jira Cloud for Mac app in February 2022, and the open request for a desktop app is still marked "Gathering Interest". Source: JRACLOUD-78044 That leaves third-party clients, which we compare in Jira desktop app: the options. If you are weighing a move away from Jira instead, read Linear vs Jira.

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