Discover Jira Cloud products
Learn more about Jira Cloud products, features, plans, and migration.
Configure a custom field
You can set a default value for a custom field. You can also limit the number of users that appear in a user picker field.
Set the default value for a custom field
You can choose to automatically fill each custom field with a default value. Note that certain types of custom fields may not allow for default values. For fields that do, you can set a default value with these steps:
Select > Issues.
Under FIELDS, click Custom fields.
Find the custom field you want to configure, click > Contexts and default value. Alternatively, you can click a field's screens or contexts link and then click Contexts > Create, edit or delete contexts.
In the configuration scheme section, select Edit Default Value.
Enter a default value (e.g. for a custom Story Points field, set the value to 4) and click Set Default.
For a select list or multi-select list custom field, you can clear the default value by clicking on the current default so it's no longer highlighted.
Limit number of users for user picker fields
NOTE: This option is only available for custom field types containing User picker (single user), not User picker (multiple user).
You can limit the set of users available in your user picker field to specific groups or project roles. To filter users, follow these steps:
Select > Issues.
Under FIELDS, click Custom fields.
Find the custom field you want to configure and click > Contexts and default value > Edit User Filtering.
Click Enable group or project role filtering, then specify the groups and roles that you want to limit the user picker to.
The user picker will only show users that are in the groups and roles selected.Click Save.
Troubleshoot issue configuration and context
Why aren’t some fields visible in the issue view?
Some fields have configurations and contexts that make these fields unavailable in the issue view, even if you drag the field to one of the sections in the issue layout. Learn more about the issue view.
You must be a Jira admin to see the field context and configurations. Learn more about global permissions.
Field contexts
When you create a custom field, a custom field context or custom field configuration scheme is automatically created. This lets you select the custom field’s language, default value, and which issue types or projects the field appears in. You can create a new custom field context if you need to associate different default values and options with different projects or issue types. Learn more about field contexts.
To see the context of a field:
Select > Issues > Custom fields.
Select > Contexts and default value for the field you’re searching.
See the below table to find out why you can’t see the field in the issue view in company-managed projects:
Field context | Is the field visible in the issue view? | Description |
|---|---|---|
Default custom field context | Yes | Users can see the field in the issue view as this context applies to all issue types of the project. If you’ve edited the content and removed an issue type, you can’t see the field in the issue view for that issue type. |
Custom field context that is applied only to some issue types of the project but not all | Depends on the issue type | Users can see the field in the issue view if the context is applicable to the selected issue type. |
Custom field has multiple contexts for issue types of the project | Depends on the issue type | Users can see the field in the issue view if the contexts are associated to the selected issue type of the project. |
Custom field context that is applied to other project(s) and not the current project | No | Users can’t see the field in the issue view if the context is associated to other projects and not the current project. |
Custom field has no context | No | Users can’t see the field in the issue view if there is no context that is associated to the current project. |
See the below table to find out why you can’t see the field in the issue view in team-managed projects:
Field context | Is the field visible in the issue view? | Description |
|---|---|---|
Global custom field context that applies to all issue types in all projects | Yes | This is the only context that allows a field from company-managed project to appear in team-Managed projects. Global context also allows the field to appear in all company-managed projects too. |
Any other context apart from global context | No | As the field doesn’t have a global context set, the field will not be visible in team-managed projects. Jira admins can go to (Settings) > Issues > Custom fields, and select Contexts and default value for the field to edit or add a global context to the field. |
For a field to be visible in team-managed projects, you’ll have to apply the global context to it.
Field configuration
A field configuration lets you define the behavior of all issue fields, including custom fields, that are available in your Jira products. Learn more about field configurations.
For each field, a field configuration lets you set:
The description that appears under the field when an issue is edited
Whether the field is hidden or visible
Whether the field is required or optional
Which renderer to use for text fields
To see field configurations for a field:
Select > Issues > Field configurations.
Select Configure for the field configuration you want to see.
If a field is hidden in the field configuration, users can’t see it in the issue view. Learn more about field behaviors.
Was this helpful?
Still need help?
The Atlassian Community is here for you.