Trash Can: Restore Deleted Issues for Jira
See who deleted which issue, read it and restore it with its comments.
Get it on the Atlassian Marketplace →
Overview
Jira Cloud deletes issues for good. Trash Can keeps a copy of the issues in the projects you choose, so when one is deleted you can see who deleted it and when, read it, and restore it with its comments.
Getting started
- A Jira administrator installs the app from its Atlassian Marketplace listing.
- Open Jira settings (⚙) → Apps and select Trash Can in the sidebar. The page is only available to Jira administrators.
- In the Settings tab, choose the Projects to protect (empty = all projects) and how long to Keep deleted issues for (days) (default 90), then select Save.
From then on, the app keeps a copy of each issue in the protected projects when it is created, edited or commented. Issues deleted before the app saved a full copy of them can only be listed, not restored.
Deleted issues
The Deleted issues tab lists the deleted issues with who deleted them and when. Filter by Project key, Key or summary and Deleted (period). The status column shows deleted, key only (deleted before the app saved a full copy) or Restored as with a link to the new issue.
Select View to read the issue: summary, description, comments, reporter and assignee, as they were when it was last saved.
Restoring an issue
In the issue view, select Restore. The app creates a new issue in the same project with the saved issue type, summary, description, priority, labels, components, fix versions, due date, reporter, assignee and parent (for sub-tasks), and adds the comments back. Each restored comment starts with a note naming its original author and date; because the author is mentioned, Jira may notify them.
If Jira rejects an optional field (for example it is not on the create screen, or a version was archived), the app retries without it and tells you which fields were not restored. The restore runs with your permissions, so you need permission to create issues in that project.
Retention and deletion
- Copies of deleted issues are removed automatically once the retention period has passed (a cleanup runs every day).
- Delete forever removes a deleted issue from the Trash Can right away.
- Copies of issues that still exist are updated as they change and are kept while the issue exists.
Moving from Restore Deleted Issues or Track Deleted Issues
Atlassian ends support for Connect, the platform used by Restore Deleted Issues and Track Deleted Issues, on 31 January 2027. This app is built on Forge and runs on Atlassian's cloud.
The deleted issues that another app recorded stay in that app and cannot be moved into Trash Can. Trash Can protects the issues that are created, edited or commented after you install it.
- Install Trash Can now and choose the projects to protect, so there is no gap in protection.
- Keep the other app while you may still need the issues it recorded.
- Uninstall it when you no longer need them.
Both apps can run at the same time.
Limitations
- Attachments, work logs, issue links and the change history are not kept.
- The restored issue gets a new key; Jira does not allow reusing the old one.
- Only issues deleted after installing the app can be restored.
- Very large issues are cut down to keep each copy under 200 KB, and up to 100 comments are kept per issue.
Permissions
| Scope | Why |
|---|---|
storage:app | Keep the copies of the issues and the settings. |
read:jira-work | Read an issue's fields and comments to keep its copy, and list projects. |
write:jira-work | Restore: create the issue and add its comments. |
Data and privacy
For each issue in the protected projects the app keeps: summary, description, comments (text, author account ID and date), issue type, priority, labels, components, versions, due date, parent, and the reporter and assignee account IDs. For deleted issues it also keeps who deleted it (account ID) and when. Everything is kept in Atlassian's Forge storage; no data leaves Atlassian. Once a week the app reports the stored account IDs to Atlassian, as Atlassian requires, and when an account is closed it is removed from the copies: reporter, assignee, comment author, who deleted the issue and @mentions. See the privacy policy.
Troubleshooting
An issue shows key only
It was deleted before the app saved a full copy (for example an old issue nobody changed after the app was installed). It cannot be restored.
Some fields were not restored
Jira rejected them, usually because they are not on the create screen of that project or the value no longer exists. The result message lists them.
The app says it needs an active license
The app is paid and checks the license on every request. Ask your site administrator to check the app's subscription in the administration of Jira or Confluence (Apps → Manage apps). During a free trial the app works normally.
Need help?
See the support page.