Labels are a powerful tool in Jira, allowing you to categorize and filter issues easily. However, if you’ve accumulated a lot of similar or redundant labels, you might want to merge them for better organization.
Unfortunately, Jira doesn’t provide a direct way to merge labels. In this guide, we’ll explain the workaround for merging labels manually and introduce a very efficient way that can make this process much easier.
The Reality: No Direct Way to Merge Labels in Jira
Before diving into the solution, it’s important to understand that Jira does not offer a built-in feature for merging labels. If you want to consolidate multiple labels into one, the process involves bulk editing issues to add the new label and remove the old ones. While this can be done manually, it can quickly become tedious, especially if you’re dealing with a large number of issues.
Manual Workaround: How to Manually Merge Labels
If you’re set on merging labels manually, here’s how you can do it:
- Identify the Labels You Want to Merge – Start by determining which labels you want to consolidate. For example, you might have labels like “Frontend,” “Front-end,” and “UI” that you want to merge into a single label, such as “Frontend.”
- Go to the Issues section in the Jira navigation menu.
- Click on Search for Issues.
- In the search bar, type
labels in ("Frontend", "Front-end", "UI")to find all issues with any of these labels. - Hit Search to view the issues.
- Bulk Edit to Add the New Label – Now that you have the list of issues, the next step is to add the new label to all of them.
- Select all the issues in your search results.
- Click on the Tools menu and select Bulk Change.
- Choose the option to Edit Issues.
- In the bulk edit options, scroll down to the Labels field.
- Add the new label (e.g., “Frontend”) to all the selected issues.
- Proceed with the bulk change to apply the new label to all the issues.
- Remove the Old Labels – Once the new label is applied, you’ll want to remove the old, redundant labels.
- Repeat the bulk edit process, but this time remove the old labels (e.g., “Front-end” and “UI”) from all the selected issues.
- Once completed, the issues should now only have the new label.
The Easier Way: Using a Plugin to Merge Labels
While the manual process works, it’s not the most efficient, especially if you’re dealing with a large number of labels and issues.
That’s where our Jira plugin, Simple Label Management for Jira comes in.
Our plugin is designed specifically to help with label management, including merging labels with just a few clicks.
How the Plugin Works
- Select Labels to Merge – The plugin allows you to select multiple labels you want to merge.
- Apply New Label Automatically – It automatically applies the new, consolidated label to all relevant issues.
- Remove Old Labels – The plugin then removes the old labels, streamlining your issue management process.
Conclusion
Merging labels in Jira might seem like a daunting task, but with the right approach, it’s entirely manageable. While you can manually merge labels by bulk editing issues, our Jira plugin offers a much more efficient solution. It simplifies the process, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors.
If you’re looking to optimize your Jira label management, give our plugin a try and make label merging a breeze!