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BinSafe Recycle Bin for Deleted Work Items

Jira deletes work items for good. BinSafe keeps a snapshot so you can recreate a deleted work item in one click.

Key features

Jira Cloud has no trash for work items. Atlassian's suggestion for one, JRACLOUD-36415, has 716 votes and is still "Under Consideration". Until then, one wrong click or bulk delete removes the work for good.

BinSafe takes a snapshot of each work item while it exists. When the work item is deleted, the snapshot moves to a Recycle Bin, where you can find it, preview it and recreate it.

How it works

  1. Install. BinSafe starts snapshotting work items as they are created and edited. Existing work items are snapshotted gradually after install, at about 2,300 a day, not instantly. A Jira admin can start an extra batch by hand from Settings.
  2. Someone deletes a work item. It appears in the project's Recycle Bin page, and on the global page for Jira admins, with who deleted it and when.
  3. Preview. Open the snapshot to see its fields, comments, worklogs, links and attachments. The preview also lists exactly what can't be put back.
  4. Restore. One click creates a new work item from the snapshot. Its first comment and the issue property recycle-bin.original record the original key, so search and audits can link the two.

What comes back

Summary, description, work type, labels, reporter and assignee (where your create screen allows), priority, versions, components, due date, comments (posted as the original author where Jira allows, otherwise by BinSafe with the original author and date in the text), worklogs, issue links, subtasks, and attachments up to 120 KB each (600 KB per work item).

What BinSafe can't restore (please read)

We'd rather tell you now than in a review. - This is not undelete. Jira never reuses a deleted key or id, so the restored item gets a new key. The old key is recorded on it. - Change history, watchers and votes are not restored. Jira's create API doesn't accept them. - Sprint, rank and epic link are not written back. - Comment and worklog created times become the restore time. The original time is kept in the comment text and a comment property. - Attachments over 120 KB (or past 600 KB on one work item) are not copied. Their names and sizes are still listed. - Work items deleted before BinSafe had snapshotted them can only be partly restored, from the details Jira sends at deletion (summary, type, project, status and people). Protection for existing work items starts after install, once the gradual snapshot pass (about 2,300 work items a day) has reached that work item; new and changed work items are covered right away. - Custom fields that aren't on the create or edit screen, or that Jira rejects, may not come back. The preview warns you when the snapshot knows this. - Not attempted: Jira Service Management request types, SLAs and approvals, remote links, development-panel data, and automation history. - Comments past the first 100 and worklogs past the first 100 on a single work item are not kept.

BinSafe is a recycle bin for individual work items. It is not a full-site backup, a compliance archive or a legal hold.

Retention, permissions and audit

Security and data residency

Docs