How to Add a New Issue Type in Jira

If your team is squeezing every task into “Story,” “Bug,” or “Task” — you already know the pain. Work gets miscategorized. Reports get messy. People stop trusting the data.

Adding a custom issue type in Jira solves that. It takes less than 10 minutes and makes your whole workflow cleaner.

This guide walks you through every step — from creating the issue type to connecting it to your project — with no guesswork.

What Is an Issue Type in Jira?

An issue type is a label that defines what kind of work an item represents. Jira ships with defaults like Epic, Story, Task, Sub-task, and Bug. But most teams eventually need something more specific — a “Change Request,” “Interview,” “Feature Request,” or even a “Client Feedback” issue.

Custom issue types let your team speak the same language as your actual workflow. According to Atlassian’s own research, teams that align their project tools with their real processes see significantly higher adoption and project delivery consistency.

Why Custom Issue Types Matter

Most teams underestimate how much a poorly structured Jira setup costs them over time. Consider this:

• 61% of project managers say poor task categorization leads to missed deadlines (PMI, 2023)
• Teams using tailored workflows in project management tools report up to 35% improvement in on-time delivery
• 74% of software teams customize at least one aspect of their issue tracking setup within the first 3 months of adoption (Atlassian State of Teams Report)

When work doesn’t fit neatly into the available categories, people either misfile it or skip logging it altogether. Custom issue types close that gap.

Before You Start — What You Need

You’ll need Jira Administrator (or Project Administrator) access to create new issue types. If you’re on a company-managed project, only Jira Admins can create global issue types. On team-managed projects, project-level admins have more flexibility.

Check your permissions by going to: Jira Settings → System → Global Permissions

How to Add a New Issue Type in Jira

Step 1 — Go to Jira Administration

Click the gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner of your Jira interface. Select Issues from the dropdown.

If you don’t see the gear icon, you likely don’t have admin access. Contact your Jira admin to proceed.

Step 2 — Open the Issue Types Section

In the left-hand sidebar under Issue Types, click Issue Types.

You’ll see a list of all existing issue types in your Jira instance — both default and any custom ones already added.

Step 3 — Add a New Issue Type

Click the Add issue type button (usually in the top-right corner of the Issue Types page).

A modal window will appear asking you to fill in:

• Name — What you want to call it (e.g., “Change Request,” “Client Feedback,” “Onboarding Task”)
• Description — A short explanation of when this type should be used
• Type — Choose between Standard Issue Type (stands alone) or Sub-task Issue Type (lives under a parent issue)

Fill in the details and click Add.

Step 4 — Customize the Issue Type Icon (Optional but Recommended)

Jira lets you assign a color and icon to each issue type. This makes it instantly recognizable on boards and in reports.

After saving, click on the issue type name to edit it. Scroll to the icon/avatar section and choose something visually distinct from your existing types.

Teams that use visual differentiation report faster board scanning and fewer misfilings.

Step 5 — Add the Issue Type to an Issue Type Scheme

Creating the issue type alone isn’t enough. You need to add it to an Issue Type Scheme — which controls which issue types are available in which projects.

Here’s how:

1. Go back to Jira Settings → Issues
2. Click Issue Type Schemes in the left sidebar
3. Find the scheme used by your target project (hover over project names to identify the right one)
4. Click Edit next to that scheme
5. Drag your new issue type from the right column (“Issue Types Available for Other Schemes”) into the left column (“Issue Types for Current Scheme”)
6. Click Save

Pro tip: If multiple projects share the same scheme, your new issue type will now be available in all of them. Create a separate scheme if you want to keep it isolated.

Step 6 — Configure the Issue Type Screen (Optional)

By default, your new issue type will use the existing screen configuration. If you need custom fields specific to this type, you’ll need to:

1. Go to Screens under Issue Types settings
2. Create or edit a screen with the fields relevant to your new type
3. Assign that screen to your issue type via Screen Schemes and then Issue Type Screen Schemes

This step is more advanced but worth doing for issue types that need unique data — like a “Client Feedback” type that requires a “Feedback Source” or “Priority Level” field.

Step 7 — Verify It’s Working in Your Project

Navigate to your project, click Create Issue, and check the Issue Type dropdown. Your new issue type should appear.

If it doesn’t show up:

• Double-check the Issue Type Scheme mapping
• Confirm the project is using the correct scheme
• Clear your browser cache and try again

How to Add an Issue Type in Team-Managed Projects

Team-managed projects (formerly “next-gen” projects) work differently. You don’t need Jira Admin access for these.

1. Go to your project settings
2. Click Issue Types in the left sidebar
3. Click Add issue type
4. Name it, add a description, and save

Changes here only affect the current project and don’t touch global settings. It’s the fastest way to test a new issue type before rolling it out company-wide.

Common Mistakes That Slow Teams Down

Creating too many issue types. More types = more friction. Start with one new type and see if it genuinely reduces confusion before adding more.

Forgetting to update the scheme. The most common reason a new issue type doesn’t appear in a project. Always verify the scheme mapping.

No description on the issue type. Teams who skip descriptions end up with everyone interpreting the type differently. Write a one-sentence rule for when to use it.

Not communicating the change. Jira changes that aren’t announced get ignored. Send a quick Slack message or team email when you add a new issue type explaining when and why to use it.

Jira Issue Types vs. Issue Statuses — Don’t Confuse Them

A quick clarification that trips up a lot of teams:

• Issue Type = what the work is (Bug, Feature, Change Request)
• Issue Status = where it is in the workflow (To Do, In Progress, Done)

Both are customizable. But they serve completely different purposes. A “Client Feedback” issue type can still move through the same To Do → In Progress → Done workflow as everything else.

Statistics That Show Why Getting Jira Right Matters

Getting your project management setup right isn’t a nice-to-have — it directly affects team performance. Here’s what the data shows:

• Organizations using well-configured project management tools complete 28% more projects on time (PMI Pulse of the Profession, 2023)
• Teams that customize their issue tracking to match real workflows see 40% fewer duplicate tickets filed per quarter
• 77% of high-performing teams say tool configuration is a contributing factor to team alignment (Atlassian, 2023)
• Miscategorized issues cost the average dev team 3.5 hours per week in re-triaging and rework (Forrester Research)
• Companies that standardize on Jira workflows report 2x faster sprint planning sessions compared to ad hoc approaches
• 58% of Jira users say lack of training on configuration options is the top reason for poor adoption

Every hour your team wastes hunting for the right issue type — or filing things in the wrong category — is an hour that’s not going into actual work.

Conclusion

Adding a new issue type in Jira is one of the simplest ways to make your project management setup match how your team actually works. The whole process — from creating the type to making it live in your project — takes under 10 minutes once you know the steps.

The key moves: create the issue type in admin settings, map it to the correct Issue Type Scheme, and optionally set up a custom screen if your new type needs unique fields.

Start with one new type. See how the team responds. Expand from there.

A well-configured Jira setup means less time re-triaging messy tickets — and more time getting work done.