Paste formatting in Jira description

[Jade Melcher]

Hello, when I copy from confluence to Jira I would like to keep the formatting. 

I have a page that is used as a brief template to insert contents into jira descriptions, and I need a team of 50 to be able to copy paste these details into Jira without losing the format.

Is that possible? The only way I know is in the issue side view, but with epics you do not get that view.

[Kelly Jobe]

I am definitely interested in this feature. It is very frustrating to not be able to copy text from Confluence, and maintain the exact format when pasting into the Jira description.  I have a large project with many requirements, and having to reformat each of them in Jira adds a LOT of extra time.  

[Chris_Hayden]

Hey @Jade Melcher , although not the greatest solution... 

I copy directly from Confluence, paste it in the comment section on the issue, and then cut it from the comments without posting it, and paste it into the description field. 

It's weird that we have to do it that way, but it does take the re-formatting out and can be done in a few seconds so whatever. 

[Patrick]

First I'm on Cloud version of Jira.

I was trying to copy and paste one Jira issue description into a new one and it pastes basically simple text and loses ALL formatting!!!!

I just tried this trick, and sure enough it worked!

Seriously, if Atlassian is listening, get on the ball.  This type of thing seems basic.  Why have you made Jira Cloud so HARD to use????  I'm not trying to be a jerk but it's like I keep finding problems like this and then any solution I seem to find isn't available for Cloud version.  

I can't think of the last time I have used any other ticketing, posting, whatever forum online that didn't allow for this.

[Patrick]

I just copied my comments from above, posted them, and then pasted them again into a new form comment and it kept my rich text bold formatting.... Can the description field do that.  NOPE!

**** pasted content without alteration from copied text ****

First I'm on Cloud version of Jira.

I was trying to copy and paste one Jira issue description into a new one and it pastes basically simple text and loses ALL formatting!!!!

I just tried this trick, and sure enough it worked!

Seriously, if Atlassian is listening, get on the ball.  This type of thing seems basic.  Why have you made Jira Cloud so HARD to use????  I'm not trying to be a jerk but it's like I keep finding problems like this and then any solution I seem to find isn't available for Cloud version.  

I can't think of the last time I have used any other ticketing, posting, whatever forum online that didn't allow for this.

[Thomas Dullien]

Seconded - I was trying to cut/paste some stuff into the Jira cloud editing field, and it doesn't work properly.

[Alexander Zaidelson]

This is extremely embarrassing that formatting cannot be copy/pasted. It's 2021, for god's sake!

[Andrew Keefe]

P.O.S.

[vshyt]

Agree, this Jira disability brings a lot of pain

[Angélica Luz]

Hello Jade,

Thank you for getting in touch with Atlassian Community!
Jira and Confluence have different editors, so currently when you copy some text from Confluence, it will not be pasted in Jira with the same format as it is on Confluence.
We have a feature request suggesting the implementation of this ability:
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-62374

We also have a feature suggesting for Jira to have WYSIWYG editor:
- https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-8943

Please, click on vote and watch to receive updates about the features.

Regards,
Angélica

[Andrew Keefe]

This is one of the several fundamental annoyances that makes me advocate getting my company off Atlassian products.  For what we pay...seriously...it can't handle basic text operations.  Welcome to 1994.  The lack of improvement is so bad, I think any other product (SharePoint sitting right there in our office subscription) can handle this better. Wake up.

[Luke Curtis]

Here's another option. It's quite a technical solution digging into the API's and messing with the markup language but well worth doing if you have lots of issues to create.

Note - This only works on V2.  I checked V3 and the formatting is totally different and will not work.

1. Visit https://<site-url>/rest/api/2/issue/<existing issue key> 
2. Find the description field and copy the content between the quotation marks
3. Paste into a text editor of your choice
4. Replace \n characters with a physical carriage return
5. Select all and copy
6. Paste into the description field when creating a new issue via the wizard
7. Click the keyboard icon to preview

See https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v2/intro/ for additional API information.

[j.vanmaaren]

Solution: create a story with an empty description, save it

Now edit it, and you can paste your content and it will keep the formatting

🤦‍♂️