How do you Bulk change linked issues
Asked by Roberto Benites:

I am trying to figure out how to BULK add multiple issues to a single issue and how to change the status from Blocked by to Relates to for all the issues currently linked to the single one.

I have seen other posts about this BUT the UI and options do not appear in my companies JIRA instance.


Answers:
author: Hannes Obweger - JXL for Jira
body: Hi [@Roberto Benites](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3119125)

[to the best of my knowledge](https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-75508), issue linking is not available through Jira's built-in bulk editing feature.

However, if you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, I believe your use case would be relatively easy to solve with the app that my team is working on, [JXL for Jira](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1224710?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=2324878).

JXL is a full-fledged spreadsheet/table view that allows viewing, inline-editing, sorting, and filtering by all your issue fields, much like you'd do in e.g. Excel or Google Sheets. This includes, of course, *linked issues*, and several other issue-linking-related data. It also supports bulk-editing via copy/paste, like so:

![bulk-issue-linking.gif](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/250602iCA8716FD5C2E4C44/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "bulk-issue-linking.gif")

You can copy/paste between JXL and pretty much any other app, and update any number of issues in one action - so you should be done with your work in no time! It's also worth noting that JXL can do much more than that: From support for configurable issue hierarchies and groupings, to sum-ups, and conditional formatting.

Any questions just let me know,

Best,

Hannes


author: Nazri Muhi
body: Hi, Ive added another way based off the workaround provided here <https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-2428>  

You can configure Jira Automation to allow users to input a JQL query manually, and then link the issues returned by that JQL query, to another issue. Here's the automation rule:

![Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.50.05?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/344170i186AA19708BEAD08/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.50.05?PM.png")

Set a manual trigger, then to prompt users for input, add the "Short Text" type field of type. Name this field something descriptive, such as "Enter JQL Query," and assign a variable name like RefJQLQuery.

![Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.42.51?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/344171i366CFB0F0CCAA069/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.42.51?PM.png")

Next, add a "Branch rule / related issues" component to your automation rule. Within this branch, set the type of related issues to "JQL," which allows the rule to act on all issues returned by a JQL query. In the JQL field, insert the smart value {{userInputs.RefJQLQuery}}which references the user's input captured in the previous step.

![Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.43.03?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/344173iBC86C99ECC5DFF4F/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.43.03?PM.png")

Within the JQL branch, add an action to "Link issues." Choose an appropriate link type, such as "duplicates" or "relates to," depending on the nature of the relationship you want to establish between the issues. Set the issue link to "Trigger issue," which ensures that each issue found by the JQL query is linked back to the issue that initiated the rule.

![Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.43.18?PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/344172iEF6292C5D945097A/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2024-08-28 at 1.43.18?PM.png")

Once the rule is created, you can select it from Actions \> \[Rule Name\] to run it on the issue.


author: Hachim Khaldi
body: To my memory, this operation is not available via Jira's bulk editing function.

If you're interested and open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, our [Bulk Linker](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1219169/bulk-linker?tab=overview&hosting=cloud) app does just that.

You can select Issues by JQL and :

* Bulk Link issues
* Bulk Unlink issues
* Bulk Change Link Type
* Bulk Link web pages


author: Riley Venable
body: To bulk add multiple issues to a single issue in Jira, follow these steps:  

1. Perform a search for the issues you want to add to the single issue.  

2. Select the issues you want to add by ticking the checkbox next to each issue.  

3. Click on the "More" button (represented by three dots) and select "Bulk Change all n issues."  

4. Select the "Link Issues" operation from the drop-down list and click "Next."  

5. Select the "Relates To" relationship type.  

6. In the "To Issues" section, type in the key of the issue you want to link the selected issues to.  

7. Click "Next," review the changes and click "Confirm" to complete the bulk linking operation.  

To change the status from "Blocked by" to "Relates to" for all the issues currently linked to the single one, follow these steps:  

1. Open the issue that has the "Blocked by" links.  

2. Scroll down to the "Linked Issues" section and locate the issues that are currently "Blocked by" it.  

3. For each issue, click on the "Link Issue" button and select "Edit."  

4. Select the "Relates To" relationship type.  

5. Remove the "Blocked by" relationship by clicking the "x" button next to it.  

6. Click "Link" to save the changes. Note: If the UI and options do not appear in your company's JIRA

comments: author: Alexander Israel
body: "Link Issues" described in step (4) does not exist:

![Bulk Operations.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/263733iD16015CA19B61AFF/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Bulk Operations.png")


author: Alexander Israel
body: This is displayed in case 'Edit Issues' is selected

![Unavailable.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/263734i472A0B92D3254697/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Unavailable.png")


author: Jenn McGugan
body: This used to be available in the edit issues, but it was removed more than a year ago. I really would like to see this feature restored.


author: Chris Lee
body: This would be tremendously useful for me right now. I wish it were still available.


author: Stephanie M Corby
body: This only works in Data Center (and formerly Server) which I miss tremendously - Cloud is sub-par in comparison :-/ ...


author: Chris Lee
body: We have Data Center and this feature is not available.


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