How to Clone Multiple Issues in Jira Cloud (Step-by-Step Guide)

Cloning issues is one of the most common tasks in Jira Cloud. Whether you’re a project manager duplicating a template, a developer repeating test cases, or an HR team replicating onboarding workflows, there comes a moment when you need to copy not just one issue, but entire sets of issues.

Unfortunately, Jira’s built-in clone feature is limited. In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What Jira Cloud can (and can’t) do natively, a native Jira clone vs Easy Clone breakdown.
• Workarounds teams try (and why they fall short).
• A detailed step-by-step guide to clone multiple issues using Easy Clone for Jira Cloud.
• Advanced cloning scenarios: epics, subtasks, cross-project templates.
• FAQs from the Jira community.

By the end, you’ll have a complete picture of how to handle bulk cloning in Jira.

Quick answer: Jira Cloud can’t clone more than one issue at a time: the built-in Clone action is single-issue only, and Jira’s bulk-change tools edit or move issues but don’t clone them. To duplicate many issues at once, with their subtasks, links and attachments intact, select them in the issue navigator and clone them in a single pass with an Atlassian Marketplace app like Easy Clone. Full step-by-step below.

Easy Clone is Cloud Fortified, rated 4.9/5 on the Atlassian Marketplace, and runs for 1,000+ teams.

Why Teams Need to Clone Multiple Issues

Cloning isn’t just about copying one ticket - teams often need to replicate entire workflows or templates. Some common examples:

• Recurring projects from a template. Every marketing campaign or product launch starts from the same 20-30 issues. Clone the template set into a fresh project instead of recreating it by hand each quarter.
• Epics and their hierarchy. Duplicate an epic with all its user stories, tasks and subtasks for a new client or team.
• Standardised onboarding. HR or IT clones the same checklist of issues for every new hire, so nobody forgets the laptop request, the access tickets or the intro tasks.
• Per-release QA sets. QA clones last release’s regression test cases into the new version, keeping the suite consistent release over release.
• Repeatable runbooks. Ops clones a maintenance or release runbook so every team works from the same playbook.

Without bulk cloning, teams waste hours duplicating work manually - and risk inconsistencies.

Jira’s Native Clone: Useful but Limited

Jira Cloud includes a basic Clone action. Here’s how it works:

1. Open the issue.
2. Click More → Clone.
3. Jira duplicates the issue as a new ticket.

What gets copied?

• Summary, description, priority, assignee, and most standard fields.
• Optionally, attachments.

What doesn’t get copied?

• Subtasks (why native clone leaves sub-tasks behind).
• Linked issues.
• Epic/child relationships.
• Issue history and comments.

The biggest limitation

👉 You can only clone one issue at a time.

For example: to duplicate an epic with 15 child stories and subtasks, you would need to manually clone 15+ issues one by one - and then re-link them. That’s why most teams quickly look for alternatives.

A common mix-up: Jira’s bulk-change feature (Tools → Bulk change) can edit, transition or move many issues at once, but it cannot clone them. There is no native multi-select “clone” action, which is why bulk cloning needs a Marketplace app.

Common Workarounds for Bulk Cloning

Before turning to Atlassian Marketplace apps, Jira users often try these approaches.

1. Manual Cloning

• Pros: Built-in, simple, no setup.
• Cons: Time-consuming, error-prone, not scalable.

2. CSV Export/Import

• Export issues to CSV, adjust fields, and import back into Jira.
• Pros: Works for bulk creation.
• Cons: Requires admin rights, tedious formatting, relationships often break.

3. Jira Automation Rules

• Set up an automation like: “When issue created, clone it to project X.”
• Pros: Powerful, flexible.
• Cons: Complex setup, limited for mass cloning, often fails to copy links and subtasks.

4. Third-Party Apps

• This is where tools like Easy Clone, Deep Clone, or Elements Copy & Sync come in.
• They add dedicated bulk cloning functionality, with options to include hierarchies, links, subtasks, and cross-project operations.

Which method should you use?

Method	Clones many at once?	Keeps subtasks & links?	Setup effort	Best for
Native Clone (built-in)	No (one at a time)	No (subtasks & links dropped)	None	A single, one-off copy
CSV export / import	For creation only	No (relationships break)	High (admin rights, formatting)	Mass-creating from a spreadsheet
Automation rules	Partially	Unreliable for hierarchies	High (rule building)	Triggered, single-issue copies
Easy Clone (Marketplace app)	Yes (in one pass)	Yes (subtasks, links, attachments)	Low (2-click install)	Cloning sets, templates & backlogs

For a full feature-by-feature breakdown of native clone vs Easy Clone, see the comparison.

Step-by-Step: Clone Multiple Issues in Jira with Easy Clone

The fastest, most reliable way is to use Easy Clone for Jira Cloud. You can even try it on a live Epic in the browser first, no install needed. Here’s how:

Step 1 – Install Easy Clone

• Go to the Atlassian Marketplace and install Easy Clone for Jira Cloud.
• It’s Cloud Fortified, meeting Atlassian’s highest standards for reliability and security.

Step 2 – Select the Issues

• In your Jira project, go to the issue navigator.
• Filter or search for the issues you need.
• Select one or multiple issues (epics, stories, tasks, bugs, subtasks).

Pick the epics, stories, tasks or subtasks you want to duplicate, all in a single pass.

Step 3 – Choose Your Options

• From the actions menu, choose Easy Clone → Clone issues.

• Configure cloning options:

• Clone across projects or within the same project.

• Include subtasks, linked issues, and attachments.

• Add a prefix/suffix to distinguish cloned issues.

Choose the target project and whether to carry subtasks, links and attachments before you clone.

Step 4 – Run the Clone

• Click Clone Now.
• Easy Clone duplicates all selected issues at once, preserving their hierarchy.

✅ Done. In seconds, you’ve copied what would have taken hours manually.

Easy Clone duplicates every selected issue in one run and preserves the hierarchy.

Advanced Cloning Scenarios

Easy Clone isn’t just about copying multiple issues. It unlocks advanced Jira use cases:

Clone Epics with All Stories

Duplicate an epic and automatically bring along all its child stories and subtasks, so you deep clone Jira issues with their full hierarchy in a single pass. Perfect for reusing standard feature templates.

Bulk Clone Across Projects

Need to start a new project with the same backlog? Clone entire sets of issues into another project, or clone directly from a JQL search.

Clone Linked Issues

Preserve relationships like “blocks”, “relates to”, or “is cloned by” between issues.

Cross-Team Workflows

For example: an IT team might copy a set of incident response tasks across regions; an HR team clones onboarding workflows for each new hire.

How many issues can you clone at once?

Natively, one. With Easy Clone you select as many issues as you need and clone them in a single background job. You can watch the hierarchy build in real time and cancel at any point, so large batches aren’t an all-or-nothing gamble.

Why Choose Easy Clone?

There are other Jira cloning apps, but teams prefer Easy Clone because:

• Simple, one-click cloning (minimal setup).
• Bulk support – no 100-issue limits.
• Hierarchy awareness – clone epics with all children.
• Cross-project ready – move templates to any team.
• Secure – Cloud Fortified, GDPR-compliant, data stored in Atlassian’s infrastructure.
• Free for small teams – accessible to try before scaling up.

Want the full list? See everything Easy Clone copies across the issue hierarchy.

FAQs

Can Jira clone multiple issues at once natively? No. Jira Cloud only allows cloning one issue at a time. Bulk cloning multiple issues requires an Atlassian Marketplace app such as Easy Clone.

Is Easy Clone different from Jira Automation? Yes. Automation requires complex rule setups and doesn’t handle hierarchies well. Easy Clone is instant and built for bulk duplication.

Does Easy Clone copy custom fields? Yes. All standard and custom fields supported by Jira’s API are cloned, and you can even clone the Original Estimate (time tracking) field with the right screen setup.

Can I try Easy Clone for free? Yes. Easy Clone offers a free trial on the Atlassian Marketplace and is free for up to 10 users.

Can I use Jira’s bulk change to clone issues? No. Jira’s bulk-change operations cover editing, transitioning and moving issues, not cloning. To duplicate multiple issues at once you need a Marketplace app such as Easy Clone.

How many issues can I clone at once? Native Jira clones one issue at a time. With Easy Clone you can select a large batch and clone them in a single background job, with live progress and a cancel option, so there’s no small per-action cap.

Final Thoughts

Cloning multiple issues in Jira is a real productivity bottleneck if you rely only on Jira’s built-in tools. Workarounds like CSV import or automation are clunky at best.

For teams that regularly reuse templates, epics, or entire backlogs, Easy Clone for Jira Cloud is the simplest, most reliable solution.

👉 Install Easy Clone for Jira Cloud today and try it free.