Searching Issues

Owned by William Johnson, created
Last updated: Jan 17, 2023
4 min read

There are a few ways to search for issues (tickets) or locate information in them using quick search, My work, basic search, or advanced search. 

Quick Search

The quick search field is located in the upper right corner of the screen and is used to enter the issue number or any word in the summary and description of an issue.

To search for an issue:

  1. Click in the search to expand. Before you event enter in a character you may access the following items:

    1. Advanced search (see section for this below)

    2. Recently viewed issues

    3. Recent Boards, Projects, Filters and Plans

    4. Go to section for different pre-built results

  2. If you are not able to locate the item you are looking for then you may enter the issue number - example: "COM-123" or any word that may be in the summary and/or description of an issue.

  3. Tickets matching the criteria will appear in a list. Select one or click See more to get a grouping of tickets to look from.

Advanced search and basic search are accessible through advanced issue search screen. If you prefer the basic search, please skip down to that section below.

Advanced Search

Advanced search uses Jira Query Language (JQL) statements to find information in issues. You can specify criteria that cannot be defined using other searches by using clauses. JQLs are constructed using clauses to search. A clause requires a field name, an operator and one or more values are required to return results.

Example:  To search for "test" in the description field of a ticket.

Clause:  Field name space operator space "value"

                  description ~ "test"

This clause will return a list of all tickets with the word "test" in the description field. 

There are two way to access the Advanced issue search screen.

  1. Click on the Filters menu in the top navigation and then select Advanced issue search from the list.

  2. Click in the Search box in the top navigation and click the Enter key on your keyboard.

  3. Choose either option 1 or 2 and you will be taken to the search screen.

  4. Enter a clause in the search field

    1. Enter a field name from the issue, space.

    2. Enter an operator (= , != , > , >= , < , <= , ~ , !~, IS, IS NOT, IN, NOT IN), space    (Operator help:  Advanced search reference - JQL operators | Jira Service Management Cloud | Atlassian Support) .

    3. Enter a value in quotation marks.

  5. Select Search, results appear on the screen.

  6. If you want to save the search to use later, select Save As.

  7. Enter a Filter Name to save the search.

  8. Save.

**Saved searches appear in the Filters menu.

Basic Search

Basic search is more precise and uses information from fields in the issue to search. You do not need to know how to write JQL statements.

In order to get to the basic search, you have to click on the Advanced search issues screen. So the first steps 3 steps below are the same as above.

  1. Click on the Filters menu in the top navigation and then select Advanced issue search from the list.

  2. Click in the Search box in the top navigation and click the Enter key on your keyboard.

  3. Choose either option 1 or 2 and you will be taken to the search screen.

  4. Click the Switch to basic button on the screen.

  5. Select search criteria using fields such as "Project", "Type", "Status" or "Assignee" to search for specific text.

    1. Project – select your service desk space.

    2. Type – issue types in your service desk, there may only be one type to choose.

    3. Status - issue status or workflow step of the ticket.

    4. Assignee – staff member assigned to resolve the issue.

    5. Contains text can be used to enter a value.

    6. More can be used to search using other fields in an issue.

  6. Select Search, results appear on the screen.

  7. If you want to save the search to use later, select Save As.

  8. Enter a Filter Name to save the search.

  9. Save.

**Saved searches appear in the Filters menu.