How to create a subtask in Jira (and link work items)

A subtask in Jira is a small piece of work that lives under a parent work item. You create one from the parent: open the work item, add a child, give it a summary, and save. The exact button depends on whether your project is company-managed or team-managed. Both routes take under a minute, and the steps are below.

Atlassian now calls issues "work items" in Jira Cloud, so the buttons you see may say "work item" where older guides say "issue". The idea has not changed.

Create a subtask in a company-managed project

1. Open the parent work item. A subtask always needs a parent, so start there, not from the Create button in the top bar.
2. Under the summary, select Add or create related work.
3. Choose Create subtask.
4. Type a summary. Keep it to the one thing the subtask covers.
5. Select Create. Repeat for each piece of work you want to split out.

The new subtask copies part of the parent's context. Atlassian states that "a subtask will inherit the space, work security level, and sprint value (software spaces) from their parent". So you do not set the sprint on a subtask; it follows the story.

Source: Atlassian — Create a work item and a subtask

If you cannot find the option, subtasks are probably switched off. In company-managed projects, subtasks appear only when an admin has enabled them and added the subtask work type to the project's work type scheme. That is a Jira admin action, not something you can turn on from the work item.

Create a subtask in a team-managed project

1. Open the work item that will be the parent.
2. Select Add, then Child work item.
3. Enter the summary and any description you need.
4. Select Create.

There is a second route straight from the board. Set Group by to Subtask, then use the + button under the parent card. This is the fastest way to break down several stories in one pass.

Team-managed projects have subtasks on by default. If the child option is missing, add it under Space settings → Work types.

Source: Atlassian — Manage subtasks in team-managed projects

What subtasks cannot do

Three limits catch people out, and none of them have a setting you can flip.

• No nesting. A subtask cannot have its own subtask. Child work items can only be created under standalone work items, so the tree stops at two levels below the epic: epic → story → subtask.
• No direct move between parents. You cannot drag a subtask to a different story. Convert it to a standalone work item first, then convert it back to a subtask under the new parent. It is two steps.
• An admin may have to enable the type. In company-managed projects, the subtask work type must be in the work type scheme. Until it is, the create option simply is not there.

Plan around the first limit rather than fighting it. If a subtask keeps growing children in your head, it is probably a story, and the parent is probably an epic.

Subtasks on the board

By default a board shows stories and bugs, not their subtasks. To see the breakdown, set Group by to Subtask. Each parent becomes a swimlane header and its subtasks become the cards inside that lane.

This changes how standups read. In the default view you see six stories in progress. Grouped by subtask, you see which specific pieces are moving and which parent is stuck because one subtask has not started. Switch back when you want the sprint-level picture again.

Remember that subtasks share the parent's sprint. Moving a story to the next sprint takes its subtasks with it.

Subtasks vs linked work items — which to use

Both connect two work items, but they mean different things. A subtask is part of its parent. A link is a relationship between two work items that each stand on their own.

Use a subtask when the work only makes sense inside the parent, belongs to the same team, and ships in the same sprint. Use a link when both items have their own life: they sit in different projects, belong to different teams, or one has to finish before the other can start.

In Starlie’s own user interviews (May 2026), a developer at a fintech company said linked work items were the single most useful thing in Jira for them and something they handle all day. That matches the pattern we see: subtasks describe one team's checklist, links describe how teams depend on each other.

Link types

Your instance may show more types, such as causes, implements or reviews. Admins can add their own.

How to link two work items

1. Right-click the work item, or open it and use the ••• menu.
2. Select Link work item. Inside an open item you can also use Add → Linked work item.
3. Pick the link type, then search for the target item by key or summary.
4. Select Link. Jira writes the matching reverse link on the other item for you.

Source: Atlassian — Link work items

Find subtasks and links with JQL

Once a project has a few hundred work items, clicking through parents stops working. JQL is faster. Four queries cover most of it.

• parent = PROJ-123 — every subtask of one parent.
• issuetype in subTaskIssueTypes() — all subtasks, whatever they are called in your instance. The function returns every work type marked as a subtask type.
• issuetype not in subTaskIssueTypes() — everything except subtasks. Useful for sprint reports, where subtasks would double-count the work.
• issue in linkedIssues("PROJ-123", "blocks") — the items that one work item blocks.

Combine them with the usual filters, for example issuetype in subTaskIssueTypes() AND assignee = currentUser() AND statusCategory != Done to see only your own open subtasks.

Source: Atlassian — JQL functions

If you write JQL often, a saved filter beats retyping. And if you want the query to feel instant, a native client helps more than the browser. See Jira desktop app options and the Jira keyboard shortcuts worth learning first.

Seeing the whole tree at once

The hard part of subtasks is not creating them. It is holding the shape of the work in your head: which epic, which story, which subtask, and what blocks what. Jira in a browser shows the children of one work item at a time.

If your team is weighing Jira against a lighter tool for exactly this reason, the honest comparison is in Linear vs Jira. Jira's structure is the point; the client you use to read it is a separate choice.

Frequently asked questions