Export Jira issues to Word with your own template

Published 2026-10-17 · Facts checked 2026-10-17 · By ArtUp Labs, the maker of ArtUp Reports

1. What Jira Cloud's Word export does

1. Run your search or filter.
2. Click Export and choose Microsoft Word.

The result follows Jira's own layout. Atlassian's page describes no way to choose a template and recommends exporting around 150 work items at a time to Word. Source: Atlassian, Export your search results, checked 2026-10-17.

You may find Atlassian's article on customizing the Word export template. It applies only to Jira Data Center: you edit four Velocity files (single-word.vm and others) in the Jira installation directory and restart Jira. There is no such file system on Jira Cloud. Source: Atlassian KB, Customise Word export template, checked 2026-10-17.

2. A template without apps: CSV and Word mail merge

1. Export the issues as Excel CSV (current fields) with only the columns you need (see how to export Jira issues to Excel).
2. In Word, write your document and open Mailings → Select Recipients → Use an Existing List; pick the CSV.
3. Insert the columns with Insert Merge Field, preview, and Finish & Merge.

This works for simple lists and letters. Its limits: one record per document or per section (no list of comments or subtasks inside an issue), no images from Jira, descriptions come in as plain text without their headings, tables or lists, and you repeat the CSV step for every report.

3. Your own Word template with ArtUp Reports

ArtUp Reports is our app for Jira Cloud. You make the template in Word, put placeholders in double braces where Jira data should go, and upload it once.

Report: {{title}}   Exported {{exportedAt}} by {{exportedBy}}
JQL: {{jql}} ({{count}} issues)
{{#issues}}
{{key}} — {{summary}}   [{{status}}, {{assignee}}]
{{@description}}
Story points: {{field "Story Points"}}
{{#comments}}{{author}}, {{created}}: {{body}}
{{/comments}}
{{/issues}}

• Loops for issues, comments, work logs, subtasks and links; {{field "Name"}} for any custom field by its name in Jira.
• Formatted text: {{@description}} on its own paragraph keeps headings, lists, tables and images from the description.
• Checked on upload: a mistyped placeholder or a custom field that does not exist on your site is listed with a suggestion — Unknown tag {{summry}}. Did you mean {{summary}}? — and the template cannot be saved until it is fixed. No scripting language.
• Built-in layouts if you do not want to make a template: single issue, issue list, sprint report and release notes, for Word and for PDF (A4 or Letter).
• Save the template for yourself, a project or the whole site.

Steps

1. Open Apps → ArtUp Reports → Templates → Create template → Word template. Download example template gives you a working start; Available tags lists every placeholder.
2. Edit the example in Word and upload it (up to 2 MB).
3. From the issue search, a board, a sprint or an issue (••• → Export to Word or PDF), choose Word and your template, then export.

Measured On 30 September 2026, on a Jira Cloud test site, Word exports of 500 issues with 500 images took 58–80 seconds (two runs), with no image lost. Word and PDF files hold up to 2,000 issues each; for more, the app asks you to narrow the JQL or switch to Excel. See the ArtUp Reports documentation for every placeholder.