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Bitbucket's issue tracker goes away on August 20, 2026.

Atlassian is removing the built-in issue tracker (and wikis) from Bitbucket Cloud on August 20, 2026. Existing issues can be exported as a zip archive or migrated to Jira, and since April 2026 repositories that never enabled Issues can no longer turn them on.

Source: Atlassian's sunset announcement · Bitbucket issues documentation

Your options before the date

  • Export the data

    Issues can be exported from Bitbucket as a zip archive — a snapshot you keep, not a live tracker. Do this before the removal date even if you migrate; it's the only raw copy you'll have.

  • Migrate to Jira

    Atlassian's recommended path: move the issues into a Jira Cloud project. Your tracker stays live and linked to the same team, at the cost of living in a second product.

  • Keep a tracker next to your code

    If the browser round-trip is what you're trying to avoid, put the tracker inside your Git client — the section below is the honest pitch for that.

A tracker inside your Git client

GitDesktop is a desktop Git client for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket — and for Bitbucket repositories, its issue story is a linked Jira Cloud project, so the migration Atlassian is pushing you toward doesn't have to mean living in a browser tab.

  • Link a Jira Cloud site and project to any repository, and its Issues tab gains a Jira section — browse, filter, and read status, priority, assignee, description, and comments
  • Create, comment, assign, set due dates, change priority, and close or reopen along the project's own workflow — every action gated on your Jira permissions
  • Issue keys in your branch names, commit messages, and PR titles are spotted and linked straight back to the issue
  • A local issue can be promoted to Jira when the work goes public

Not moving to Jira? GitDesktop also keeps plain local issues that never leave your machine, and a Code TODOs tab that turns a TODO comment into one.

Everything the Jira link covers →

The Issues tab in GitDesktop showing a linked Jira project: an issue list with statuses and story-point badges, and an issue detail with status, priority, assignee, story points, labels, and a comment

Migrating anyway? Bring the client too.

Free and open source — Bitbucket pull requests, Pipelines, and linked Jira issues in one native window.

Download GitDesktop See the Bitbucket integration