How to Create a New Sprint in Jira: 7 Easy Steps [2026]

Wondering how to create a new sprint in Jira? Follow 7 easy steps to set dates, add issues, and start with confidence. Read now!

Starting a sprint in Jira sounds simple until the button is missing, the wrong board is open, or unfinished work gets carried forward unexpectedly. A small setup mistake can distort sprint reports, confuse your team, and make planning harder.

That frustration grows when your backlog is crowded and your sprint dates are unclear. You may spend more time fixing sprint settings than discussing the work your team can realistically complete.

Here’s the solution: create the sprint from the correct Scrum board, confirm its dates, move the right issues into it, and start it only after planning is complete. This guide walks you through all seven steps, explains common mistakes, and shows what to do when Jira’s workflow does not fit your team.

How to Create a New Sprint in Jira: 7 Steps

To create a new sprint in Jira, open the correct Scrum backlog, select Create sprint, add the planned issues, configure the sprint details, and choose Start sprint when planning is finished. You need the right board and permission to manage sprints.

Follow these steps in order. Jira’s labels can vary slightly between Cloud and self-managed editions, but the workflow stays similar.

Open the Correct Scrum Board

Sign in to Jira and open the Scrum project that contains the work you want to plan. Then open the project’s backlog or sprint planning view.

Check the board name before doing anything else. A board can display issues from several projects, so opening the wrong board may place work in an unintended sprint.

For example, a team may have separate boards for mobile development, platform engineering, and customer support. Choose the board connected to the team planning the next iteration.
Open the Backlog View

Select Backlog from the project navigation. You should see any active sprint near the top and a backlog area underneath it.

The backlog is where you review priorities and prepare upcoming work. If you see a Kanban board instead, you may be in the wrong project or board because Kanban boards generally do not use sprints in the same way.

Here’s why this matters: Jira creates a sprint within the board context. The board’s filter determines which issues appear during planning.
Select Create Sprint

Find the Create sprint button above the backlog. Select it to add a new future sprint.

Jira usually adds the sprint beneath the active sprint or above the remaining backlog. You may see a default name such as Sprint 2 or New sprint.

If the button does not appear, check your permissions and board type. You may need sprint management permission from a Jira administrator.
Rename the Sprint

Give the sprint a clear name that helps your team recognize its purpose. You can use a sequence, date range, theme, or release reference.

Examples include:
- Mobile Checkout — Sprint 12
- Platform Reliability — March 3 to March 14
- Release 4.2 — Iteration 2
Consistent naming makes reports easier to scan. Avoid names that only make sense to one person, such as Next Sprint or Big Fixes.
Move Issues Into the Sprint

Drag prioritized backlog issues into the new sprint, or use each issue’s action menu to assign it to the sprint.

Before moving work, review priority, estimates, dependencies, and acceptance criteria. A five-day task with unclear requirements can consume more capacity than several small, well-defined tasks.

A practical example is a team with 40 available story points. If the sprint contains 55 points, the team should either remove lower-priority work or discuss the capacity gap before starting.
Set the Sprint Dates and Goal

Select Start sprint when the planned work is ready. Jira opens a setup window where you can enter the sprint name, start date, end date, and sprint goal.

Write a goal that describes the outcome you want to achieve. “Complete tickets 104, 108, and 112” is less useful than “Enable customers to complete checkout without payment retries.”

Choose dates that match your team’s working rhythm. A two-week sprint should have a clear start and end date, including the time zone used by the team.
Start the Sprint and Confirm the Details

Select Start to activate the sprint. Jira then moves it into the active sprint area and makes it visible on the active board.

Review the sprint immediately after starting it. Confirm the goal, dates, issue count, and assigned work. Make sure the team can see the sprint and that no unrelated issue entered it accidentally.

The best part? You can still manage the sprint after it starts. However, frequent changes can weaken the original plan, so record why significant scope changes happen.

What to Check Before Starting a Sprint

Creating the sprint takes seconds. Preparing it well takes more attention. A useful sprint should connect a realistic workload with a measurable outcome.

Confirm Team Capacity

Consider holidays, on-call rotations, training, meetings, and planned leave. If three developers are unavailable for half the sprint, last month’s capacity is irrelevant.

For example, a team that usually completes 30 points may have capacity for only 18 points during a release week. Planning 30 points anyway creates pressure before the first task begins.

Review Dependencies

Check whether an issue depends on another team, approval, environment, or technical decision. A high-priority task can remain blocked if its prerequisite is missing.

Move dependency work earlier when possible. Otherwise, mark the relationship clearly and discuss it during sprint planning.

Clarify the Definition of Done

Your team should agree on what completion means. This may include code review, testing, security checks, documentation, and deployment readiness.

Without a shared completion standard, Jira may show many issues as finished while valuable work still waits for verification.

How to Add and Adjust Work After Sprint Creation

Plans change. A production incident may require urgent work, or a task may become larger after technical investigation. Jira lets you adjust sprint contents, but every change affects the team’s forecast.

Adding New Issues

Move a new issue into the active sprint only after discussing its impact. Record why the work entered and what the team will delay or remove in exchange.

For example, adding a critical security fix may be necessary. Removing a lower-priority enhancement keeps the workload visible and protects the sprint goal.

Removing Issues

Move unfinished or lower-value work back to the backlog when the team agrees it should wait. Keep the issue’s status, estimate, and priority accurate.

Removing work is not a failure. It can reveal that the original commitment exceeded available capacity or that priorities changed.

Changing Sprint Dates

Adjust dates carefully because reports and velocity calculations may reflect the revised timeline. If a sprint ends late, explain the reason in your retrospective notes.

Clear notes help you distinguish a one-time disruption from a recurring planning problem.

Common Jira Sprint Mistakes and Fixes

Most sprint problems come from a few repeatable habits. Recognizing them early can save your team several planning cycles.

Problem	Likely cause	Practical fix
The Create sprint button is missing	You lack permission or are using a non-Scrum board	Check board type and ask an administrator to review sprint permissions
Issues do not appear in the backlog	The board filter excludes them	Review the board’s filter and project settings
The sprint contains too much work	Capacity, dependencies, or estimates were not reviewed	Remove lower-priority issues and confirm realistic capacity
The sprint goal is vague	The team planned tasks without defining an outcome	Rewrite the goal around customer or product value
Completed work remains outside the sprint	Issues were assigned to another sprint or left in the backlog	Review issue assignments before starting and after closing the sprint

Let me explain: a sprint is more than a container for tickets. It is a short planning agreement. Jira records the agreement, while your team protects it through prioritization and communication.

When Jira Sprint Planning Becomes Difficult

Jira works well when your board, issue structure, and permissions match your process. Complexity grows when teams rely on many custom fields, plugins, boards, and manual status updates.

One team might use Jira for engineering, another tool for planning, and a separate knowledge system for decisions. That arrangement can scatter context across several places.

A simple comparison helps. If a sprint goal lives in one tool, acceptance details in another, and retrospective actions elsewhere, a new team member needs several searches to understand one outcome.

You might be wondering: should you change Jira immediately? Start by identifying the specific friction. If the problem is unclear ownership, improve responsibilities first. If the problem is fragmented planning and knowledge, evaluate a connected platform.

A Practical Jira Alternative: ONES.com

ONES.com combines project management and knowledge management in one platform, with ONES Project for project work and ONES Wiki for team knowledge. ONES Project can support Jira-compatible workflows while giving teams deployment choices that include cloud, on-premise, private cloud, and air-gapped environments.

ONES.com product screenshot

The platform is available separately through ONES Project and ONES Wiki. A free plan supports up to 30 seats, and the cloud and self-hosted versions provide feature parity.

When Sprint Setup Is Scattered: Use Custom Workflows and Fields

Teams often lose planning consistency when every board uses different statuses and fields. ONES Project supports custom workflows and custom fields, so you can define the information required before work enters a sprint.

The result is a more consistent planning routine. For example, a team can require acceptance criteria, risk level, and service owner before an issue becomes sprint-ready.

When Jira Plugins Multiply: Use Built-In Reporting

Several separate reporting add-ons can make sprint health harder to interpret. ONES Project includes built-in reporting for progress, workload, and delivery trends.

That gives you a clearer view of planned work, completed work, and scope movement without depending on as many connected extensions.

When Sprint Work Needs Better Control: Use Sprint Management

If creating, starting, and reviewing sprints requires repeated manual checks, ONES Project provides sprint management features for planning and tracking iterations.

Your team can organize work around sprint goals, monitor progress, and review outcomes in the same project environment.

When Repetitive Updates Consume Time: Use Automation

Manual transitions create delays and inconsistent records. ONES Project includes automation for recurring actions such as status changes, notifications, and assignment rules.

For example, moving an issue to a testing status can notify the quality team and update a related field automatically.

When Jira Compatibility Matters: Use Familiar Workflows

Switching platforms can feel risky when your team already understands Jira-style planning. ONES Project supports Jira-compatible workflows, helping teams preserve familiar sprint, backlog, and issue-management patterns.

This can reduce retraining while giving you room to simplify plugins and connected services.

When Deployment Restrictions Apply: Use Self-Hosted Options

Some organizations cannot place project information in a public cloud. ONES.com supports on-premise, private cloud, and air-gapped deployment options alongside cloud deployment.

That flexibility helps teams align project management with internal security, network, and compliance requirements.

When Project Context Gets Lost: Connect Project and Knowledge Work

Sprint decisions often become difficult to find when planning and team knowledge live apart. ONES.com brings project management and knowledge management together through ONES Project and ONES Wiki.

A team can connect a sprint outcome with technical explanations, operating procedures, and decision history in a more organized workspace.

When Teams Need AI Assistance: Use ONES Assistant

ONES.com includes AI support through ONES Assistant. It can help with knowledge discovery and project-related work, depending on the features enabled for your plan.

This is useful when a team wants assistance during everyday planning while keeping project and knowledge work within one platform.

Application Scenarios

Software product team: A development group can manage backlog items, sprint goals, custom fields, automation, and delivery reports in ONES Project. Technical guidance and team practices can live in ONES Wiki.

Restricted network team: An organization with air-gapped infrastructure can use a self-hosted ONES.com deployment while maintaining project workflows and knowledge access within its approved environment.

Growing engineering department: A team replacing several Jira plugins can review native workflow, reporting, sprint management, and automation capabilities before deciding which processes need customization.

Common Challenges When Creating Jira Sprints

The Wrong Board Is Open

Problem: You create a sprint while viewing a board connected to another team or project.

Solution: Confirm the board name, filter, project, and issue list before selecting Create sprint. Ask a board administrator to explain the filter when the issue list looks incomplete.

You Cannot Start the Sprint

Problem: The start control is missing or Jira rejects the action.

Solution: Check whether you have the permission to manage sprints. Also verify that the board is a Scrum board and that another active sprint is not causing a configuration conflict.

The Sprint Goal Does Not Guide Decisions

Problem: The goal lists activities without describing the outcome.

Solution: Rewrite it around a customer, product, or operational result. A goal such as “Reduce checkout payment failures” gives the team better direction than “Complete payment tickets.”

Unfinished Work Is Treated as a Surprise

Problem: The team reaches the final day with several incomplete issues and no plan for handling them.

Solution: Review progress during the sprint, identify risks early, and decide whether to remove scope, split work, or carry issues into the next sprint.

Reports Do Not Match Team Expectations

Problem: Velocity or sprint reports appear inconsistent.

Solution: Check when issues enter and leave the sprint, how estimates are recorded, and whether scope changes are common. Agree on one estimation method and use it consistently.

FAQs About Creating a Jira Sprint

Can I create a sprint without starting it?

Yes. You can create a future sprint, rename it, add issues, and prepare the goal before activating it. This gives your team time to refine priorities and confirm capacity. Select Start sprint only when planning is complete and the dates are ready.

Why cannot I see the Create sprint button in Jira?

The most common reasons are missing sprint permissions, a non-Scrum board, or a board configuration that limits the available actions. Confirm that you are viewing the correct Scrum backlog. If the control remains missing, ask a Jira administrator to review your project and board permissions.

Can I add issues to an active sprint?

Yes, Jira generally allows you to move issues into an active sprint. Discuss the change with your team first because adding work affects the original commitment. In many cases, removing an item of similar effort keeps the workload realistic and makes the scope change easier to explain.

What happens to unfinished issues when a sprint ends?

When you complete a sprint, Jira usually gives you options for unfinished issues. You can move them to the next sprint or return them to the backlog. Review each issue rather than carrying everything forward automatically. Some work may need reprioritization, resizing, or clarification.

How long should a Jira sprint last?

Many teams use one- or two-week sprints, though the best length depends on release cycles, work size, and feedback speed. Choose a duration the team can repeat consistently. Shorter sprints provide faster feedback, while longer sprints may suit work requiring extended testing or coordination.

Conclusion

Creating a new sprint in Jira involves seven practical actions: open the right Scrum board, enter the backlog, create the sprint, rename it, add prioritized issues, set the goal and dates, then start and verify it.

The real value comes from the preparation around those clicks. Check capacity, clarify completion standards, review dependencies, and protect the sprint goal when new work appears.

But here’s the truth: a sprint tool cannot solve unclear priorities by itself. If Jira becomes difficult because planning, reporting, automation, and team knowledge are scattered, ONES.com offers a connected alternative through ONES Project and ONES Wiki.

Start with one improvement in your next sprint. Make the goal clearer, reduce excess scope, or review the board before planning. Small changes can make each iteration easier to understand and more predictable.