How to Make Jira Cloud Comments Private by Default (Default Comment Visibility, 2026)
Short answer: Jira Cloud can't make comments private by default. Every new comment is "Viewable by All Users" unless you pick a role or group from the lock icon. Atlassian's feature request JRACLOUD-9091 ("Default value for Comment Viewable By") has ~990 votes and is marked as having no plans. You can restrict comments one at a time, fix them afterward with Automation or the REST API, use JSM internal notes, or install an app that applies a default for you.
1. Restrict a single comment (native)
In a company-managed project, write your comment, click the lock icon next to Save, and choose a project role or group. Only members of that role or group can see it.
- If a role is missing from the list, you aren't in it. If groups are missing, an admin can set comment visibility to "Groups & Project Roles" in Jira's general configuration.
- Team-managed projects have no lock icon. Atlassian's KB workaround is the REST API (below), tracked as JRACLOUD-83171.
2. Jira Automation (restricts comments after they're posted)
Trigger: Work item commented → condition (e.g. the project, or the author's group) → action: re-post the comment with Comment visibility set and delete the original, as in Atlassian's KB "Change the comment visibility to group/project role".
Caveats: the rule actor must be a real user in that role (the "Automation for Jira" user can't be added to roles, and Atlassian treats this as expected behaviour; see JSWCLOUD-22454). Notifications fire before the fix. Re-posting changes the author and timestamp. It also uses up Automation run quota.
3. REST API (for integrations and scripts)
POST /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/comment with "visibility": {"type": "role", "value": "Developers"} (or "type": "group"). To change an existing comment, use PUT /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/comment/{id} with the same object. Don't send identifier and value together, because that returns a 400. For JSM internal notes, set the sd.public.comment property to {"internal": true}.
4. Jira Service Management internal notes
If customers are the audience, JSM separates "Reply to customer" from "Add internal note" natively. It's the cleanest fix if you can move the work into a service project, but it changes licensing and workflow.
5. Issue security levels
These restrict who can see the whole issue, not individual comments. They're useful when entire tickets are sensitive, but useless for mixing internal and external comments on the same issue.
6. Apps
- Loomwise Private Comments (ours, free early version; disclosure: Loomwise wrote this guide). Works in company-managed and team-managed projects with no setup: new comments default to the project's Administrators role (the app adds its own user to that role so Jira allows the restriction), and admins can change the default per site or per project, or turn it off. New comments without a visibility setting are restricted automatically, usually within a minute (it can take a few minutes at peak times). Its Private comment panel makes a comment private from the moment it's posted. It runs on Forge, and needs no browser extension. Limitation: until then, comments from the standard comment box stay public, and @mentioned users may get the email before the restriction applies. Use the Private comment panel for sensitive notes. Install · Details
- Comment Security Default (Redmoon, Marketplace). Sets the default in the editor itself but needs a Chrome extension for each user.
- Comment Defaults for Jira (bobob). Fixes comments after posting.
- ScriptRunner Behaviours can preselect visibility, but needs a ScriptRunner licence and scripting.
Which should you use?
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Occasional sensitive comment | Lock icon |
| Customers in a support workflow | JSM internal notes |
| Same project for internal and external users, can't trust people to remember | A default-visibility app |
| Integration posting comments | REST API visibility |
FAQ
Can I set default comment visibility in Jira Cloud? Not natively. Vote on JRACLOUD-9091, or use an app.
Can Automation set the default? No. It can only change a comment after it's posted.
Who can see a restricted comment? Only members of the selected role or group (Jira admins aren't automatically included).
Does it work in team-managed projects? Not natively, since team-managed projects have no lock icon. Loomwise Private Comments does support them.
Not affiliated with Atlassian. Last checked October 2026; Jira features change, so verify in your site. Contact: hello@loomwise.app