How to Restrict a Jira Cloud Comment to a Group or Project Role

Short answer: In a company-managed project, type your comment, click the lock icon (next to Save) and pick a project role or group. Only members of that role or group can see the comment. If groups don't appear, a Jira admin has to allow them: Settings > System > General configuration > Edit settings > Comment visibility = Groups & Project Roles. You can only pick roles and groups you belong to, and team-managed projects have no lock icon at all.

1. Restrict a comment (company-managed)

Open the issue and click Add a comment.
Write the comment, then click the lock icon (it says Viewable by All Users by default).
Choose a project role (for example Administrators or Developers) or a group.
Save. The comment shows a lock label with the role or group name.

To restrict an existing comment, click Edit on it and change the lock setting. People who already got the notification email have still seen the text.

2. Enable groups in the lock menu

By default many sites show project roles only. A Jira admin can change it under Settings (gear) > System > General configuration > Edit settings, then set Comment visibility to Groups & Project Roles. Roles are usually the better choice: they're per project, so project admins can manage membership without site-admin rights.

3. "The role or group I want isn't in the list"

You aren't a member. Jira only lists roles and groups you belong to, so you can't hide a comment from yourself by mistake. Ask a project admin to add you to the role.
Groups are disabled (see step 2).
Team-managed project. There is no lock icon; see restricting comments in team-managed projects (JRACLOUD-83171).
Very large group lists can be hard to scan; JRACLOUD-94161 asks to limit which groups appear.

4. Gotchas worth knowing

No per-user restriction. You can restrict to a role or group, not to named people (JRACLOUD-11699).
Deleting a role or group used for restrictions can leave those comments inaccessible to almost everyone (JRACLOUD-82409). Rename or empty it instead.
No bulk change. Comment visibility can't be bulk-edited in the UI (JRACLOUD-85535); use the REST API: PUT /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/comment/{id} with "visibility": {"type": "role", "value": "Developers"}.
Restriction is per comment. Each new comment starts as Viewable by All Users. Jira Cloud has no "private by default" setting (JRACLOUD-9091).
Automation copies leak. Rules that copy {{comment.body}} into a field, email or Slack ignore the restriction. Check any rule that uses comment text.

5. Make restriction the default

If your team keeps forgetting the lock icon, an app can apply the restriction for you.

Loomwise Private Comments restricts new comments to a project role (Administrators by default, changeable per site or per project) in company-managed and team-managed projects. Free during the early version, runs on Atlassian Forge, no browser extension.

See Private Comments All comment-privacy workarounds

Honest limit: comments typed in the standard comment box are restricted automatically, usually within a minute, so @mentioned users and watchers may get the email first. For sensitive notes, use the app's Private comment panel, which posts the comment already restricted.

FAQ

Can I restrict a Jira comment to specific users? No. Jira Cloud restricts comments to a project role or a group. JRACLOUD-11699 requests per-user visibility.

Why can't I see groups in the comment lock menu? A Jira admin must set Comment visibility to "Groups & Project Roles" in System > General configuration, and you must be a member of the group.

Do restricted comments show in CSV export or the API? Only to users who can see them. Exports and API calls run with the permissions of the person making them.

Can watchers outside the role see a restricted comment? No. Users outside the role or group don't see the comment and shouldn't get its text by email.

Related guides

Disclosure: Loomwise makes the apps mentioned in the cards above and wrote this guide. Not affiliated with Atlassian. Vote counts and ticket statuses are from jira.atlassian.com as of October 2026. Last checked October 2026; Jira menus and features change, so verify in your site. Contact: hello@loomwise.app