I’m having trouble with how Jira handles the ESC key when editing fields. Right now when I edit text fields on an issue page and hit ESC, it throws away all my changes. But when I edit comments, ESC doesn’t cancel the changes. This is really inconsistent and annoying.
What I want is for ESC to save my changes and exit edit mode, just like clicking somewhere else does. This would make much more sense for my workflow.
I know other people have this same issue because I’ve seen it discussed before. Is there a way to change how Jira processes keyboard events? Maybe override the default field behavior somehow? I tried browser extensions but they don’t work since the content gets wiped out before they can catch it.
Looking for any kind of solution here, whether it’s a setting I missed or some custom code I can add.
Hit this same issue when we moved to Jira Cloud last year. That ESC behavior was driving everyone nuts. I fixed it with a userscript that intercepts Jira’s field events. You capture the keydown event before Jira gets it, then trigger save instead. Just check the CSS classes Jira adds to active fields - that’s how you know if you’re editing or just viewing. I mapped ESC to save and Shift+ESC to cancel. Works on all field types, including custom ones. Script’s held up through Jira updates since it targets DOM patterns instead of their APIs.
Nope, there’s no built-in setting to change how ESC works when editing fields in Jira. That inconsistency between regular fields and comments? It’s a known UI issue that’s been around for ages across different Jira versions. Your best shot is writing a custom JavaScript solution using something like Tampermonkey or Greasemonkey. You’d intercept the ESC keydown event and make it save instead of cancel. The tricky part is figuring out Jira’s specific DOM elements and event handlers - they’re different for each field type and might break when Jira updates. Some companies solve this with custom Jira apps or direct instance modifications, but you’ll need admin access for that.
totally get it! that esc key issue is so frustrating! have you tried any browser extensions that might help with remapping keys? also, double check if your jira settings have any new options for customizing keyboard shortcuts. hope you find a fix!