Lock a Jira field so it stays read-only until a change is approved

What people mean by "lock a field"

The same question shows up on Atlassian Community again and again: "Is it possible to lock individual fields or restrict access to fields to a user or user group?" The value must stay put, but it cannot be frozen forever — budgets get revised and contracts get amended. A lock needs a key.

Read-only vs. locked

Two ways to lock with FieldLock

Locked — the change is refused

FieldLock adds its own numeric field. Jira rejects any outside change to it immediately, so there is no window in which a wrong value is visible. The field stays searchable in JQL. Existing values are entered in the app once, one issue at a time — there is no bulk import.

Guarded — the change is undone

Keeps your existing custom field — a number or a single-line text field, and text works in this mode only — and adopts the value already in it, so there is no migration. While a field has no approved value, the first value it gets — even from an edit — is adopted. An outside change goes through and FieldLock restores the approved value, usually within a minute or two. Use it as the no-migration way in; if the change must be impossible rather than undone, use Locked.

Unlocking: how a value changes

1. Someone opens the FieldLock panel on the issue, proposes a value and gives a reason.
2. Project admins — or a project role you pick — approve or reject.
3. On approval the app writes the value; both outcomes go into the log with account, time and reason.
4. Optionally, the author of a request cannot approve it.
5. Approvers can also set a value directly in the panel; that change is logged like any other.

What a lock does not cover

• Visibility. Locked values are still visible to anyone who can see the issue.
• Field types. Locked uses its own numeric field and has no text option. Guarded protects a custom field holding a number or single-line text (text up to 255 characters, compared exactly as written) — not dates, not multi-line text, and not built-in Jira fields such as Due date.
• Issue creation. The REST API or CSV import can put a value in at creation. In Locked mode FieldLock clears unapproved values shortly after, usually within a minute or two; in Guarded mode, while the field has no approved value, the first value it gets — at creation or from an edit — becomes the starting value.
• Status-based locking. The lock is per project, not per workflow status.