Use work item templates

Azure DevOps assigns a unique GUID identifier to each template captured through the web portal. Use the following procedure to capture a work item as a template through the web portal and access a link for the saved template:

1. From the web portal, open a work item to use as the basis for a template.

2. At the right, select More actions > Templates > Capture:

   

3. In the Capture Template dialog, configure the required fields, and any optional fields:

   • Team: (Required) Use the dropdown list to select an existing team to associate with the captured template.

   • Name: (Required) Enter a name for the template.

   • Fields: Use the Add action to add fields, the Delete action to remove fields, and adjust any specific field Value as needed.

   • Notes: Select inside the box to add more information about the template. When you select inside the box, the editing tools display. When you create a new work item from the captured template, your information is added as the first entry in the Discussion thread.

   

4. Select Save, and then select Copy link to capture the URL for the template.

   Use the URL whenever you want to add a work item of the same type with predefined values. Here are some examples:

   • Create a work item based on the captured template by pasting the URL link in a browser window.
   • Share the URL with others for their own use when adding work items.
   • Add the URL as a hyperlink to a project wiki.
   • Add the URL to a Markdown widget on a team dashboard.

To create work items from templates in Visual Studio or Team Explorer, you can use a work item template file (.wt) or similar file. These files are accessible from the Work Items page.

1. Sign in to Visual Studio.

2. Open or run a query that lists the work item whose fields you want to capture as a template.

3. Right-click the work item, and select Capture Template:

   

4. In the Capture Template dialog, configure the required fields, and optional fields as desired:

   • Name: (Required) Enter a name for the template.

   • Fields: (Required) In the Includes column, select the checkbox for any field to include in the template. Adjust any specific field Value as needed. If you want to include all fields, use the Select All option.

   

5. Select Save. The template displays in the Work Item Templates section in the Team Explorer pane, under the Templates root node.

Use the following procedure to access work item templates through the web portal:

1. From the web portal, open Project settings.

2. In the Boards section, select Team configuration. If you need to switch to a different team, use the Team selector in the breadcrumb trail for the page.

3. In the Boards page, select the Templates section:

   

4. Select a work item type, such as Bug, Feature, or Test Case to view or add templates for that type:

   

Create a work item template

Use the following procedure to create a work item template through the web portal:

1. In the work item type page, select New template to create a template from scratch:

   

2. In the New Template dialog, enter a Name for the template (required) and optionally add fields with any necessary values.

3. Select Save. The Copy link option becomes available. You can use this URL to create work items based on the template.

Edit, delete, copy link, or create copy

After you have a saved template, you can edit or delete the template, create a sharable link to the template, or create a copy of the template.

From the work item type page, select More actions for an existing template and then select a menu option:

• Edit: To update the template, select Edit, make your changes, and select Save.

• Delete: To remove the template, select Delete. In the confirmation dialog, select Delete. After you delete a template, you can't recover it.

• Copy link: To get a copy of the URL for the template, select Copy link. Use the URL whenever you want to add a work item of the same type with predefined values. You can save the URL as a text file, add it to a web page as a hyperlink, copy the link to a shared network, or send it to your team via email. Also, consider adding a link to the team dashboard.

• Create copy: To make a copy of the template, select Create copy. Enter a name for the template copy, and optionally add, remove, and update fields. Select Save when you're done.

You can use Visual Studio with Power Tools to manage your own work item templates. For each work item type, you can see your defined templates and perform actions like Add, Edit, Delete, and Copy. Share your templates with others by sending them the template URL or save the template as a work item template (.wt) file.

• Manage Work Item Templates from the Team Explorer pane. The root Templates node represents the parent for all of your templates:

  

  You can create a directory structure under the root node by adding folders.

  • Right-click the Templates node or another folder and select New Folder.

  • You can also drag and drop templates into folders.

• Cut, Copy, Paste, Rename, and Delete actions: Use these actions on templates and folders with the right-click context menu.

• To edit multiple templates, use Shift + Select to choose a range of items. You can use Ctrl + Select to add individual templates to the selected group. Use the right-click context menu on one of the selected items and select the action to apply. The action affects all selected items.

Define a template

Use the following procedure to define a work item template in Visual Studio and Team Explorer:

1. In the Team Explorer pane, right-click Templates and select New template to create a template from scratch.

2. In the Select Work Item Type dialog, use the dropdown list and select the Work Item Type to use for the new template, and select OK:

   

3. In the Save Work Item Template As dialog, enter a Name for template, choose where to locate the template (under Templates or in a file), and then select Save:

   

4. After you save the template, you can use the Copy link option to capture the URL for the template. Use the URL to create work items based on the template.

Edit, use, copy, or delete a template

You can perform several other actions on a work item template in Visual Studio and Team Explorer via the right-click context menu.

• Edit, Copy, Delete, and more: In the Team Explorer pane Work Item Templates section, right-click the work item template and select the desired action:

  

• Set default templates: To make frequently used templates more accessible, you can set a default template for each work item type. Right-click a template and select Set As Default. In the Team Explorer pane, a checkmark appears on the work item template icon to identify the template as a default.

Set your template save location

You can change the primary save location for templates. Use the Configure action in the Team Explorer pane Work Item Templates section. Or, select Tools > Options > Microsoft Team Foundation Server > Work Item Templates.

In the dialog, set your template store path. Place your templates in a network location so you can share them with your team.

In the web portal, you can apply a template within an open work item or to selected work items.

Apply a template within a work item

Use the following procedure to apply a template to a new or existing work item:

1. Open a new work item or an existing work item that you want to update by using the fields defined within a template.

2. Select More actions > Templates, and then select the name of a predefined template:

   

   Note

   The Templates list shows templates defined for teams of which you're a member. If the list is empty, there might not be any templates for the work item type. Refresh your browser to discover the latest available templates.

3. Select Save to apply the selected template. Any field changes are noted in the work item History field.

Apply a template to several work items

Use the following procedure to apply a template to selected work items for a bulk update:

1. Select the work items from the Backlog or a Queries results list. All work items you select must be of the same work item type, such as Bug or Feature.

2. Select More actions > Templates for one of the selected work items, and select the template to apply.

   

The field changes are automatically applied and the work items saved. Any field changes are noted in the work item History field. For more information about bulk updates, see Bulk modify work items.

Use the following procedure to apply a template to new or existing work items inVisual Studio:

1. Open or run a query that lists one or more work items with fields that you want to capture.

2. Select the work items to use for the action. All selected work items must have the same work item type.

3. Right-click one of the selected work items and select Apply Template:

   

4. In the Select the Template to Apply dialog, select the template to apply, and select OK:

   

5. Select Save Results to save the work item: