How to assign an issue in Linear on Mac: assignee field, shortcuts and bulk assignment

Assigning an issue tells your team who owns the work. In Linear, the assignee is the one person or agent responsible for moving the issue forward. The steps below cover the Linear desktop app for Mac and the web app. The assignment steps are the same in both, so you can follow along in either one.

Before you assign: who can own an issue

Linear limits who can be assigned, and the rule depends on the team. Public team issues can go to any workspace member. Private team issues can go only to people who belong to that private team. If a name is missing from the list, the team is usually the reason.

Suspended users cannot be assigned at all. Agents follow a different rule. An agent must have access to the issue's team before you can assign it. Team membership for an agent is set when the agent integration is added, and an admin can change it later.

Assign an issue with the mouse in the Assignee field

The mouse route is the one most people learn first. It works on a single issue, and you see the new owner in the sidebar before you move on. Start in the issue view, then try the faster card route once the steps feel familiar.

The Assignee field lives in the properties sidebar. Click the field, type part of a teammate's name, and pick the match from the list. Linear lets you assign by part of a name and lists every match, so a short search can return several people. Read the names before you confirm. If your team has two people with the same first name, check the avatar.

On a board or list card, you do not need to open the issue. Click the assignee avatar on the card and choose a name. This is quicker when you sort a long backlog, because the avatar shows who owns each card at a glance.

Assign with keyboard shortcuts on Mac

Keyboard shortcuts save the most time when you triage. Press A while you view an issue, or while your pointer hovers over one. The assignment menu opens, and you pick the teammate from it.

Press I to assign the issue to yourself. It works while you view an issue, or while the pointer hovers over a row in list view. It is the fastest way to claim work you plan to start today. Use A when the work belongs to someone else.

If you forget a letter shortcut, use the command menu. Press ⌘K, type Assign to, and choose the entry. The command menu guide covers how to find other actions the same way.

Worked example: triaging new bugs in list view

Say a QA tester files a batch of new bugs in one team, and you lead the engineering work. You want each bug to have an owner before the team meets. Start in list view so every bug shows on one screen.

Hover over the first bug and press A. Pick the frontend engineer from the menu. Move the pointer to the next bug and repeat. For a bug you plan to fix yourself, hover over it and press I. This is quicker than opening every issue.

When several bugs belong to one person, select them with X on each row. Then right-click and update the assignee in the bulk action bar. Look at the selection before you confirm. A stray X on the wrong row adds that bug to the change.

Remove an assignee or hand work to an agent

To clear the owner, press A to open the assignment menu and choose No assignee. The issue then has no owner. If the owner is an agent, choose No agent instead. The same menu lets you hand the issue to a person.

Handoffs are common. When someone moves to another project, reassign their open issues in the same Assignee field. Leave a short note in the issue so the new owner knows where the work stands.

Assign many issues at once in bulk

Bulk assignment saves time when you reorganize a board. Switch to list or board view. Hover over an issue and press X to select it. Repeat for each issue you need. Then right-click one of the selected issues and update the assignee from the bulk action bar.

Look at the selection before you change anything. Bulk changes apply to every selected issue at once, so a mistake spreads quickly. If you chose the wrong rows, select them again and repeat the change.

Shortcuts to pair with assignment

• ⌘ Shift Enter creates another issue with the same assignee, so a batch of new work stays with one owner.
• ⌘ Option . opens the issue in your last-used coding tool. Terminal-based coding tools need the desktop app on macOS.
• W then O opens the Work on issue menu.
• ⌘K opens the command menu, where Assign to is one search away.

Learn A and I first. Add the others when assignment feels automatic. Learning every shortcut at once tends to slow people down, so add the rest one at a time.

Desktop app or web app: does the assignment change?

No, the assignment steps match across both. Linear's docs describe the same Assignee field and the same keys. The desktop app for Mac adds system notifications, unread alerts on the Dock, and tabs. It also has fewer clashes with browser shortcuts.

Browser shortcuts matter most for A and I. A browser can claim a key before Linear sees it, which makes the key seem broken. The desktop app avoids many of these clashes, so it is the better choice for heavy triage. The desktop app supports both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

The desktop app updates in the background. If a shortcut stops working after an update, quit Linear and open it again. Keep this in mind before you assume the keys are broken.

Plan limits and guest accounts that affect assignment

Your plan sets how many teams and issues you can work with. Linear's Free plan is $0 and includes unlimited members, 2 teams, and 250 issues. Basic is $10 per user per month, billed yearly, with 5 teams and unlimited issues.

Guest accounts are the catch. They are not included on Free or Basic. Business is $16 per user per month, billed yearly, with unlimited teams, and it includes guest accounts. If an outside contractor needs an issue, check the guest rules before you plan the handoff.

These prices come from Linear's pricing page as of this writing. Check the live page before you buy, because plans and regional prices can change.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Pressing A while typing in a title or description. Finish typing, click outside the field, then press the key.
• Assuming every teammate can own a private team issue. Only members of that private team can be assigned.
• Looking for a suspended user. Suspended users cannot be assigned at all.
• Assigning an agent to a team it cannot access. Check the agent's team access first.
• Running a bulk change with the wrong rows selected. Look at the selection before you change the assignee.

Most failed assignments come down to team access or account status. If a name is missing or an agent will not take the issue, check the team before anything else.

What to do after you assign

Once the owner is set, the next step is usually a status change. Triage often runs in board view. Filter the list so you only see issues that still need an owner. The filter guide shows how to build that view.

If you still need to create issues, the create an issue guide covers drafts and shortcuts. For selecting rows, read the select multiple issues guide.