How to create an issue in Linear on Mac: shortcuts, templates and drafts

Linear gives you a few ways into the new issue window, and they all open the same kind of form. The fastest is the C key. The most visible is the Create new issue icon in the upper-left of the app. Once you know both, you rarely need anything else.

Which way into the new issue window to use

Use C when an idea pops up and you are working. Use the icon while you are still learning the app. Use Option+C when the issue matches a template your team already uses.

The browser route works if you keep Linear in a tab. Type linear.new in the address bar while you are signed in. Linear opens the new issue form.

What the new issue form asks for

Linear's guide says every issue must belong to exactly one team. Title and Status are the required fields in the creation flow. Those three are the minimum, so you can save an issue quickly and add detail later.

Start with the team. It decides where the issue lives, and it controls which templates you can see. Pick the team that owns the work. If two teams could own it, pick the one that will fix it.

Write a title a teammate can understand without opening the issue. 'Export button does nothing for PDF files' is useful. 'Bug' is not. Put the symptom first, in one clear sentence.

Status shows where the issue sits in your team's flow. Pick the status that matches what is true today. You can change properties after you save. Edits made in the first 3 minutes count as part of creation.

Linear issue template on Mac: start with Option+C

If your team files the same kind of issue often, use a template. Press Option+C to open the template list. You can also click Template next to the team name in the new issue window, then choose one.

Templates follow the team. Team templates show only for their own team. Parent-team templates also appear for sub-teams. When you create a sub-issue, Linear only offers templates that have no sub-issues of their own.

Here is a worked example. Say your team has a bug report template with fields for steps to reproduce and the expected result. You press Option+C, pick that template, type a title, and press ⌘Enter. Everyone on the team gets the same structure, and you type less.

A template only saves time when it matches the work. If you never fill in a field, ask the person who maintains the template to remove it.

Save, save and open, or save and create another

A March 10, 2021 changelog entry lists three save shortcuts for the new issue modal. ⌘Enter saves the issue. ⌘⌥Enter saves it and opens it. ⌘⇧Enter saves it and gives you a fresh form for the next one.

That entry is from 2021. Linear's March 12, 2026 UI refresh did not describe changes to the create issue modal. The shortcuts probably still work, but I could not confirm that. Test each one once before you rely on it.

⌘⇧Enter suits batch filing. Say you test a release and find several bugs in a row. Fill in the first one, press ⌘⇧Enter, and repeat. You stay on the keyboard from the first bug to the last.

Use ⌘⌥Enter when you want to keep working on an issue right after filing it. The issue opens, so you can add the description without searching the list.

Linear drafts on Mac: what Esc and closing the window do

Press Esc, or click the close button in the new issue window, and Linear asks whether to save the issue as a draft. Choose save if the issue still matters. Decline if it does not.

Saved drafts appear on the Drafts page in the sidebar. Linear deletes them automatically after 6 months. A draft is a holding area, not a backlog, so turn it into a real issue once the work is real.

Navigating away without saving is a different case. Linear keeps a local-only draft on this Mac. Logging out, restarting the app, or resetting clears that draft. Save before you do any of those.

Create an issue from selected text in Linear

Highlight a sentence in a Linear document, then open the formatting bar and choose Create issue from selection. The highlighted text becomes the start of the new issue.

This helps in the middle of a discussion. A teammate writes that sync breaks on the second login. You highlight that line, create the issue, and skip retyping the report.

Linear on Mac: desktop app, browser and updates

Linear's desktop app runs on macOS Intel and macOS Apple Silicon. Linear's docs do not give a minimum macOS version, so I could not confirm one for your Mac.

The desktop app updates itself in the background. An update does nothing until you quit and reopen the app. Relaunch once a week or after a prompt, so you do not run an old build.

The desktop app has a few advantages over a browser tab. It sends macOS notifications and Dock alerts. It has fewer clashes with browser shortcuts, and it gives you tabs inside the app.

If you prefer a browser, the web app supports the three most recent versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Linear links can also open in the desktop app through a linear:// prefix. In Brave, turn off Shields for linear.app first.

Plan limits that can stop you from filing

Linear's pricing page lists the Free plan with 2 teams, 250 issues and 10MB file uploads. If you reach 250 issues on that plan, plan an upgrade before you hit the limit. Check the live pricing page before you rely on these numbers.

Basic costs $10 per user per month billed yearly, and includes 5 teams and unlimited issues. Business costs $16 per user per month billed yearly and includes unlimited teams. Enterprise is custom and billed annually only.

Mistakes people make when filing on a Mac

• Looking for a File menu entry. Linear's docs do not describe a Mac menu bar item for new issues, so this guide gives none. Use C, the icon or Option+C.
• Pressing C while typing. C is a letter, so it lands in whatever field has focus. Click outside the text box, then press C.
• Skipping the team. An issue must belong to exactly one team, so pick one before you save.
• Using a template from another team. Team templates show only for their own team, so the one you want may be missing.
• Closing the window and losing the thought. Press Esc, then choose to save the draft.
• Writing a vague title like 'Broken'. A vague title is hard to find later and hard to act on.

After you save: what to check next

Open the issue and read it once as the person who will fix it. Check the title, team and status. Edits in the first 3 minutes count as part of creation, and they do not show in the activity log.

Then add the detail that is not obvious. Steps to reproduce, the device, and a link to the conversation help most. Attach a screenshot if it helps, but remember the Free plan's 10MB file upload limit.

The command bar is a fast way to reach other actions. Press ⌘K and type the action name. Linear's docs list Convert into recurring issue and Copy pre-filled create issue URL to clipboard as examples.

Worked example: one bug from start to finish

Say a Mac build crashes when you export a file. You open Linear, click an empty part of the window, and press C. You pick the team that owns exports. You type 'App crashes when exporting a PDF from Settings' as the title. You set the status and press ⌘⌥Enter to save and open the issue, so you can add the steps while the details are fresh.

If you find a second bug in the same session, press ⌘⇧Enter instead of ⌘⌥Enter. You get a clean form for the next report without reaching for the mouse.

What this guide could not confirm

I checked Linear's own docs and changelog. I could not find a Mac menu bar path for creating issues, so no menu path appears in this guide. Linear's full keyboard shortcut page returned an error, so only the shortcuts named in the docs and changelog are listed.

Shortcuts can change with updates. If a key does nothing, open the command bar with ⌘K and search for the action. Then check Linear's changelog for recent changes to the create issue window.