Manage columns in a work item list in Azure Boards

TFS 2018

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2022

Each column corresponds to a work item field. You can add and remove columns within work item lists to show the fields of interest to you. Or, you can drag a column to a new position. Your settings persist for each page you customize and are only valid for your views.

Specifically, you can do the following actions from the following list views:

Action

Backlogs

Sprint backlogs

Queries

Work items

Add or remove a column field

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sort on a column

No

No

Yes

Yes

Tip

Unlike a query result, you can't sort a backlog by a column. However, you can use the Create Query link on each backlog to create a query that you can sort on any field column you choose from the Sorting tab of the Column options dialog. While you may be able to add a field to sort on, not all fields are supported. For example, selection of the Parent, History, Description, or other rich-text field results in the display of an error message as you can't sort on these fields.

You can add most fields listed in the Work item field index. All fields defined within the project collection or organization are available for selection, even those fields that aren't used for your particular project.

About persistence of column options

Once you set the column options for a specific view, your settings persist until you change them. The following notes apply to specific views.

• Column options you set for a backlog apply only to the active team and backlog. Options set for the product backlog differ from those options you set for a portfolio backlog.
• Column options you set for a Sprint backlog persist for all sprints you select until you change them.
• Column options you set for a query persist when you save the query. For Shared queries, your settings can get overwritten when someone else saves different column option settings.

Note

You can't set column options for other members of your team. For projects that use the On-premises XML process model, you can set the default column options for product and portfolio backlogs. To learn how, see Process configuration XML element reference.

Open the Column options dialog

Start by opening the Column Options dialog. If you don't see the option, choose the … and choose from the options provided.

Add or remove columns

Browser

In the Column options dialog, choose Add a column to add a field that isn't shown. To change the order of the fields, drag-and-drop the field where you want it within the set of selected fields. And, to remove a field, choose the .

Note

The following dialog is available from TFS 2018.2 and later versions.

Visual Studio

Important

We strongly recommend that everyone use the default view instead of this legacy view. It is designed for you to quickly access a list of work items based on your assignment, following, mentioned, or recent updates. The legacy view is no longer being enhanced and we expect to remove it in a future release of Visual Studio.

You can only change column options for queries in Visual Studio. To open, choose Column Options.

Add or remove fields to add or remove columns

In the Column Options dialog, to add a field, choose the field from Available columns and choose the > Add selected columns. To add multiple fields, use SHIFT+click to select the fields. Fields are added to the bottom of the Selected columns area.

To change the field order, choose the field and choose the up or down arrows.

Change the column's sort order

To change the fields use to sort the query results, choose the Sorting tab. Add or remove a column field same as before. Use the up and down arrows to specify the order of fields to use to sort. Choose the up or down arrows to choose whether it sorts in ascending or descending order. To reverse the sort order for a field, select it and then choose Sort ascending or Sort descending.

Sort on a column

You can sort query results. From the Column options dialog, choose Sorting. Add or remove a column field and drag and drop it into the order you want. Choose the up or down arrows to choose whether it sorts in ascending or descending order.

Use keyboard shortcuts to change the column order, column width, or sort options

You can change the column order, column size, or sort options by using the following keyboard commands:

• To change the column order, choose the field and drag it to a new location
• To resize a column, choose the column divider to the right of the field and drag to a new location
• For query results:
  • Add the field as a column to sort by that field
  • To sort by a column, hold down the SHIFT key and select on the field
  • To reverse the sort order, SHIFT+click on the field
  • To sort by multiple columns, SHIFT+click on each column in the order you want to sort

For other keyboard shortcuts, enter ? to display available shortcuts based on the page you're on.

Related articles

• Interactively filter backlogs, boards, queries, and plans
• Work item field index
• Create managed queries