Search for a Markdown-to-Jira converter and you will find plenty. Most of them produce wiki markup, and if you are on Jira Cloud, wiki markup is not what you need. This is a very common wasted hour.
h1., {code}). Ordinary converters are correct here: convert,
paste, done.If a converter's output looks like h2. Heading and you are on Cloud, that
output will not help you.
Render your Markdown to HTML and copy the rendered result rather than any markup source. The editor reads rich text off the clipboard, so most structure survives. Check tables and code blocks: see tables and code blocks.
If you are automating (importing runbooks, generating release notes) convert Markdown to ADF and send that through the REST API. This is the reliable path for bulk work, and the one worth building if the volume justifies it.
The v3 REST API takes ADF for rich text fields. The older v2 API's wiki markup handling is a Server-era concept and is not the Cloud path.
If this is a daily habit rather than a one-off migration, converting by hand every time is the wrong shape of solution. An editor panel that accepts Markdown and writes ADF removes the step entirely. That is what our app does: details in the box below.
The request for a first-party plain Markdown editor is JRACLOUD-72631: filed July 2019, 1,742 votes, 509 watchers, status Future Consideration as of 18 August 2026. Until that changes, conversion is something you arrange yourself.
These notes are written by sellerkit. We build a Markdown editor app for Jira (below), which is why we had to work all of this out in the first place.
Everything above this box works whether or not you install anything. Where a workaround is enough, we say so.