Defect Life Cycle in Software Testing: 7 States with Diagram & Examples

Last updated: July 11, 2026 · 9 min read

Every defect a QA finds travels a predictable path from discovery to closure. This guide walks through all seven canonical states, the transitions between them, and the bug-report template that makes triage painless. Complements our Manual Testing Complete Guide.

1. New — QA logs the defect. Not yet triaged.
2. Assigned — Test Lead or PM assigns it to a developer.
3. Open — Dev accepts and starts investigating.
4. Fixed — Dev commits a fix and moves the ticket forward.
5. Retest — QA picks it up on the new build for verification.
6. Verified — Fix confirmed; defect no longer reproduces.
7. Closed — Defect closed and archived. Included in test summary.

New → Assigned → Open → Fixed → Retest → Verified → Closed
                    │        │        │
                    ▼        ▼        ▼
                 Deferred  Rejected  Reopen → Assigned

• Rejected — Dev believes it's not a defect (wrong env, misread spec).
• Duplicate — Same issue already logged.
• Deferred — Valid defect, but fixing is postponed to a later release.
• Not Reproducible — Dev cannot reproduce; needs more info.
• Reopen — Retest failed; ball goes back to dev.

QA finds that the checkout button is disabled when a coupon is applied.

1. QA logs bug in Jira → New.
2. Triage meeting assigns it to Priya → Assigned.
3. Priya starts debugging → Open.
4. She fixes the coupon-validation regex → Fixed.
5. Build deployed to QA env; QA re-runs the test → Retest.
6. Coupon works, checkout enables → Verified.
7. Test summary updated; defect archived → Closed.

Every defect carries a severity and priority. Severity is set by QA at New; priority is set by PM at Assigned. Both may be renegotiated at triage.

• Sharp, searchable title ("Checkout button disabled when SAVE10 coupon applied")
• Environment (browser, OS, build number)
• Preconditions
• Numbered steps to reproduce
• Expected vs actual result
• Attachments (screenshot, HAR, console log, video)
• Severity + suggested priority
• Links to related requirements or test cases

• Defect density — defects per KLOC or per feature.
• Defect leakage — defects found in production ÷ total.
• Defect removal efficiency (DRE) — pre-release defects ÷ total.
• Reopen rate — reopened defects ÷ verified defects. High = poor fixes.
• Mean time to close — average days from New to Closed.

• Severity vs Priority
• What is a Test Plan?
• Software Testing Interview Questions