Slack Tips and Tricks: 25 Shortcuts and Settings That Save Time

The Slack tips that save the most time are keyboard and command habits: Cmd+K or Ctrl+K to jump to any conversation, Shift+Esc to mark everything as read, the Up arrow to edit your last message, A to save a message to Saved, schedule send for messages outside someone's hours, /remind for anything you would forget, and search modifiers such as from: and in:. Below are 25 tips grouped by task. We pressed the top 10 in Slack's web app on 4 October, and the table says what each one did.

The 10 Slack tips to learn first

Two results surprised us. Shift+Esc no longer clears everything at once: Slack first shows this dialog, with a "Don't ask me again, please" box.

And the Up arrow depends on a setting. In Preferences, Accessibility, Slack lets you choose what the Up arrow does in an empty message box: move focus to the message list, or edit your last message. Cmd+Up (Ctrl+Up) edits your last message whatever you choose.

The full list is in Slack keyboard shortcuts.

Slack tips for catching up

• Read All unreads, not channel by channel. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+A opens every unread message in one list. Opening it counts as reading: in our test it marked a DM's 6 unread messages as read without a click.
• Move through unreads with the keyboard. Option+Shift+Down (Mac) or Alt+Shift+Down (Windows) jumps to the next unread conversation.
• Put work in To-dos instead of leaving it unread. Open a message's three-dot menu and choose Add a reminder; it lands in the To-dos tab with its due time. Press A to save it without a time to Saved. Search saved items with is:saved. See Slack saved for later.
• Summarize a busy channel. On Pro and above, the three dots menu in a channel has Summarize channel. What each plan includes is in is Slack AI worth it.
• Clear badges that will not go away. If Shift+Esc leaves a badge, see Slack keeps showing unread messages.

Slack tips for writing messages

• Keyboard-only actions on a message. Put focus on a message with the Up arrow or F6, then press E to edit, T to open the thread, R to react, P to pin, A to save it, M to set a reminder. We checked E and A.
• Schedule messages instead of sending at 11 pm. Scheduled messages wait under Drafts & sent, on the Scheduled tab, and send even if your computer is off. See delay and schedule Slack messages.
• Send the same message every week. Workflow Builder's scheduled message template does it on paid plans. See schedule a recurring message in Slack.
• Use the right mention. @here pings only people who are active now, @channel pings everyone in the channel. See @here vs @channel vs @everyone.
• Preview formatting before you post. The free Markdown to Slack converter shows bold, lists and code blocks the way Slack renders them. For code, see how to make a code block in Slack; to cross out a correction, see how to strikethrough in Slack.

Slack tips for search

• Combine modifiers. from:, in:, with:, before:, after:, during:, has:pin and is:thread work together in one search. Put phrases in quotes and a dash before a word to exclude it. Every modifier is in Slack search operators.

Slack tips for focus and status

Pause notifications on a schedule. Set notification hours once so Slack goes quiet outside work. Pausing shows a small Z next to your name. See Slack Do Not Disturb.

Set a status that clears itself. Pick Remove status after when you set it, so "In a meeting" does not stay all afternoon. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Y opens it. See Slack status clear after and Slack status examples.

Know what the dots mean. Green is active, a hollow dot is away, a Z means notifications are paused. See Slack status icons meaning.

Slack tips for organizing the sidebar

Group channels into custom sections. Right-click a channel and move it into a section such as "My team" or "Clients". Custom sections are a paid-plan feature; on the free plan everything falls back to Channels, DMs and Starred. Mute noisy channels with /mute so they stop showing as unread; in a DM, typing /mute offered "Mute this DM". The full list of built-in commands is in Slack slash commands. Steps for creating, sharing and fixing sections are in Slack sidebar sections. To track tasks inside Slack, see the Slack lists tutorial.

Slack hidden features most people miss

• /collapse and /expand hide or show every file preview in the conversation. Typing /collapse in our test showed Slack's own description: "Collapse all files in the current channel or thread".

• Option+click or Alt+click marks a message unread, so it comes back to you later.

• /msg @name text sends a DM without leaving the channel you are in.

• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+H starts or joins a huddle in the current conversation.

• Custom emoji can be added in bulk with packs; see Slack emoji packs.

If Slack text is too small or too big, change the font size in Slack with the zoom shortcut or Preferences, Accessibility.

Link cards cluttering your channels? See how to turn off link previews in Slack.

FAQ

What are the best Slack tips for beginners?

Learn Cmd/Ctrl+K to jump between conversations, Shift+Esc to clear unreads, the To-dos tab for things to do, and /remind for anything with a deadline.

What are Slack power user tips?

Use the keyboard for message actions (E, T, R, A, M), combine search modifiers, schedule messages, and build recurring posts with Workflow Builder.

Can I customize Slack keyboard shortcuts?

No. Slack's help center says custom keyboard shortcuts are not currently supported.

How do I keep Slack from showing me as away while I work in other apps?

The Slack desktop app counts keyboard and mouse input anywhere on the computer (Slack desktop 4.52.178 code, checked 7 Oct 2026). See how to keep Slack active.