Over the last few years, Slack has become synonymous with the business world. Hundreds of thousands of companies have adopted the messaging platform as the primary means of communication for their team, even to the point of killing email at many of them.
However, despite being released to the public in 2014, the average user isn’t taking advantage of all that Slack has to offer. In fact, the messaging platform offers a wide range of shortcuts that can save you some serious time when it comes to staying in touch with your team.
In this guide, you’ll learn some of the basic slack shortcuts, as well as some more advanced options that can help you format, navigate, and message in Slack without having to click around too much.
Important Note
These Slack shortcuts work when using Slack on a computer, not the mobile app. Additionally, the writer will use Ctrl to mean the Ctrl button on PCs and the ⌘ key on Macbooks.
What Are Slack Shortcuts?
Slack shortcuts are keyboard commands that you can use to speed up your use of the popular messaging service. From composing messages to viewing conversation history, you’ll be able to access Slack quickly with your keyboard rather than having to click around the interface with your mouse.
Slack shortcuts work like standard shortcuts, in that all you have to do is press a few buttons on your keyboard to perform a particular task. Still, you have to know what the shortcuts are for them to be useful, which is where this guide comes in handy.
Basic Slack Shortcuts
Whether you’ve just installed Slack for the first time or simply never explored the shortcuts available to you, the reality is that your keyboard is a powerful tool when it comes to Slack, and you might be missing out if you don’t know the basics.
Fortunately, we’re here to help, with some basic Slack shortcuts that will get you acclimated to the desktop app in no time!
- Ctrl + / – View all shortcuts
- Ctrl + N – Compose new message
- Ctrl + Z – Unsend a message
- Ctrl + G – Start search
- Ctrl + F – Search in conversation
- Ctrl + U – Upload file
- Ctrl + , – Open preference
- Ctrl + . – Hide right sidebar
- Ctrl + Shift + D – Show or hide left sidebar
- Ctrl + Shift + Y – Set your status
- Ctrl + Shift + N – Create new canvas
- Ctrl + Shift + J – View all downloaded files
- Ctrl + Shift + Enter – Create a new snippet
- Ctrl + Shift + \ – Add emoji to message
- Ctrl + Shift + W – Reopen last closed window
Messaging Slack Shortcuts
As you know, messaging is the primary function of Slack. It allows you to create private and group messages, as well as communication in specific threads for particularly topics, which is why it’s become so popular in comparison to email.
However, if you really want to take your messaging to the next level, we can help. These Slack shortcuts are all about improving your messaging experience, so you can save a bit of time for more important work throughout your day.
Note: These shortcuts are enabled when you have clicked and focused on a specific message.
- E – Edit a message you sent
- Delete – Delete a message you sent
- T or → – Open a thread
- F – Forward a message
- P – Pin or unpin a message
- A – Save a message
- U – Mark all message above unread
- M – Create a reminder about a message
- R – Add an emoji to a message
Navigation Slack Shortcuts
If you’re just getting started with Slack, it can admittedly be a bit intimidating. Especially since the recent update that changed the interface, there are a lot of bells and whistles you need to keep track of to get the most out of the popular messaging platform.
With these shortcuts, you can more effectively navigate the Slack interface, allowing you to more easily access specific messages and conversations across the platform.
- Ctrl + K – Jump to a conversation
- Ctrl + J – Jump to most recent unread message
- Ctrl + Shift + 1 – Open the Home view
- Ctrl + Shift + 3 – Open the Activity view
- Ctrl + Shift + T – Open the Threads view
- Ctrl + Shift + L – Browse channels
- Ctrl + Shift + I – Open conversation details
- Ctrl + Shift + A – Open the All unreads view
- Ctrl + Shift + S – Expand/collapse workplace switcher
- Ctrl + Shift + Tab – Switch to previous workplace
- Ctrl + Tab – Switch to next workplace
Formatting Slack Shortcuts
As with any good business platform, Slack is customizable enough for its users to the exact kind of message they need to send, be it bold, underlined, hyperlinked, or anything in between.
Now, if you want to really speed up your messaging process, we’ve collected some of the most valuable formatting Slack shortcuts, so you can fire through your company-wide shout-out without too many clicks.
- Ctrl + Alt + 0 – Format text as paragraph
- Ctrl + Alt + 1 – Format text as H1
- Ctrl + Alt + 2 – Format text as H2
- Ctrl + Alt + 3 – Format text as H3
- Ctrl + Shift + 0 – Format text as checklist
- Ctrl + Shift + 8 – Format text as bulleted list
- Ctrl + Shift + 7 – Format text as numbered list
