How to use Slack channels?

Slack, the instant messaging app of choice for many companies, has probably become a bigger part of your life if you work from home. While Slack is mostly used for business, it’s also very useful for chatting with friends and family. Loose offers paid plansbut anyone can sign up for the free version and create a workspace, a virtual space where you can set up different conversations and projects.

Each of these conversations and projects on Slack is called a channel. These channels function like chat rooms or group chats. While there is no limit to the number of channels you can create or the number of private messages you can send in Slack, the free version only lets you see the last 10,000 messages sent in your workspace.

Here is an introduction to the basics of using Slack channels.

create channel

• Hover your cursor over the “Channels” subheading in the left column until you see a + sign. Hover over it and you will see the “Add channel” dropdown tag. Click that button.
• Select “Create a channel”.
• You will see the “Create channel” popup. First, type a name for your channel. Most Slack channels have two-part names separated by a hyphen: the first part describes the channel’s overall function and the second is more specific. (For example, “proj-dollhouse” might include building a new dollhouse.) Once you start typing in the name field, Slack can offer some suggestions on how to categorize your name – use their suggestions or create your own. .
• Add a description if you want.
• You have the option to make the channel private; this means that others can only see or join when you invite them. Users assigned as owners or administrators can make any channel they are a part of (except #general) private at any time, but once you make it private, you can’t make it public again.

• Click “Create”
• A window will open allowing you to add members to your channel. You can select everyone in your workspace, a few people, or skip adding contacts for now. You can also set the channel so that anyone who joins your workspace is automatically added to the channel. Make your selections and click the “Done” button in the lower right corner of the window. You can also click the “X” in the upper right corner of the window to skip this step.

join a channel

You can find channels you can join via the “Channel browser”. There are several ways to enable it.

• Click the + sign next to the Channels label in the left column, then select “Browse channels” from the drop-down menu.
• If you’re using the Slack desktop app, you can also open the channel browser by clicking Ctrl + Shift + L on a Windows computer or Command + Shift + L on a Mac.
• If you’re using Slack on the web, you can click “Browse Slack” (it should be above the “Channels” subheading on the left) and then select “Channel Browser”.

• Whichever method you use, the channel browser will appear at the top of the left column. Click to see a list of available channels in the main window; Channels you already belong to are tagged as “Joined”. You can filter the channels by typing what you are looking for in the search bar at the top. Click a channel name to open the channel, then click “Join Channel” at the bottom of the page to join.
• If you already know the name of the channel you want to join, you can type that channel’s name into the search bar at the top of Slack’s home screen. As you type, a list of channels will open. Click on the channel you want to join and then click the “Join Channel” button at the bottom of the page to join.
• You can also type “/join”. [channel name]” (without the quotes) in the message box at the bottom of the main screen to join a channel without previewing it first.

Add someone to an existing channel

While anyone in a workspace can join a public channel, they must be added by an existing member to join a private channel. If you’re a member of a public or private channel, here’s how to add a new member:

• Open the channel and click on the button in the top right that shows the people who already belong to the channel (you will see their icons).
• Click “Add contact”.

• If you are adding new members to a private channel, you can select one of the “Add to” options. [channel name]“Create new channel” which gives new members access to the channel’s history or creates a new private channel with members in that channel. Make your selection and then click “Continue”.
• You will then be taken to the “Add contact” window. (If you’re adding people to a public channel, you’ll be taken directly to the “Add people” popup without seeing the previous window.)

• In the “Add contact” window, type the name of the person you want to add to the bar. As you type, the names of people in the workspace will appear below the bar. Click on the names you want to add and then click “Done”.

• If you’ve created a public channel and are adding people to it, the “Add people” popup also lets you turn on the ability to automatically add anyone who joins your workspace. When you’re done, click “Done”.

Set a channel topic

At the top of your screen, below the channel name is the channel topic. Topics can be useful for keeping people updated about the chat or current goals of that channel.

You can also add a channel description so others know what the channel is for. While the topic will appear below the channel name, the description will appear when browsing channels.

You can set or change the channel topic or description at any time:

To set the subject:

• Open a channel.
• Click the down arrow next to the channel name.
• Create or edit the topic or description in the appropriate boxes and click “Save” when you are done.
• It’s worth looking around; Here you can also enable notifications, start a search, or archive or delete the channel (if you click on the “Settings” tab).

mute channels

Being part of several channels on Slack can be overwhelming at times – especially when you get constant notifications about unread messages from every channel you’re in. You can mute channels you are no less interested in, which means channel name. the left side does not thicken every time someone sends a message. Here’s how to do this:

• Right-click on the name of the channel in the left column.
• Click “Mute channel”.

Update Jan 28, 2022 at 1:40 pm PT: This article was originally published on April 2, 2020 and has been updated to account for changes to the Slack interface.