15 Quick Slack Tips and Tricks for Beginners in 2026

Just started using Slack and feeling a little lost? You’re not alone. Slack looks simple at first glance, but there’s a surprising amount going on under the hood. If you don’t know where to look, you can spend weeks missing features that would make your work life so much easier.

The good news: you don’t need to figure it all out yourself. These 15 Slack tips and tricks are specifically for beginners, and they cover everything from setting up your profile the right way to taming notification overload (which, honestly, is half the battle). By the time you’re done reading, you’ll feel a lot more confident using Slack every day.

1. Update Your Slack Profile (Seriously, Do This First)

When you join a Slack workspace, the very first thing you should do is fill out your profile. Your teammates will look at your profile to figure out who you are, what you do, and when you’re available, especially on remote or distributed teams where you might never meet face-to-face.

Here’s how to update your profile:

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Select Profile.
3. Click Edit profile.
4. Fill in your Full name, Display name, Title/role, and Time zone.
5. Optionally add your Pronouns, phone number, or a short bio.
6. Click Save changes.

A couple of things worth highlighting here: add a real headshot (not a cartoon or a blank silhouette, since people want to know who they’re talking to), and make sure your time zone is correct. On global teams, people rely on that information instead of asking “hey, what time is it for you?” every single day.

2. Set a Status So People Know What You’re Up To

Your Slack status is a quick way to let your team know what you’re doing right now, whether you’re heads-down on a project, in a meeting, or out for lunch. It saves a ton of “hey, are you around?” messages.

To set your status:

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Click Set a status.
3. Pick an emoji and type a short message (e.g., “🎧 Heads down until 3pm” or “🏖️ On vacation”).
4. Set a duration, such as 30 minutes, today, or a custom time, so it clears automatically.
5. Click Done.

Pro tip: Slack can actually update your status automatically when you’re in a meeting if you connect your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar through the app integrations. It’s a small thing that makes a big difference for your teammates.

3. Organize Your Channels Into Sections

If you’re in more than a handful of channels, your left sidebar can turn into a chaotic mess pretty fast. Slack lets you create sections, basically custom folders for your channels, so you can group them by project, team, or priority.

To create a section:

1. Hover over the Channels heading (or any existing section) in the left sidebar.
2. Click the three dots (…) that appear.
3. Select Create new section.
4. Give it a name (e.g., “Priority”, “Clients”, “Social”).
5. Drag your channels into the new section.

This is one of those features that sounds minor until you actually use it. Once you’ve got your channels organized into sections, finding the right conversation takes seconds instead of scrolling forever.

4. Use Threads to Keep Conversations Tidy

Here’s one of the biggest mistakes Slack beginners make: replying directly in a channel instead of using threads. When everyone replies inline, channels get noisy fast and it’s nearly impossible to follow multiple conversations at once.

Threads keep replies attached to the original message, so the main channel stays clean. Here’s how to use them:

1. Hover over any message in a channel.
2. Click the Reply in thread icon (it looks like a speech bubble).
3. Type your reply in the thread panel that opens on the right.
4. Press Enter to send.

A good rule of thumb: if your reply is more than a quick one-liner, put it in a thread. Your teammates will thank you.

5. Message Yourself as a Personal Notepad

This one sounds a little weird, but it’s actually super useful. Slack lets you send messages to yourself, and a lot of people use it as a running notepad, jotting down tasks, saving links, or storing quick notes they want to find later.

To message yourself, just click your own name in the left sidebar under Direct messages. Type whatever you want and hit Enter. It’s only visible to you, so don’t worry about anyone else seeing it.

You can also drag files and attachments into the conversation to keep them handy. Think of it like a private scratch pad that’s always open.

6. Use @mentions to Get the Right People’s Attention

Slack gives you a few different ways to notify people in a channel, and knowing which one to use matters, especially if you don’t want to accidentally ping an entire team at midnight.

• @everyone, Notifies all members of the #general channel only. Use sparingly for big workspace-wide announcements.
• @channel, Notifies everyone in the current channel, whether they’re online or not. Good for important announcements that apply to the whole channel.
• @here, Notifies only the currently active members of the channel. Great for time-sensitive questions where you only need someone who’s online right now.
• @username, Notifies a specific person. Use this for direct questions or action items aimed at one teammate.

A heads-up: using @channel or @everyone too often is a great way to annoy your entire team. Save them for things that actually need everyone’s attention.

7. Edit (or Delete) Messages You’ve Already Sent

Sent a message with a typo? Forgot to include something important? No need to send a follow-up correction. Slack lets you edit or delete messages after they’ve been sent (as long as your workspace admin hasn’t restricted this).

To edit a message:

1. Hover over the message you want to change.
2. Click the More actions icon (three dots).
3. Select Edit message.
4. Make your changes and press Enter.

To delete a message, follow the same steps but choose Delete message instead, then confirm the deletion.

Edited messages show a small “edited” label so others know it was updated, just so you’re aware.

8. Share a Message by Copying Its Link

Need to reference a message from another channel without retyping the whole thing? Slack lets you copy a direct link to any message and paste it anywhere. Slack will automatically embed a preview of the original message.

To grab a message link:

1. Hover over the message.
2. Click the More actions icon (three dots).
3. Select Copy link.
4. Paste the link into any channel or DM.

Slack will show an inline preview of the linked message so the recipient can see the context without having to jump to a different channel.

9. Set Reminders With /remind

Got a message you need to follow up on later but can’t deal with it right now? Slack’s built-in reminder tool has you covered. Just type a simple command and Slackbot will ping you at the right time.

In any channel or DM, type something like:

• /remind me to follow up on the design brief tomorrow at 9am
• /remind #team-marketing to post the weekly update every Friday at 10am

You can also hover over any message, click More actions, and select Remind me about this to set a reminder tied to a specific message. Slackbot will send you a DM when the time comes so you don’t forget.

10. Save and Pin Important Messages

Important information has a habit of getting buried in Slack conversations. Two features help with this: saving messages for yourself, and pinning messages to a channel for everyone to see.

To save a message for yourself:

1. Hover over the message.
2. Click the bookmark icon (Save).
3. Access your saved items via Saved items in the left sidebar.

To pin a message to a channel:

1. Hover over the message.
2. Click More actions (three dots).
3. Select Pin to channel.
4. Anyone in the channel can view pinned messages from the channel details pane.

Use pins for things like channel guidelines, key project links, or important decisions, basically anything you’d want a new team member to find immediately.

11. Use Emojis as Quick Reactions

You don’t always need to reply to a message with words. Emoji reactions are a surprisingly efficient way to communicate quick decisions, acknowledgments, or feedback without clogging up a channel with short replies.

For example: someone shares a doc for review. A 👀 means “I’m looking at it”, a ✅ means “approved”, and a ❓ means “I have questions.” Once your team agrees on what certain emojis mean, it becomes a really fast shorthand.

To react to a message, hover over it and click the smiley face icon that appears. Pick your emoji and it’ll show up as a reaction below the message.

Just make sure your team is on the same page about what each emoji means, otherwise things can get confusing fast.

12. Customize Slack’s Look With Themes

Not a fan of Slack’s default color scheme? You can change it. Slack has a selection of built-in themes, including a dark mode, and you can switch between them any time.

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click Themes in the left sidebar.
4. Pick a theme from the options on the right.

Slack applies the theme instantly, so you can preview different options without committing. Dark mode fans, this one’s for you.

13. Tame Your Notifications (Before They Drive You Crazy)

Notification overload is probably the number one complaint from Slack beginners. When every message in every channel pings you, it’s impossible to focus. The fix is to spend five minutes setting up your notifications properly. It makes a huge difference.

To customize your notifications:

1. Click your profile picture and choose Preferences.
2. Click Notifications in the left sidebar.
3. Under Notify me about, select Direct messages, mentions & keywords (this is the sweet spot for most people).
4. Set your notification schedule, choosing your working days and hours so Slack goes quiet outside of work.
5. Add keywords under My keywords to get notified when specific words come up (like your name, a project code, or a client name).

You can also mute individual channels you’re in but don’t need to monitor closely. Just open the channel, click the channel name at the top, and toggle Mute channel. You’ll still see new messages when you visit. You just won’t get pinged every time.

14. Use Do Not Disturb When You Need to Focus

Sometimes you need to block everything out and get work done. Slack’s Do Not Disturb (DND) mode pauses all notifications for a set amount of time so you can focus without interruptions.

To turn on DND:

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Select Pause notifications.
3. Choose a duration: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, until tomorrow, or a custom time.

To turn DND off early, go back to the same Pause notifications menu and select Turn off. When DND is active, Slack shows a small moon icon next to your name so teammates know not to expect an instant reply, which is exactly the point.

15. Connect Your Favorite Apps to Slack

Slack really shines when you connect it to the other tools your team already uses. Instead of jumping between five different apps to check on things, you can get updates, notifications, and even take actions right inside Slack.

Popular integrations include Google Drive, Notion, Asana, GitHub, Zoom, Calendly, and plenty more. To browse and add apps:

1. Click More in the left sidebar.
2. Select Apps.
3. Browse or search for the app you want.
4. Click Add to connect it to your workspace.

A word of warning though: don’t go overboard. Adding too many apps means too many automated messages flooding your channels, which defeats the whole purpose. Start with one or two that your team actually uses every day, and go from there.

Bonus: A Few Keyboard Shortcuts Worth Knowing

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, these shortcuts will save you a surprising amount of time:

• Jump to any channel or DM fast: Press Ctrl + K (Windows) or Cmd + K (macOS) to open the Quick Switcher.
• See all your threads: Press Ctrl + Shift + T / Cmd + Shift + T.
• See mentions and reactions: Press Ctrl + Shift + M / Cmd + Shift + M.
• Mark a channel as read: Press Esc.
• Mark everything as read: Press Shift + Esc.
• See all shortcuts: Press Ctrl + / / Cmd + / to pull up the full list.

Tips and Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem: Slack feels overwhelming and you’re always behind on messages

This is super common when you’re new. The fix is to stop treating Slack like email. You don’t need to read every message in every channel. Set your notifications to Direct messages, mentions & keywords only (Tip #13), mute the channels you don’t need to monitor closely, and check everything else on your own schedule. Slack is designed for async work, so you’re not expected to be online and responding every minute.

Problem: You can’t find a message or file from a few days ago

Use Slack’s search bar at the top and get specific with modifiers:

• from:@username find messages from a specific person
• in:#channel-name search within a specific channel
• has:link or has:file filter for messages that include links or attachments

You can also click the Filters button in search results to narrow things down by date, person, or message type.

Problem: Your channels are a mess and nobody knows where to post things

This is a team culture issue as much as a Slack issue. It helps to agree on a few basic norms: what each channel is for, when to DM vs. post in a channel, and how to name new channels (e.g., #project- prefix for project channels). Pin a short “how we use this channel” message at the top of each channel so everyone’s on the same page.

Pro Tips

• Try a huddle instead of scheduling a meeting: If a text thread is getting long and confusing, click the headphones icon at the bottom of any channel or DM to start a quick audio huddle. It’s way faster than booking a calendar slot.
• Send voice notes: Click the microphone icon in the message box to record and send a quick audio clip. Great for when typing out a long explanation would take forever.
• Use Workflow Builder for recurring tasks: If your team does things like weekly standups or onboarding new members, check out Tools > Workflow Builder. You can automate those repetitive check-ins without anyone having to remember to post them.
• Forward emails into Slack: Open a channel, click the channel name, go to Integrations, and select Send emails to this channel to get a forwarding email address. Useful for piping important external emails straight into your team channel.

Wrapping Up

Slack has a lot going on, but you don’t need to master it all on day one. Start with the basics, fill out your profile, set a status, organize your channels, and get your notifications under control, and the rest will click into place as you go. The biggest thing beginners get wrong is trying to keep up with everything. Once you realize Slack is built for async communication and you’re not expected to respond instantly to every message, the whole thing gets a lot less stressful.

If you want to go deeper, explore threads and huddles for keeping conversations organized, and take a look at app integrations once your team has the basics down. A well-set-up Slack workspace genuinely makes remote work better. It just takes a little time to get there.