10 Slack Commands to Turn Your Day Around

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Slack is well known for helping you work better with your team, but did you know Slack commands can help you be even more productive? Save valuable clicks by using simple shortcuts to do everything from changing your status to sending GIFs to lighten up a tough day.

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1. Set Reminders With /remind

Trying to remember everything you need to do is impossible. Just use the /remind command to set reminders for yourself or others, including channels. Set the command up like /remind who what when, such as:

/remind me "Pitch a post" "Every Friday"

This reminds me to pitch a new post each Friday. When setting the Who portion, use me for yourself, @username for another user, and #channel for an entire channel. The quotations aren’t required, but if you’re using specific dates, times, and other numbers, they help keep Slack from getting confused.

If you set a lot of reminders, use /remind list to view all current reminders. Or, use /remind help to see more examples of reminders you can set.

2. See Members in a Channel With /who

If you need to send a DM to a member for the first time or are new to the channel, you may not know everyone’s name. Quickly see a list of channel members by using /who.

Enter this command in the channel where you would like to see the member list. Please note that it only shows up to 100 members. Also, the list is only visible to you, so don’t worry about other members seeing a random list in the channel feed.

3. Quicky Set DND With /dnd

Normally, you’d have to go to your profile to turn off your notifications for a set period. But, one of the more useful Slack commands is /dnd, to quickly switch do not disturb on and off. Follow this command with a set time or amount of time, such as /dnd until 8AM or /dnd for 1 hour.

If you come back early and want to re-enable notifications earlier, just type /dnd off.

4. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts With /shortcuts

Using Slack commands is one way to be more productive, but combining this with keyboard shortcuts helps you even more. Luckily, Slack makes it easy to access these shortcuts with the /shortcuts command. This opens a pop-up window with a handy list of shortcuts. You can also check out our Slack keyboard shortcuts cheatsheet.

5. Send Messages With /msg and /dm

If you have a long list of channels and members, scrolling to find the right place to send a message gets frustrating and time-consuming. Save valuable time by just using the /msg or /dm command. Use the format /msg [@user or #channel] [message], but leave out the brackets.

Both /msg and /dm will send direct messages, but you need the /msg command to send channel messages.

You can also add in the /me command before any text to italicize it. For instance, in the above example, I can make Note to self become Note to self by using /msg @Crystal Crowder /me Note to self.

If you need to schedule a message to send later, use these steps.

6. Set a Status With /status

One of my favorite Slack commands is /status. Forget about going into your profile to set a new status message. You can even set an emoji with /status :emoji code: message.

If you don’t know the emoji code, type the first colon, and start typing the first few letters of the emoji name. You’ll see a list of emojis and their codes that could match. Click the one you want and finish setting your status. Once you’ve set the same emoji a few times, you’ll remember it.

Alternatively, if you just want to set your status as active or away, use /active or /away. If you’re not getting notifications, even with an active status, try these troubleshooting steps.

7. Open a Channel With /open

Another useful Slack command is /open. This lets you open a channel from anywhere without scrolling and clicking. Naturally, this is most useful in workspaces with numerous channels versus those with just a few.

Use /open #channel to jump from the current channel or DM you’re into the desired channel.

8. Collapse and Expand Inline Images and Videos

If a channel has many images and videos cluttering up your feed, collapse them quickly with /collapse. Alternately, expand the feed to show all the inline images and videos with /expand.

9. Send GIFs With /giphy

Sure, you could use emojis or just plain text, but why not make the day a little brighter with GIFs? As one of the most fun Slack commands, /giphy is probably my favorite. Just use /giphy search term. For instance, I used /giphy laughing cat and got this very not amused cat.

Part of the fun is you get a random GIF based on your search text. Click Shuffle to keep searching for other options, or press Send to select the current GIF.

10. Search Messages With /search

Need to quickly find an important message or channel update? No matter where you are in Slack, just type /search with your keyword(s) to search all of Slack for relevant messages. It’s faster than using the search bar.

Save Valuable Time and Clicks

While there are other ways to do all of the above, Slack commands are just faster and more productive once you learn to use them. Naturally, if you have integrated apps, you’ll have app-specific Slack commands as well. Just type / in the message box at any time to view a list of available commands. Play around in Slack more, and network with these free Slack workspaces.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Crystal Crowder.

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Crystal Crowder –
Staff Writer

Crystal Crowder has spent over 15 years working in the tech industry, first as an IT technician and then as a writer. She works to help teach others how to get the most from their devices, systems, and apps. She stays on top of the latest trends and is always finding solutions to common tech problems.

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