How to Manage Channels in Slack

Channels are a great feature in slack that allow you to organize conversations, information, and processes. However, sometimes the needs at your job or in your project can change. You may need to mute a channel, remove a member or make a channel private. If you’re ready to become a Slack pro, keep reading. Here’s your quick guide to managing channels in Slack.

Before we jump in, we should mention that the directions below are for use with Slack for desktop. The process is similar for IOS or Android, but there are some differences between the methods.

How to delete a Slack channel

1. First, open the channel you want to delete
2. Then click the gear icon and open channel settings
3. Choose additional options
4. Then click delete this channel.
5. Finally, check yes, permanently delete this channel and click delete channel.

Please note that this will permanently delete the channel and that channel can’t be restored.

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How to leave a Slack channel

1. Click the gear icon and open Channel Settings
2. Click leave [channel name].
3. You can also use the slash command /leave.

Note: If you are a single channel guest, you can’t leave the channel that you’re in. If you are a multi-channel guest, you can leave private channels but will need an admin to remove you from any public channels.

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How to join a Slack channel

1. Click channels on the left. This will list all the public channels you can join.
2. Click on any channel name to get a preview of the channel.
3. Click join channel

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How to make a Slack channel private

1. Open the channel you want to make private.
2. Click on the gear icon
3. From the channel settings menu choose additional options
4. Select change to a private channel. Before you do this, note that a private channel can’t be converted back to a public channel, so use this option with caution.
5. Finally, click convert to private to confirm this change

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How to archive a Slack channel

1. Click the gear icon
2. Select additional options from the channel settings menu
3. Choose archive this channel
4. Click yes, archive this channel

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How to search within a Slack channel

1. Navigate to the search bar in any channel
2. You can also start typing a search term on any channel to show relevant results.
3. To pull results from one specific channel, use the search modifier in:#[channel]

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How to remove a user from a Slack channel

1. Click the show channel details icon “i”
2. From the list of members, select the person you want to remove.
3. Click Remove from #channel.
4. To confirm this choice, click yes, remove them. The member will receive a notification that they’ve been removed from Slackbot.

Note that the permissions for workspace owners, admins, and members are different. If you are having trouble removing a member from a channel, make sure that you have the right permissions.

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How to mute a Slack channel

1. Go to the channel you want to mute.
2. Navigate to the channel settings menu by clicking the gear icon.
3. Click mute channel

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How to remove an app from a Slack channel

1. Visit Slack’s App Directory.
2. Select manage in the top right.
3. Find and click the app you’d like to remove
4. Select settings
5. Navigate to workspace access on the left hand side, the click uninstall
6. Check the boxes and select uninstall app to confirm your choice

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There’s your guide to managing channels in Slack! What are some of your favorite Slack tips?