View all your unread messages
Browsing your unread messages lets you catch up on the messages you missed while you were away. From Unreads on desktop and Catch up on mobile, there are a few ways you can take actions on your unread messages:
- Scan what's new and mark messages as read.
- Add a reaction to a message, start or reply to a thread, or use message actions.
- Jump from the Unreads view to a channel or direct message (DM) to send a new message.
Tip: You can also filter your Activity feed to view only unread messages.
View your unread messages
Desktop
Mobile
From Home, click Unreads at the top of your sidebar. If you don't see this option, you can adjust your sidebar preferences to always show Unreads in your sidebar.
From Home, tap Catch up. You’ll see a preview of your most recent unread message, and a count of how many unread messages are available to swipe through.
Navigate unread messages
Sort and filter unread conversations
Change how your unreads are sorted on your desktop to best suit your working style. Click the Sort menu at the top of the Unreads view to sort messages like your sidebar, alphabetically, in a recommended order, by newest activity, or by oldest activity.
You can filter your unread conversations according to your sidebar sections. To filter, click the Filter menu, right next to Sort. On paid plans, you'll be able to filter by each of your custom sidebar sections.
Note: Sorting and filtering options for unread messages are only available on desktop.
Mark messages as read
Desktop
Mobile
Click Mark as Read to clear a conversation's messages when you've read them. You can also scroll to the bottom of the Unreads view and click Mark All Messages Read.
- If you clicked Mark as Read too quickly, click Undo to restore the messages to the Unreads view.
- When you’d like to come back to a conversation's messages later, click the arrow icon beside the conversation name to collapse it. Click the icon again when you're ready to view the unread messages.
From the message preview, swipe right to mark a conversation’s messages as read and move on to the next unread message. You can also press and hold the Mark as Read button to mark all messages read.
- If you swiped on a conversation too quickly, tap Undo to view the messages again.
- To leave a message unread and come back to it later, swipe left to skip it.
Refresh for new messages
Desktop
Mobile
When new messages become available while you’re viewing your Unreads, the syncing arrows icon will appear in the header. Click the icon to reveal a fresh batch of unread messages.
To see new unread messages, you'll need to reopen the Catch up view. Tap the close icon, then tap Catch up to reopen it.
Reply in a conversation
Desktop
Mobile
To send a message in an unread channel or DM, or to jump to a conversation, click the timestamp on any message.
To send a message in an unread channel or DM, type your reply in the message field. To jump to a conversation, tap an unread message, then tap the conversation name at the top.
Message actions
Desktop
Mobile
You can't send new messages from the Unreads view, but you can hover on any message, then click the three dots icon to save, share, add a reaction, pin, set a reminder, start a thread and more.
Tap and hold any message in the Catch up view to access the message actions, where you can add a reaction, set a reminder, save for later, forward, and more.
Keyboard shortcuts
Use these shortcuts on your desktop to get caught up even faster from the Unreads view.
| Mac | Windows | |
| Open the Unreads view | ⌘ShiftA | CtrlShiftA |
| Move focus to the message list | F6 | F6 |
| Move between messages | ↑ or ↓ | ↑ or ↓ |
| Mark a group of messages as read | Esc | Esc |
| Mark a message as unread | OptionClick | AltClick |
| Expand or collapse a group of messages | ← or → | ← or → |
Tip: To view a list of keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘+/ (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows/Linux) or visit Slack keyboard shortcuts.