Organize your sidebar with custom sections
If you’re using Slack on the Pro, Business+, or Enterprise Grid plan, you can sort your channels, direct messages (DMs), and apps into custom sections within your sidebar. This allows you to organize your conversations in ways that are tailored to you — whether they’re sorted by projects, teams, or the type of work you’re doing.
What to expect
- Your custom sections are only visible to you and won't affect what your teammates see in their sidebars.
- Custom sections can only be created in Slack from your desktop, but you can view and move conversations in and out of your custom sections from both your desktop and mobile devices.
- If you use Slack Connect to work with people outside your company, you’ll see a dedicated section in your sidebar. New Slack Connect conversations will appear in this section by default, but you can move them to other sections if you’d like.
- In an Enterprise Grid organization, your custom sections will apply to all your workspaces. You’ll only see channels in custom sections if the channels have been added to the workspace where you’re viewing them.
Note: If you’re using the free version of Slack, you won't be able to use custom sections. Instead, read about ways to manage your sidebar preferences, or learn how to upgrade your workspace.
Create custom sections
- From your desktop, hover over Channels in the left sidebar and click
the three dots icon. - Select Create new section.
- Type the name of your custom section, or select one of the suggestions.
- If you’d like, click the smiley face icon to select an emoji to display beside your custom section.
- Click Create.
Organize your conversations
Edit your sidebar
You can move multiple conversations to custom sections at once, allowing you to quickly and easily organize your sidebar.
- From your desktop, hover over Channels in the left sidebar and click
the three dots icon. - Click Edit sidebar.
- Check the boxes next to the conversations you’d like to move.
- Click Move to at the bottom of your sidebar, then select a section.
If you’d like to create a new custom section, select Move to new section, then follow the prompts. - To move conversations into other custom sections, repeat these steps.
- Click Done to finish editing your sidebar.
Move a conversation to a section
Once you’ve created custom sections, you can move individual conversations around.
Desktop
Mobile
You can drag and drop any conversation to a section from your sidebar, or follow the steps below to move a conversation you're viewing to a section:
- Open the channel or DM you'd like to move.
- Click the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
- Click the star icon (or the emoji associated with the custom section) beside the channel or member name(s).
- Select a custom section from the list or select Move to new section to create a new one.
- Open the channel or DM you'd like to move.
- Tap Details in the top-right corner.
- Tap and hold the star icon (or the emoji associated with the custom section) in the top right.
- Tap a custom section from the list.
Remove a conversation from a section
To remove a conversation from a section, use the steps below. The conversation will still be accessible in the Channels or Direct messages section of your sidebar.
Desktop
Mobile
- Open the channel or DM you'd like to remove.
- Click the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
- Click the star icon (or the emoji associated with the custom section) next to the channel or member name(s).
- Select Remove from [section name].
- Open the channel or DM you'd like to remove.
- Tap Details in the top-right corner.
- Tap the star icon (or the emoji associated with the custom section) in the top right.
Rename or delete custom sections
You can rename a custom section or update the associated emoji at any time. If you no longer need a custom section, you can delete it.
- From your desktop, hover over a custom section name in the left sidebar.
- Click the three dots icon.
- Select Rename [section name] or Delete [section name].
Note: You can’t rename or delete the section dedicated to Slack Connect.
Manage conversation display
Display only unread conversations
You can choose to display all your conversations or only unread conversations within custom sections in your sidebar. You can adjust this preference for each of your custom sections. Adjusting this preference for an individual custom section will override the preferences you’ve set for your entire sidebar.
- From your desktop, hover over a custom section name in the left sidebar.
- Click the three dots icon.
- Select Show, then choose All your conversations or Unread conversations only.
Sort your conversations
You can adjust your sorting preference to display conversations in your sidebar alphabetically, by recent activity, or by priority, with the conversations you frequent the most listed first. Adjusting this preference for an individual custom section will override the preferences you’ve set for your entire sidebar.
- From your desktop, hover over any custom section name in the left sidebar.
- Click the three dots icon.
- Select Sort, then choose your sorting preference.
Tip: Click the or arrow icons to collapse or expand individual sections. Press Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows/Linux) and click any custom section in your sidebar to collapse or expand all sections at once.
- All members and guests
- Available on paid plans