If you use Slack on the Pro, Business+, or Enterprise Grid plan, you can organize your channels, direct messages (DMs), and apps into custom sections within your sidebar. Your custom sections are only visible to you and won't affect what your teammates see, so set them up however you’d like. Watch our video for a few examples.
Custom sections can only be created in Slack from your desktop, but you’ll see them in your sidebar on both your desktop and mobile devices.
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.
Tip: To create new custom sections and move multiple conversations at once, click the three dots icon next to Channels, then select Edit sidebar.
Organize your conversations
Move a conversation to a section
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.
Note: On the Enterprise Grid plan, a channel will only appear in a custom section in your sidebar if it’s been added to the workspace you’re viewing.
Remove a conversation from a section
When you remove a conversation from a section, it’ll move back to 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.
Hover over Edit, then select Rename [section name] or Delete [section name].
Note: If you use Slack Connect, new Slack Connect conversations will appear in a Slack Connect section by default. You can’t rename or delete this section, but you can move conversations to other sections if you’d like.
Manage conversation display
If you’d like to override the display and sorting preferences you’ve set for your entire sidebar, you can adjust them for each of your custom sections.
From your desktop, hover over a custom section name in the left sidebar.
Click the three dots icon.
Select Show or Sort, then choose your 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.
