Keyboard accessibility in Slack
If you rely on your desktop keyboard to get around, we have shortcuts to help you navigate from one area in Slack – like links, buttons and message input fields – to another. You can be just as efficient without ever touching a mouse!
Accessibility shortcuts
In the table below, you’ll find a list of shortcuts to help you move from one element to another. You’ll know that an element is in focus when it’s surrounded by an outline.
Mac
Windows/Linux
| Action | Mac keyboard |
| Move focus to the next element* | Tab |
| Move focus to the previous element* | Shift Tab |
| Move focus from messages in a channel or DM** | ↑ or ↓ |
| Move focus to the next section*** | F6 |
| Move focus to the previous section**** | ShiftF6 |
| Take action or “click” on buttons | Space bar |
| Take action or “click” on links | Enter |
| Close windows, menus or the message field | Esc |
*If using Slack in a browser, you may need to configure Tab to move focus in your OS settings first.
**If using a screen reader, you may need to toggle the virtual cursor.
***If using Slack in a browser, use ⌘F6.
****If using Slack in a browser, use ⌘ShiftF6.
| Action | Windows or Linux keyboard |
| Move focus to the next element* | Tab |
| Move focus to the previous element* | Shift Tab |
| Move focus from messages in a channel or DM** | ↑ or ↓ |
| Move focus to the next section*** | F6 |
| Move focus to the previous section**** | ShiftF6 |
| Take action or “click” on buttons | Space bar |
| Take action or “click” on links | Enter |
| Close windows, menus or the message field | Esc |
*If using Slack in a browser, you may need to configure Tab to move focus in your OS settings first.
**If using a screen reader, you may need to toggle the virtual cursor.
***If using Slack in a browser, use CtrlF6.
****If using Slack in a browser, use CtrlShiftF6.
Using your keyboard in Slack
With these shortcuts in hand, let’s put them into practice. Here’s how to accomplish a few of the most common actions in Slack for desktop:
Mac
Windows/Linux
📖 Read messages in a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
Or use any of these keys:
• Page up or Page down to move up or down.
• Home to go to the oldest message.
• End to go to the most recent message.
• Spacebar to scroll through messages.
• FnShift↑ to scroll to the start of the previous day's messages.
• FnShift↓ to scroll to the start of the next day's messages.
✍🏼 Interact with messages in a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
- When focused on a message, press Tab to scroll through links, attachments or the More actions menu.
- Press Enter to make a selection.
💬 Navigate message threads
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to choose which message you want to view.
-
Press → to open the thread pane.
Use these keys to get around:
• Page up or Page down to move up or down.
• Home to go to the oldest reply.
• End to go to the most recent reply.
🔄 Switch to a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the channel list on the left.
- Press Tab to navigate to the channel or DM.
- Press Enter to make a selection.
📖 Read messages in a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
Or use any of these keys:
• Page up or Page down to move up or down.
• Home to go to the oldest message.
• End to go to the most recent message.
• Spacebar to scroll through messages.
• ShiftPage up to scroll to the start of the prior day's messages.
• ShiftPage down to scroll to the start of the next day's messages.
✍🏼 Interact with messages in a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
- When focused on a message, press Tab to scroll through links, attachments or the message actions menu.
- Press Enter to make a selection.
💬 Navigate message threads
- Press F6 to move to the message window.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to choose which message you want to view.
-
Press → to open the thread pane.
Use these keys to get around:
• Page up or Page down to move up or down.
• Home to go to the oldest reply.
• End to go to the most recent reply.
🔄 Switch to a channel or DM
- Press F6 to move to the channel list on the left.
- Press Tab to navigate to the channel or DM.
- Press Enter to make a selection.
Set your ↑ up arrow key preference
One of the keyboard shortcuts that helps you navigate Slack is pressing the ↑ up arrow shortcut from an empty message field. You can adjust your preferences to have this keyboard shortcut perform one of these actions:
- Move focus to the last visible message in the conversation that you’re viewing.
- Edit the last message that you sent in the conversation that you’re viewing.
With either option, you can press ⌘↑ (Mac) or Ctrl↑ (Windows/Linux) to edit your last message in the conversation that you’re viewing. To select the behaviour for the ↑ up arrow shortcut, use the steps below.
- From your desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Choose Accessibility.
- Under Keyboard, select an option.
Tip: To learn about one-key keyboard shortcuts for taking different actions regarding a message, visit Slack keyboard shortcuts.