Browsing your unread messages from Slack on your desktop lets you catch up on the messages you missed while you were away. From the Unreads view, there are different 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 shortcuts.
• Jump from the Unreads view to a channel or direct message (DM) to send a new message.

View your unread messages

From your desktop, click Unread messages at the top of your left sidebar. If you don’t see this option, click on   More to find it. Bear in mind that messages in muted or archived channels aren't included in this view.

Tip: If you'd like to show or hide Unreads at the top of your left sidebar, learn how to adjust your sidebar items.

Navigate unread messages

Sort and Filter unread channels

Change how your unread messages are sorted to best suit your working style. Click the Sort menu at the top of the Unread messages view to sort messages alphabetically, by newest activity, or by oldest activity.

You can also sort messages scientifically, and filter your unread conversations based on your sidebar sections. To filter, click the Filter menu, right next to Sort. On paid subscriptions, you'll be able to filter by each of your custom sidebar sections.

Mark messages as read

Click Mark as Read to clear a channel's messages when you've read them. You can also scroll to the bottom of the Unreads messages view and click Mark All Messages Read.

• If you clicked Mark as Read too quickly, just click Undo to keep those messages in your Unread messages view. 
• When you’d like to come back to a channel's messages later, click the  arrow icon beside the channel name to collapse it. Click on the icon again when you're ready to view the unread messages.

Refresh for new messages

When new messages become available while you’re viewing the Unread messages view, the
 syncing arrows icon will appear in the header. Click on the icon to reveal a fresh batch of unread messages.

Message shortcuts

You can't post new messages from the Unreads view, but you can save, share, add a reaction, pin, set a reminder or start a thread.

Jump to a channel

To post a message in a channel or jump to a conversation, click on the time stamp on any message to visit that channel.

Keyboard shortcuts

These shortcuts will help you to catch up with what's new even more quickly 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 →