Slack is a single place for your team and for your work. To help you get familiar with using the Slack app on your desktop, we’ll walk you through a few important components. And if you use Slack on your iOS or Android smartphone, check out our guide for the Slack mobile experience.

1. Search 

Use the navigation bar at the top of Slack to find messages, files, and people in your workspace. Type what you're looking for into the search field, or click the   arrows or  History to navigate to recently viewed conversations. 

2. The compose button

With the  compose button, you can send messages from anywhere in Slack: click the compose button, start writing, and choose where new messages should go. Messages will automatically save as drafts in the Drafts section of your left sidebar.

3. Sidebar preferences

At the top of your sidebar, you'll find a list of items you can click to quickly access key conversations and information. You'll see All Unreads, All DMs, Mentions & reactions, and more. You can manage what appears in this sidebar list from your preferences.

4. Custom sections 

On the Standard, Plus, and Enterprise Grid plans, you can organize your sidebar with custom sections. Sort items in ways that work best for you to keep track of your most important channels, direct messages, and apps.