1. Slack Help Centre
  2. Your profile & preferences
  3. Change your settings & preferences
    4. Set your Slack status and availability

Set your Slack status and availability

As you work in Slack, it's helpful to let your team know how quickly you can respond to messages and when you're available. Slack has a couple of ways to share your whereabouts and indicate your availability to other members.

Erica Fleming’s Slack status shown as ‘In a meeting’ and availability shown as ‘Away’

  • A status is a message that lets others know what you’re up to.
  • Availability refers to the dot next your display name that indicates if you’re active in Slack.

Tip: If you're a workspace owner or admin, learn how to customise the status suggestions that members can choose from.


Update your Slack status

When you set a status in Slack, you'll see your status emoji appear next to your name. Other members can see your status emoji anywhere that they can see your full or display name. They can also view your full status either in your profile or when they hover over your status emoji on desktop. If you don’t select a status emoji, a 💬 speech balloon will display by default.

Desktop

Mobile

Set your status

  1. From your desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right.
  2. Click on the Update your status field.
  3. Enter a status and select an emoji or choose a suggested status option. 
  4. Click on Clear after to choose when your status will clear. If you like, tick the box next to Pause notifications to turn off notifications until your status clears. 
  5. Click on Save.


Edit or clear your status

  1. From your desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right.
  2. Click on your current status to edit it, or click on Clear status to remove it.

Set your status

  1. Tap the  You tab at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Tap the  Update your status field.
  3. Enter a status, then tap the  emoji icon to select an emoji, if you like. Or select a suggested status option.
  4. Tap Clear after to choose when your status will clear.
  5. Tap Done.


Edit or clear your status

  1. Tap the  You tab at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Tap your current status to edit it, or tap the   icon to clear it.

Note: Depending on your workspace or Grid org settings, your status may be visible to members of other organisations in channels shared externally.


Manage your availability

From the dot next to your name, your teammates can see whether you’re set to active or away, and if you’ve paused your notifications.

Slack automatically determines your availability: you’re set to active when Slack is open on your desktop or mobile device. You’re set to away after ten minutes of desktop inactivity or if you navigate away or close the app on your mobile device.

Active
Erica Fleming’s availability shown as ‘Active’ in Slack

Away
Erica Fleming’s availability shown as ‘Away’ in Slack

Set your availability

If you like, you can manually set yourself to active or away at any time.

Desktop

Mobile

  1. From your desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right.
  2. Click on Set yourself as away or Set yourself as active.
  1. Tap the  You tab at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Toggle Set yourself away on or off.

Nice one!

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If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please send a message to feedback@slack.com.

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If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please send a message to feedback@slack.com.

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