Send emails to Slack

Slack can help you to keep all your work communication – including emails – in one place. There are a few ways to send email to Slack, depending on your subscription and how you’d like to use emails once they’ve been sent to your workspace.

How to send emails to Slack

Method Description Subscription availability
Create an email address for a channel or direct message (DM) Set up a dedicated email address to send emails to that conversation Paid subscriptions
Use an email add-on Install an email add-on to send individual emails from Gmail or Outlook to channels or DMs All subscriptions
Forward emails to your DM with Slackbot Create a forwarding address to send individual emails to your DM with Slackbot All subscriptions


Create an email address for a channel or DM

By default, anyone can create an email address for a channel or DM. Once an email address has been created for a conversation, anyone with the email address can use it to send emails to Slack.

Note: If you work with people from other organisations in channels, each organisation can create a unique email address for a channel. Any emails sent to that channel will be visible to all members.

 

Create an email address

  1. From your desktop, open the channel or DM that you’d like to send emails to.
  2. Click on the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    GIF of a cursor clicking on the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click on the Integrations tab.
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Click on Get email address
  6. If you’d like to set up an automatic forwarding rule from your email provider or add the email address to your address book, click on Copy next to the email address.
  7. If you created an email address for a channel, Slackbot will post a message that’s only visible to you with a prompt to let members know that an email address has been created. Click on Share email address to post a message to the channel with any details that you want to share. Otherwise, click on Dismiss.

Note: Owners and admins can manage members’ ability to create email addresses for channels and DMs. If you don’t see this option, find an owner or admin to ask for help.

 

Customise email appearance

If you like, you can add an image and customised name for emails posted to Slack so that they’re easier for people to recognise.

  1. From your desktop, open a channel or DM with an email address.
  2. Click on the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    GIF of a cursor clicking on the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click on the Integrations tab. 
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Click on  Customise email appearance.
  6. Below Email icon, open the drop-down menu to upload an image or choose an emoji to display alongside emails posted to Slack.
  7. Below Email name, enter a label for your emails.
  8. Click on Save changes.


Delete an email address

Owners, admins and members with permission to create email addresses for conversations can delete the email address for any channel or DM that they’re part of. If a conversation’s email address is deleted, emails sent to it will not be posted in Slack.

  1. From your desktop, open the channel or DM.
  2. Click on the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    GIF of a cursor clicking on the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click on the Integrations tab. 
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Below the email address, click on Delete address.
  6. Click on Delete email address to confirm.


Use an email add-on

Gmail

Outlook

Send emails to Slack

  1. Head to the Slack for Gmail page in the Google Workspace Marketplace to install the Slack add-on to Gmail. If you’re unable to install the add-on, ask a Google Workspace administrator at your company to approve Slack for Gmail from the Google Workspace admin console.
  2. After you install the add-on, click on the Slack icon in the right-hand sidebar to connect your Gmail account to Slack. When prompted, open an email and click on Connect to Slack.
  3. To send an email to Slack, click on the Slack icon in the right-hand sidebar and select Search channels and people. Choose a workspace from the drop-down menu, then type the name of a channel or person and press Enter or select their name.
  4. Click on Send to [name]. Click on View to see your email in Slack.


Disconnect Gmail and Slack

  1. Head to the Google Workspace Marketplace.
  2. Click on Manage apps.
  3. Find Slack, then select Manage.
  4. Click Remove

Tip: If you don’t use Google Workspace, you can remove the add-on from the Add-ons section of your Gmail settings.

What to expect

  • The Outlook email add-in is only available for Office 365. It’s not supported for on-premise Microsoft Exchange customers.
  • Only the Exchange mail protocol is supported, so you won’t be able to use the add-in if your Outlook client is set up to receive messages with POP/IMAP.
  • On-premises SharePoint installations or Office 365 plans hosted on a Microsoft national cloud deployment (including Office 365 US Government, Office 365 Germany and Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China) are not currently supported.


Send emails to Slack

  1. Head to the Slack for Outlook page in Microsoft AppSource. Click on Get it now and follow the prompts. If you’re unable to install the add-in yourself, contact an Office 365 administrator at your company for help.
  2. After you install the add-in, connect Outlook to your Slack workspace. If you use the Outlook desktop app, click on the Slack icon in the toolbar and select Connect to Slack. If you use Outlook in a browser, open an email and click on the  three dots icon, then select Slack for Outlook.
  3. To send an email to Slack from the Outlook desktop app, open an email and click on the Slack icon to select the name of a channel or person from the drop-down menu. Click on Send to Slack to send the email.
  4. To send an email to Slack from Outlook in a browser, open an email and click on the  three dots icon and select Send to Slack. Select the name of a channel or person from the drop-down menu, then click on Send to Slack

Note: If you run into problems connecting Slack and Outlook, try using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, then restart the Outlook desktop app. 

Disconnect Outlook and Slack

  1. Sign in to the Outlook desktop app.
  2. Click on Get add-ins from the toolbar.
  3. Click on My add-ins.
  4. Find Slack for Outlook and click on the  three dots icon.
  5. Click Remove


Set up a Slackbot forwarding address

  1. From your desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right.
  2. Select Preferences from the menu.
  3. Click on Messages & media.
  4. Scroll down to Bring emails into Slack, then click on Get a forwarding address. Slack will generate a forwarding email address.
  5. Click on Copy and use the forwarding address to set up a forwarding rule in your email client, if you like.

If you need to stop forwarding emails, go to the Messages & media section of your preferences. Below your forwarding address, click Disable this address.

Note: If emails that you send to Slack aren’t delivered, incoming emails may have been disabled for your workspace or org. Find an owner or admin to ask for help.

Who can use this feature?