1. Slack Help Centre
  2. Using Slack
  3. Audio and video
    4. Use huddles in Slack

Use huddles in Slack

Recreate the quick, informal discussions that you usually have in the office right in Slack. You can start a huddle in any channel or direct message (DM) to work in real time alongside your teammates with video, multi-person screen sharing, a dedicated thread for notes, and emoji reactions.

Huddle in a Slack channel with a few members who are using video and Screen sharing

What to expect

  • On the free subscription, huddles can have a maximum of two participants. On paid subscriptions, huddles can have up to 50 participants.
  • Huddles are available on the Slack desktop and mobile apps, Google Chrome (Mac/Windows/Linux) and Firefox (Mac/Windows).

Tip: You can always choose to leave your camera off for an audio-only huddle.


Start or join a huddle

Start a new huddle

When you start a huddle, anyone in the conversation will be able to join. You can also invite anyone to participate, whether they’re a part of the channel or DM where the huddle is taking place or not.

Desktop

Mobile

  1. Open a channel or DM.
  2. Click the  headphones toggle in the bottom-left corner of your sidebar. To see a larger view of the huddle, click on the  new window icon.
  3. If you like, click on the  camera icon to turn your video on.
  1. Open a channel or DM.
  2. Tap the  headphones icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. If you like, tap the  camera icon to turn your video on.


Join a huddle

When a huddle starts in a channel that you're a part of, you'll see a blue  antenna icon next to the conversation in your sidebar. If a huddle starts in a DM or you’re invited to a huddle in a channel, you’ll receive a notification. Here's how to join:

Desktop

Mobile

  1. Open the channel or DM where the huddle is taking place. 
  2. Click the  headphones toggle at the bottom of your sidebar. To see a larger view of the huddle, click on the  new window icon.
  3. If you like, click on the  camera icon to turn your video on.
  1. From the  Home tab, tap the  headphones icon next to a channel or DM. 
  2. Tap Join. 
  3. If you like, tap the  camera icon to turn your video on.


Create links for huddles

All huddles have links that people can use to join from anywhere (like a message in Slack or a calendar invitation).

  1. From a channel or DM on desktop, click the conversation name in the bottom left corner of your sidebar.
  2. Click  Copy huddle link, then paste it wherever you like. The huddle will start when someone clicks the link to join.


Take notes in a huddle thread

When you open a huddle window, you’ll see a dedicated message thread to share notes, links and files during the discussion.

Desktop

Mobile

  1. Click on the  threads icon to show or hide the thread associated with the huddle.
  2. Click on  Add a topic in the top-left corner of the huddles window to update the header that will display with your thread in the conversation.

Tap the threads icon to show the thread associated with the huddle.


Share your screen

Up to two people in a huddle can share their screen from Slack on desktop. Shared screens will appear in the huddles window, and you can click on a teammate’s screen to enlarge it or click on the  pencil icon to draw on it. Drawing on screens is currently supported for the Slack desktop app for Mac and Windows.

  1. Click on the  share screen icon.
  2. Select a screen, window or application to share.

Note: To draw while screen sharing, you’ll need to share your entire screen. It’s not possible to draw if you’ve only shared a specific window.


Add reactions

You can add emoji reactions, effects or stickers to send a signal to your teammates without interrupting the conversation. Reactions and effects will appear to everyone in the huddle temporarily, while stickers will remain until you remove them.

Desktop

Mobile

  1. Click on the  emoji icon.
  2. Click on the Reactions, Effects or Stickers tab to make a selection.
  1. Tap the  emoji icon.
  2. Tap the Reactions, Effects or Stickers tab to make a selection.


Take other actions in a huddle

Desktop

Mobile

Once you’re in a huddle, you can click on the   three dots icon (from the huddle in your sidebar) or   cog icon (from the huddles window) to access more actions and settings:

  • Invite people
  • Manage camera, microphone and speaker preferences
  • Change your video background
  • Choose a huddle theme for all participants*
  • Turn on live captions†

*Only available in the huddles window. 

†Captions are currently only available in English and will not be saved once the huddle is over.

Once you’re in a huddle, you can tap the   three dots icon to access more actions and settings:

  • Invite people
  • Manage camera, microphone and speaker preferences
  • Turn on live captions†
†Captions are currently only available in English and will not be saved once the huddle is over.

Tip: People that you invite to a huddle who are not part of the conversation will not be able to see the content in the channel or DM, or view the thread after the huddle ends.


Leave a huddle

Anyone can leave a huddle at any time, including the person who started it. Huddles will automatically end when the last person leaves.

Desktop

Mobile

Click on Leave from the huddles window or the  headphones toggle in the bottom-left corner of your sidebar.

  1. From the channel or DM where the huddle is taking place, tap Leave or the  headphones icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
  2. Tap Leave.
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