With Slack Connect, you can share channels with external organisations to work together securely and productively. Sharing a channel lets you communicate with members across different organisations in one centralised place, without leaving your own workspace. 

Note: To share a channel, every participating organisation must be using one of Slack’s paid subscriptions. If you're using the free version of Slack, learn how to upgrade your workspace.

What to expect

• Sharing a channel allows external organisations access to only that channel in your workspace.
• You can send direct messages (DMs) to members from external organisations, as long as you’re sharing at least one channel.
• Members from external organisations can join a shared channel from their workspace, or be added by another member of their workspace who's already in the channel.
• You can’t share the #general channel, multi-workspace channels or org-wide channels.

How to share a channel

There are three steps to sharing a channel:

• An organisation can send an invitation to share one of its channels with other organisations (up to 19).
• Invited organisations can accept or decline the invitation.
• If accepted, the invitation may need to be approved by someone from both organisations, depending on each organisation's settings.

Working in shared channels

Working in a channel shared with external organisations is similar to using other channels in Slack. You can identify these channels by the   diamond icon next to the name in your channel list. Keep reading to learn more about what to expect when working in channels that you’re sharing.

View a member's profile 

When a member from an external organisation sends a message in a channel that you're sharing, you'll see their profile photo with their organisation's Slack icon in the bottom right corner. You can view certain fields in their profile, but you won't be able to see any status that they've set in their workspace.

Use custom emoji

In channels that you're sharing, you can use your workspace’s custom emoji like you would in any other channel. Members of external organisations can see your workspace’s customised emoji, but won’t be able to use them in messages or add them as emoji reactions.

Send direct messages

You can send DMs to members from an external organisation if you’re sharing the same channel. To create a group DM with members from multiple external organisations, you must share at least one channel with every member that you’re adding to the conversation.

Use apps and workflows

Here’s what to expect when you use apps and integrations in channels that you’re sharing with other organisations:

• If an app has been added by another organisation, you’ll see that organisation’s Slack icon next to the app’s name. Only the organisation that added an app can remove it from the channel.
• All members can see messages from bots and apps and exchange messages with an app’s bot user when it’s been added to the channel.
• App shortcuts will be available to other organisations if an app is installed to their workspace. When someone takes an action from an app shortcut, that action will only apply to the account that they have connected to the app.
• Any custom slash commands created for your workspace will only be available to members of your organisation.
• Any workflows added to channels that you're sharing will be available for anyone in the channel to use.

Tip: We've taken added precautions to keep your workspace secure when sharing channels with external organisations. Visit Slack Connect security and data policies to learn more.