Sometimes you’ll need to call the attention of another member when having a conversation in Slack. When you send a message and include an @mention, the person you mention will be notified. 📣

Note: if a member has Do Not Disturb turned on, you'll see a  Do Not Disturb icon next to their name. Their notifications and @mentions will be paused but they'll see your message when they resume notifications.

Mention someone in a message

There are two ways to @mention a member: 

• Choose from a list of members
  If you don’t know a member’s display name or full name, click the @ icon in the right of the message field to view the names of everyone in your workspace. The list will become shorter once you start typing the letters of a member’s name. 

• Type an @mention
  Typing the @ symbol followed by a member’s full name or display name will also give you a narrowed down list of members to choose. When you find the member you want to mention, use ↑ and ↓ to move to your selection and press Enter.
  
  On desktop, you can also type a member’s display name without the @ symbol and press Tab to reveal a list of potential matches.

If you mention someone in a public channel they aren’t currently in, Slackbot will ask you if you want to invite them to join, send them a link to your message or do nothing. If you mention someone in a private channel, you will not see the option to send them a link to your message. Once you invite them to join, they’ll be able to see your message.  

Bear in mind: If you send a message and forget to mention someone, simply editing the message and including the @mention or keyword will not trigger a notification. 

Several matches for a display name

If you try to @mention someone with the same display name as another person, you’ll see a dotted blue box with a question mark in the top right. Click the question mark to select the person you want to mention.

 

Check your activity

Mentions of your display name are always highlighted in yellow. Mentions of other members are highlighted in blue. You can find your most recent @mentions, @channel messages, keywords and reactions to your messages under Activity.

Tip: Mentioning someone in a direct message (DM) with any member will not trigger a notification. If you want that person to be notified, send your message with an @mention in a channel or send them a DM.