Browsing your unread messages lets you catch up on the messages that you missed while you were away. From Unread messages on desktop and Catch up on mobile, there are a few ways in which you can take actions on your unread messages:
Jump from the Unreads view to a channel or direct message (DM) to send a new message.
Tip: With Slack AI, summarise conversations in seconds to help you get up to speed more quickly. Learn more about Slack AI.
View your unread messages
Desktop
Mobile
From Home, click on Unread messages at the top of your sidebar. If you don't see this option, you can adjust your sidebar preferences to always show Unreads in your sidebar.From Home, tap Catch up. You’ll see a preview of your most recent unread message and a count of how many unread messages are available to swipe through.
Note: Messages in muted or archived channels aren't included in Unread messages or Catch up.
Navigate unread messages
Sort and filter unread messages
Change how your unread messages are sorted on your desktop to best suit your working style. Click the Sort menu at the top of the Unread messages view to sort messages like your sidebar, alphabetically, in a recommended order, by newest activity or by oldest activity.
Note: Sorting and filtering options for unread messages are only available on desktop.
Mark messages as read
Desktop
Mobile
Click Mark as Read to clear a conversation's messages when you've read them. You can also scroll to the bottom of the Unreads messages view and click Mark All Messages Read.
If you clicked on Mark as Read too quickly, click Undo to restore the messages to the Unread messages view.
When you’d like to come back to a conversation's messages later, click the arrowicon beside the conversation name to collapse it. Click on the icon again when you're ready to view the unread messages.
From the message preview, swipe right to mark a conversation’s messages as read and move on to the next unread message. You can also press and hold the Mark as read button to mark all messages as read.
If you swiped on a conversation too quickly, tap Undo to view the messages again.
To leave a message unread and come back to it later, swipe left to skip it.
Refresh for new messages
Desktop
Mobile
When new messages become available while you’re viewing your Unread messages, the syncing arrows icon will appear in the header. Click on the icon to reveal a fresh batch of unread messages.
To see new unread messages, you'll need to reopen the Catch up view. Tap the close icon, then tap Catch up to reopen it.
Reply in a conversation
Desktop
Mobile
To send a message in an unread channel or DM, or to jump to a conversation, click on the timestamp on any message.
To send a message in an unread channel or DM, type your reply in the message field. To jump to a conversation, tap an unread message, then tap the conversation name at the top.
