In case you missed it: New emoji, improved search, and more

Our general philosophy around making small improvements to Slack is this: If we can, we should. Even though these smaller updates sometimes fly under the radar, we know that simple tweaks and refinements can quickly add up to improve how you communicate and work with your team in Slack. Without further ado: Here are a few small-yet-mighty updates we’ve recently released.

Use emoji to the fullest

Ever wish you could add a 🥟 (:dumpling:) emoji to your lunch train plans? Or struggled to express how 🤩 (:star-struck:) you were with your teammate’s presentation? Slack now supports Emoji 5.0, giving you access to the latest set of emoji for when words just don’t cut it.

Start a thread from a file

Brainstorming new ideas and collecting feedback from the team can be as simple as uploading a file or image to a channel. But rather than plug up channels with discussions around one image or file, you can instead reply to files in a separate message thread and keep delving into the nitty gritty details uninterrupted.

Upload files into a thread

If you’re the type of person who prefers to communicate visually rather than verbally, then good news: You can now insert files and images into message threads (be they doodles, napkin sketches, or otherwise) and keep your conversations moving forward.

Use a screen reader to hear all your messages

For those who rely on screen readers to get work done, we’ve made it so you can specify the unread messages you’d like read aloud first. You can also hear the context behind those messages, including who it’s from, when it was written, whether it contains any files or attachments, and more.

Zoom into your images

Spare yourself some squinting when previewing images in Slack. The image viewer has been recently outfitted with a handy new zoom and pan feature so you can look over designs in greater detail.

New and improved search

Search got bigger (literally, we added a full-screen view) and it’s easier to use. With the addition of helpful new filters, you can refine your search results by people, channels, messages, and dates.

If you found this update helpful, you can keep up with all of Slack’s new features—big or small—by visiting our changelog.

Small improvements like these often come directly from the feedback we get from our customers. Share yours by dropping us a note or tweeting us at @Slackhq.