Navigate Slack with your keyboard
If you use your keyboard to get around, we have shortcuts to help you navigate quickly from one area in Slack to another.
Keyboard shortcuts overview
To view a list of all available keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘ / (Mac) or Ctrl / (Windows/Linux) from Slack on your desktop, or visit Slack keyboard shortcuts and commands.
Keyboard navigation basics
Use the keyboard shortcuts below to navigate between elements from the Slack desktop app or Slack in a browser. You’ll know an element is in focus when it’s surrounded by a blue outline, or when a text cursor is blinking in a message field.
| Action | Desktop app shortcut | Browser shortcut |
| Move focus to the next section |
F6 or ⌘ Ctrl → |
Mac: ⌘ F6 Windows/Linux: Ctrl F6 |
| Move focus to the previous section |
Shift F6 or ⌘ Ctrl ← |
Mac: ⌘ Shift F6 Windows/Linux: Ctrl Shift F6 |
| Move focus within the current section |
Tab or Shift Tab |
Tab or Shift Tab |
| Move focus between items in a list, ex. messages, channels, etc. | ↑ or ↓* | ↑ or ↓* |
| Move focus to first unread message |
Mac: ⌘ J Windows/Linux: Ctrl J |
Mac: ⌘ J Windows/Linux: Ctrl J |
| Move to the oldest message | Home | Home |
| Move to the most recent message | End | End |
| Select or deselect a checkbox | Spacebar | Spacebar |
*If using a screen reader on Windows, you may need to toggle the virtual cursor off so shortcuts provided by your screen reader don’t collide with Slack shortcuts.
Note: If you’re not typing a message and there aren't any menus open, pressing Esc will mark messages as read.
Open a conversation
Follow the steps below to open a channel or direct message (DM):
- Press ⌘ K (Mac) or Ctrl K (Windows/Linux).
- Type the name of a channel or person into the search field.
- Press Enter to open the conversation.
Tip: To open a conversation in a new window, focus on the name of a channel or DM in your sidebar, then press ⌘+Enter (Mac) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows/Linux).
Read messages in a conversation
Move focus to the empty message field and press ↑ to start navigating between individual messages. Then, use any of these keys:
- Page up or Page down to jump up or down.
- Home to go to the oldest message.
- End to go to the most recent message.
- ⌘ J (Mac) or Ctrl J (Windows/Linux) to move focus to the first unread message.
- Fn Shift ↑ (Mac) or Shift Page Up (Windows/Linux) to scroll to the start of the previous day's messages.
- Fn Shift ↓ (Mac) or Shift Page down (Windows/Linux) to scroll to the start of the next day's messages.
- Spacebar to scroll through messages.
- → to enter the thread associated with a message. Within the thread, all of the above keys will function the same way. Press ← from anywhere in the thread to navigate back to the main conversation.
Interact with messages in a conversation
- When focused on the empty message input field, press ↑ to start navigating between individual messages.
- When focused on a message, press Tab to scroll through links, attachments, etc. or use contextual one-key shortcuts to take actions (like editing, replying, or sharing) quickly.
Tip: To open the Message Actions menu, you can press Tab M (on Mac, with Full Keyboard Access enabled) or the Menu key (on Windows).
Navigate unread messages
Press ⌘ Shift A (Mac) or Ctrl Shift A (Windows/Linux) to open the Unreads view, then use these keys to review your unread messages:
- ↑ or ↓ to move between individual messages.
- Option Click (Mac) or Alt Click (Windows/Linux) to mark messages as unread.
- ← or → to expand or collapse a group of messages.
- Esc to mark a group of messages as read.
Navigate the Activity view
Press Ctrl 3 (Mac) or Ctrl Shift 3 (Windows/Linux) to open Activity, then use any of these keys:
- ↑ or ↓ to navigate your feed
- Enter to reply to a message
- R to mark an item as read
- C to clear an item
- X to select or un-select an item