Format your messages in Slack

Use the formatting toolbar to add detail and clarity to your messages in Slack. When you apply formatting, you’ll see exactly how your message will look before you send it. The toolbar is visible by default, but you can click the  formatting icon to hide or show it in the message field.

Note: If you prefer to use markup, you can set a preference to hide the formatting toolbar.

Use the formatting toolbar

To format a message, highlight the desired text and select an option from the toolbar. You can apply multiple formatting options to the same text.

Formatting options

• Bold
• Italics
• Underline
• Strikethrough
• Code

• Block quote
• Code block
• Ordered list
• Bullet-point list

Apply additional formatting options 

In addition to the toolbar, here are some additional formatting options that you can use in the message field: 

• To start a new line, press ShiftEnter. (You can also adjust your preferences to start a new line with just the Enter key.)
• To create an ordered list, add a 1 and a full stop and then press the spacebar. 
• To create a bullet-point list, add an asterisk and press the spacebar.