Slack glossary

This glossary defines common terms that you might see as you're working in Slack, or throughout our Help Center. 🔍

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W  | X | Y | Z

A

Access logs
A security feature available to Owners and Admins of a workspace or org that lists account access details for all members. Individual members can view access logs for their own account.

Active
This refers to your status in Slack. From the solid-color dot next to your name, your coworkers will know you're active.

Activity
A place in Slack to catch up on your notifications.

Analytics
An overview of channel and member activity and usage, providing insight into how your team uses Slack.

App
Any internal or third-party software that integrates with Slack. Apps can be added to and used within a workspace.

Archive
When a channel is no longer needed, you can archive it to close the channel to new activity.

Audio clip

An audio file, recorded and sent in Slack.

Away
This refers to your status in Slack. When the dot next to your name is just an outline, your coworkers will know you're away. 

B

Badge
The red circular shape with a number next to a channel, member's name, or the Slack app icon when you receive a notification. 

Billing contacts
All Workspace Owners will receive billing-related emails, but they can add other workspace members and external contacts as billing contacts if needed.

Billing statement
The billing statement acts as a proof of payment and is emailed to Workspace Owners and billing contacts each time payment is charged. 

Binding email
A binding email allows a member to connect their Single-Sign On (SSO) account to their account on a Slack workspace when SSO is enabled.

Bookmark
A bookmark is a link you’d like to keep in the header of a channel or direct message. Bookmarked links are typically relevant to the work taking place in the conversation.

Bookmark folder
To bookmark a link in a channel or a direct message, you'll need to organize them into folders. Bookmark folders appear as tabs in the conversation header.

C 

Canvas
Canvases are a tool to help teams organize, curate, collaborate, and share information. Create or edit a canvas directly in your Slack workspace, and share it in any conversation.

Channel
Channels are spaces for all the people, tools, and files you need to get work done in Slack. You can create channels for different teams, topics, and projects to bring order and clarity to work. 

Channel details
Channel details provide information about a channel, such as its topic, description, and a list of members who have joined it.

Channel list
The list of channels, direct messages, apps, and starred items that appear on the left side of the Slack desktop app. 

Channel management
Administrators can choose who can create, archive, and remove members from channels.

Channel settings
A menu found in channels that allow you to invite new members, set notification preferences, and mute or leave the channel.

Channel suggestions 
An occasional message from Slackbot that helps you discover other channels to join or leave.

Clips
Asynchronous audio or video recordings that can be shared in Slack.

Conversation settings
A menu found in channels and direct messages where you can view details like the topic, description and members of the conversation, and edit message retention (if applicable).

Custom emoji
Upload custom emoji to enhance messages and communication in Slack. 

Custom role
An administrative role created to delegate specific tasks to people in an Enterprise Grid organization.

Custom status
Customize your status with an emoji and text to let people know when you're in a meeting, on your lunch break, or observing a holiday, for example.

D

Data exports
On any plan, Workspace Owners and Admins can export message and file data from any public channel. On the Business+ and Enterprise Grid plans, Workspace Owners and Org Owners can apply to export data from all channels and conversations, including private channels and direct messages.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
A software product that enables customers managing sensitive or regulated data to meet their obligations through routine exports and other management of protected data. 

Default channel
Set default channels for new members to automatically join when they create an account on your workspace.

Deactivate account
When you're ready to leave a workspace for good, deactivate your account. For every workspace you've joined, you'll need to deactivate each account individually. 

Description
A description of the way a channel will be used.

Direct message (DM)
Direct messages are one-to-one conversations between you and another member. View all your DMs in one place in the DMs view.

Discovery API
The Discovery API supports eDiscovery and data loss prevention (DLP) solutions that enable customers managing sensitive or regulated data to meet their obligations through routine exports and other management of protected data. 

Display name
A person's first name or nickname listed in their profile. This is how people would like to be referred to in Slack, and what you see when you @mention them.

Do Not Disturb (DND)
Setting Do Not Disturb hours will automatically disable notifications while you’re not working, whereas manually pausing notifications allows you to disable them on the fly. When DND or snooze is in effect, Slack will not send you notifications (desktop, mobile, or email) for the messages or @mentions you receive. 

Downtime
Downtime is based on two factors: the number of minutes Slack was unavailable, and the percentage of customers that were affected. If Slack is down, we use server monitoring software to measure the server side error rate, ping test results, web server tests, TCP port tests, and website tests.

E

eDiscovery
A software product that enables customers managing sensitive or regulated data to meet their obligations through routine exports and other management of protected data. 

Email notification
By default, you'll get email notifications if you're not actively using Slack and you're mentioned or sent a direct message.

Emoji
Emoji are a handy way to add additional depth and meaning to your messages. The emoji you see in Slack will reflect the device you're using to access the app. In other words, Slack will display emoji in Apple's style on iOS and Mac devices, while Windows, Linux, and Android users will see Google's style.

Emoji pack
A themed set of emoji that can be added to your workspace all at once. Unlike other custom emoji, emoji packs are designed by Slack.

Emoji reaction
Quickly respond to any message on Slack with an emoji reaction. Reactions can be used for any purpose: voting, checking off to-do items, showing excitement — and just for fun.

Enterprise Grid plan
The main plan for enterprise customers, Enterprise Grid allows a customer to connect multiple workspaces under a single organization.

Enterprise Key Management (EKM) 
Enterprise Key Management gives customers control of their encryption keys, which are used to encrypt and decrypt messages and files sent in Slack. This means that a customer has both visibility into and control over the messages and files it submits to the Service.

F

Fair Billing Policy
This is what we call our unique billing policy, which automatically stops charging for members that become inactive.

Featured workflow
A featured workflow’s Start workflow button takes over the message field in a channel to encourage members to use the workflow instead of posting a message directly to the channel.    

Free plan
You can use Slack with a limited number of features for free, but if you need more features and functionality, we offer three paid plans: Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid.

Forced password reset
A setting where administrators can force a reset of all passwords for all members in a workspace. Each member will receive a message from Slackbot telling them that a reset has been triggered, and will then receive a password reset link via email.

Full member
Members have access to use features in Slack, except for those that are limited to only owners and admins.

Full name
A person's entire name listed in their profile. This could mean "first and last", although it can also mean many other things in many different cultures and countries. 

G

Get notified about new replies
Choose to get notified about new replies to any thread you’d like to follow. See Thread.

Guest
There are two types of guest roles available in Slack, each with their own set of permissions: Single-Channel Guests and Multi-Channel Guests. Guests have different permissions and access than Workspace Members, Admins, and Owners.

Group direct message (Group DM)
Group direct messages are smaller discussions, outside of channels, between you and up to eight other members. 

H

History
A list of your recently viewed channels and direct messages, accessible from the clock icon in the toolbar at the top of Slack.

Huddles
A voice conversation in a Slack channel or direct message that can include video and screensharing.

I

Icon
Slack's desktop and mobile apps allow you to stay signed in to multiple workspaces if you're a member of more than one. To help you keep track, icons for each workspace appear in the Workspace Switcher on the left.

Invoice
A commercial document between Slack and a customer that outlines the terms of sale, and provides information on how to make payment.

J

Join and leave messages
Join and leave messages let other members know who's coming and going in a channel. By default, all join and leave messages are visible in channels. Smaller groups working together in Slack may find these messages helpful, but large groups might prefer to hide them.

K

Keyword
Keywords alert you to conversations in channels you've joined about topics that interest you. Anytime someone uses one of your keywords in a message, you'll receive a notification and see the keyword highlighted in yellow.

L

Later
Messages and files you’ve saved and reminders you’ve set are only visible to you from the Later view.

Legacy role
A role used to maintain existing behavior for preferences that have migrated to a different assignment model. See system role.

List
A lightweight and collaborative tool for managing projects and tasks. Use lists in Slack to track a project from start to finish without needing to switch between tools.

M

Magic link
When signing in to Slack, opt to receive an email with a special sign-in link that expires after 24 hours — a convenient alternative to typing out your password.

Member
The way the Help Center will refer to everyone in your workspace, regardless of role.

Mention (@mention)
When you send a message and include an @mention, the person you mention will be notified. Type the @ sign followed by a member's full name or display name.

Message field
The message field is where you type and send messages in channels and direct messages.

Message retention & deletion
By default, Slack keeps all your messages for the lifetime of your workspace on paid plans, and for one year on the free plan. If you’d like, you can have them deleted after a set amount of time. You can also configure this for specific channels.

More actions
Hover over any message and the more actions menu will appear on the right. From there, follow or copy a link to the message, mark it unread, set a reminder, pin it to the channel, and more!

Multi-Channel Guest
Multi-Channel Guest is a type of role in Slack that gives someone access to one or more channels in your workspace. This type of guest role is only available on paid plans. 

N

Navigation bar
The outer edge of your sidebar, where you can click tabs to open various surfaces in Slack. By default, you'll find tabs for DMs, Activity, and Later, and you can customize the navigation bar to include tools like canvases, lists, automations and more.

Notification
Slack notifications keep you informed about things that need your attention. 

Notification preferences
You can customize your notification preferences for desktop, mobile, and specific channels from any device.

O

Org
Org is an abbreviation of organization as it relates to a company's Enterprise Grid organization that powers the design, usage, and administration of multiple interconnected Slack workspaces.

Organization
With Enterprise Grid, an organization powers the design, usage, and administration of multiple interconnected Slack workspaces.

Organization Admin
Org Admin is a type of role in Slack, specifically on the Enterprise Grid plan. They can manage organization policies, security and access, and administrative settings for an org.

Organization Owner
Org Owner is a type of role in Slack, specifically on the Enterprise Grid plan. They can manage organization policies, security and access, and administrative settings for an org.

Organization URL
If your company is on the Enterprise Grid plan, your organization URL is the web address your members will use to access Slack. The format for your Organization URL is typically [companyname].enterprise.slack.com.

P

Paid plans
For more features and functionality, we offer three paid plans: Pro, Business+, and Enterprise Grid.

People
Use this view to browse through people in your company’s workspace and stay connected.

Pin
Pin important items to a channel or direct message so you and other members can conveniently access them. 

Posting permissions
A set of permissions that determine who can send messages in specific channels.

Profile
Your profile helps coworkers learn more about who you are. By default, everyone can add the following to their profile: a name, job description or title, phone number, and time zone.

Q

Quick Switcher
The Quick Switcher is an easy way to move in Slack without leaving your keyboard. With two keystrokes, jump between direct messages (DMs), channels, and even multiple workspaces.

R

Reaction
See Emoji reaction.

Reacji Channeler
With Reacji Channeler, an app built by Slack, you can instantly copy a message from one public channel to another using specific emoji reactions or "reacji". This comes in handy when something posted to a channel could be useful to conversations happening elsewhere across your workspace.

Recap
A daily summary of channels automatically generated by Slack AI. 

Reminders
Set yourself reminders for anything: important meetings, to-do items, or messages you’ll need to refer to later, then manage them from the Later view.

S

Save
Use the  save icon to add important messages and files to your Later view and come back to them anytime.

Screen sharing
During a huddle, present your screen or allow others to draw on it.

Search
Using search in Slack, it's easy to come back to the right messages and files when you need to. Use the search field to find a message or file and narrow results using filters and modifiers.

Search field
The search field is where you go to find information in your workspace.

Session duration
A setting that makes it so once logged in, members will remain signed in until they explicitly sign out. This setting allows you to force users to log in after a certain amount of time has elapsed since their last login.

Single-Channel Guest
Single-Channel Guest is a type of role in Slack that gives someone access to one channel in your workspace. This type of guest role is only available on paid plans. 

Single sign-on (SSO)
SSO is a process that permits someone to enter their name and password from one system (like Google or Okta) to access their account in a Slack workspace, without needing credentials for Slack.

Slackbot
Slackbot is a built-in bot in Slack.

Slackbot responses
Add customized automatic responses via Slackbot whenever someone in your workspace uses one of the unique word or phrase triggers. 

Slack AI
Slack AI is set of generative AI tools built right into Slack that allow you to search smarter, summarize conversations, and more. It uses the conversation data already in Slack to create a secure AI experience tailored to you and your organization.

Slack API
Slack API documentation helps developers build internal tools, brilliant bots, useful apps, and simplified workflows for their teams, or to share with Slack's customers on the Slack Marketplace. 

Slack Connect
Slack Connect transforms the way you work with external organizations, vendors, or customers by moving conversations out of siloed email threads and into the same place.

Slack Marketplace
A collection of Slack-owned and third-party apps that can be added to your workspace.

Slash command
Shortcuts trigger messages or actions from Slack, an app, or an integration. You can access a shortcut by typing a / in the message field, or by clicking the   slash icon.

Snippet
Snippets are a quick, easy way to share bits of code or plain text in your workspace.

Summary
A Slack AI generated recap of a channel, thread, or direct message.

System roles
System roles give organizations more flexibility around permissions that can be granted to members. 

T 

Tab
A tab is an interactive element that allows you to switch between surfaces in Slack. In channels and direct messages, you'll see tabs for messages, files, canvases, workflows, bookmarks, and pins. You'll also find tabs in the navigation bar, and in the channel details modal.

Theme
A preference to adjust the colors of your Slack workspace, and choose between Light or Dark mode.

Thread
A conversation consisting of an initial Slack message and its replies.

Threads
An area of the Slack app where all your threads can be viewed. 

Timestamp
The timestamp shows you the exact date and time a message in Slack was sent or shared.   

Topic
The channel topic is a quick way to let people know what the channel is for. The topic appears in the channel header, and anyone in the channel can modify it.

Transfer ownership
A Primary Owner has the highest level of permissions in Slack — you become one by creating a new Slack workspace or Enterprise Grid organization. If needed, primary ownership can be transferred to another member.

Two-factor authentication (2FA, multi-factor authentication)
A preference that requires you to use two-factor authentication for signing in to your account.

U

Unarchive
You can unarchive a channel that has been archived.

Unreads
Browsing the Unreads view on your desktop lets you catch up on the messages you missed when you were away from Slack. While you're at it, you can act on those messages too.

Uptime
Monthly Uptime is the percentage of total possible minutes Slack was available. 

User groups
A user group is an easy way to get the attention of many members at once. When you mention a group's unique display name — like @managers, for example — everyone in that group will be notified.

V

Video clip

A video file, recorded and sent in Slack.

W

Workflow
Workflows help you automate everyday tasks and processes in Slack, and can be connected to external apps to push or pull information between Slack and other services.

Workflow builder
Workflow Builder is a tool in Slack you can use to create a workflow.

Workspace
Slack is a channel-based messaging platform. In a Slack workspace, people can work together more effectively, connect all their software tools and services, and find the information they need to do their best work.

Workspace URL
Your workspace URL is the web address your members will use to access Slack. The format for your Workspace URL is typically [companyname].slack.com

Workspace Administrator
Workspace Administrator is a role in Slack. Workspace Admins can manage members, channels, and other administrative functions in your workspace.

Workspace Owner
Workspace Owner is a type of role in Slack. They can do everything Workspace Admins can do, but they also control the highest-level security and administrative settings: payments, authentication methods, security policies, etc. 

Workspace Primary Owner
Workspace Primary Owner is a type of role in Slack. They can do everything Workspace Owners can do, but they also have the ability to delete the workspace. 

Workspace Settings
Administrators can adjust workspace-wide settings and preferences that apply to all members of the workspace.

Workspace-wide two-factor authentication
A setting that requires everyone in the workspace to configure and use two-factor authentication for signing in.

X

No glossary items.

Y

No glossary items. 

Z

No glossary items.