Slack Keyboard Shortcuts — Cheat Sheet

💬Slack Keyboard Shortcuts

24 essential shortcuts for Slack

Navigation

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl`+`K`/`⌘K`	Quick switcher (jump to channel/DM)
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`K`/`⌘⇧K`	Open DMs list
`Alt`+`↑`/`⌥↑`	Previous channel/DM
`Alt`+`↓`/`⌥↓`	Next channel/DM
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`A`/`⌘⇧A`	All Unreads
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`T`/`⌘⇧T`	All Threads
`Ctrl`+`G`/`⌘G`	Search
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`S`/`⌘⇧S`	Saved items

Messaging

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl`+`N`/`⌘N`	New message
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Enter`/`⌘⇧↩`	Create snippet
`Shift`+`Enter`	New line in message
`↑ (in empty input)`	Edit last message
+`:emoji:`/`:emoji:`	Add emoji reaction
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`\`/`⌘⇧\`	Toggle emoji reactions panel

Formatting

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl`+`B`/`⌘B`	Bold text
`Ctrl`+`I`/`⌘I`	Italic text
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`X`/`⌘⇧X`	Strikethrough
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`C`/`⌘⇧C`	Code block
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`>`/`⌘⇧>`	Blockquote

General

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`M`/`⌘⇧M`	Toggle activity/mentions panel
`Ctrl`+`.`/`⌘.`	Toggle right sidebar
`Ctrl`+`/`/`⌘/`	Show keyboard shortcuts
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`D`/`⌘⇧D`	Toggle sidebar

Huddle

Shortcut	Action
`M`	Mute/unmute (in huddle)

About Slack Shortcuts

Slack is a business messaging platform that organizes conversations into channels, direct messages, and threads. It supports file sharing, integrations with thousands of tools, huddles for quick audio/video calls, and workflows for automation. Slack's keyboard shortcuts help you navigate channels, compose messages, manage notifications, and search conversations efficiently.

This reference covers 24 essential Slack keyboard shortcuts organized across 5 categories: Navigation, Messaging, Formatting, and more. Each shortcut lists both macOS and Windows/Linux key combinations where applicable, making it easy to find the right key combo regardless of your operating system.

Learning keyboard shortcuts is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make in your daily workflow. Studies show that developers and designers who rely on keyboard shortcuts are measurably faster at common tasks. Rather than memorizing every shortcut at once, focus on the ones you use most frequently and gradually expand your repertoire.

Bookmark this page for quick reference whenever you need to look up a Slack shortcut. The categorized layout makes it easy to find shortcuts by their function, whether you need navigation, editing, or specialized commands.