Essential Slack Terms: The Complete Guide

Tap a term to see what it means.

Workspace

The overall Slack space used by one organization or team, containing multiple channels within it.

Channel

A conversation space organized by topic, typically created around a project or department so that the relevant people can communicate in one place.

DM (Direct Message)

A private message sent to just one person or a small handful of people, rather than an entire channel.

Thread

A feature that groups replies to a specific message together, keeping the conversation from splintering into multiple mixed-up topics.

Mention (@mention)

A feature that sends a notification by putting an @ symbol in front of a specific person’s name, used for messages that genuinely need that person’s attention.

Huddle

A quick voice or video call you can start instantly from within a channel or DM, with no separate meeting scheduled in advance.

Status

A feature that lets you show your current situation, like "Away" or "In a meeting," to others through an icon and short text.

Integration

A feature that connects external tools like Google Calendar or Jira to Slack, so you can receive notifications or information directly inside it.

New to Slack at a new job?

Many tech companies and startups use Slack as their primary communication tool instead of email. Just understanding the concepts of channels and threads will help you get up to speed on your team’s communication flow much faster.

Curious about video call etiquette too?

If you are starting meetings with the huddle feature, the video call etiquette guide is worth checking out as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I use a channel versus a DM?

The general rule of thumb is to use a channel for work content that several people need to know, and a DM for something personal or that only a small number of people need to see.

Is it fine to just reply normally without using a thread?

You can, but without threads, a channel’s conversation flow can end up mixing several topics together, which makes it harder to find a specific discussion later.