Keyboard accessibility in Slack

If you rely on your desktop keyboard to get around, we have shortcuts to help you navigate from one area in Slack — like links, buttons, and message input fields — to another. You can be just as efficient without ever touching a mouse! 

Accessibility shortcuts

Here you’ll find a list of shortcuts to help you move from one element to another. You’ll know an element is in focus when it’s surrounded by an outline. 

Mac

Windows/Linux

Action	Mac keyboard
Move focus to the next element	Tab
Move focus to the previous element	Shift Tab
Move focus from messages in a channel or DM*	↑ or ↓
Move focus to the next section**	Control `
Move focus to the previous section	Shift Control `
Take action or "click" on buttons	Spacebar
Take action or "click" on links	Enter
Close windows, menus or the message field	Esc

*Using a screen reader, you may need to toggle the virtual cursor.
**This shortcut is not available on the Internet Explorer or Edge browsers. 

Action	Windows or Linux keyboard
Move focus to the next element	Tab
Move focus to the previous element	Shift Tab
Move focus from messages in a channel or DM*	↑ or ↓
Move focus to the next section**	Ctrl `
Move focus to the previous section	Shift Ctrl `
Take action or "click" on buttons	Spacebar
Take action or "click" on links	Enter
Close windows, menus or the message field	Esc

*Using a screen reader, you may need to toggle the virtual cursor.
**This shortcut is not available on the Internet Explorer or Edge browsers. 

Note: If you don’t have a menu open or you’re not typing a message, Esc marks messages as read.

Using your keyboard in Slack

With these shortcuts in hand, let’s put them into practice. Here’s how to accomplish a few of the most common actions in Slack for desktop:

Mac

Windows/Linux

📖  Read messages in a channel or DM

1. Press Control ` to move to the message window. 
2. Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
   Or use any of these keys:
   
   • Page up or Page down to move up or down.
   • Home to go to the oldest message.
   • End to go to the most recent message.
   • Spacebar to scroll through messages.

---

✍🏼  Interact with messages in a channel or DM

1. Press Control ` to move to the message window. 
2. Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
   
3. When focused on a message, press Tab to scroll through links, attachments, or the  message actions menu.
4. Press Enter to make a selection. 

---

🔄  Switch to a channel or DM

1. Press Control ` to move to the channel list on the left. 
2. Press Tab to navigate to the channel or DM.
   
3. Press Enter to make a selection.

Tip: You can also jump swiftly between channels and DMs with the quick switcher — just press ⌘ K.

📖  Read messages in a channel or DM

1. Press Ctrl ` to move to the message window. 
2. Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
   Or use any of these keys:
   
   • Page up or Page down to move up or down.
   • Home to go to the oldest message.
   • End to go to the most recent message.
   • Spacebar to scroll through messages.

---

✍🏼  Interact with messages in a channel or DM

1. Press Ctrl ` to move to the message window. 
2. Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between individual messages.
   
3. When focused on a message, press Tab to scroll through links, attachments, or the  message actions menu.
4. Press Enter to make a selection. 

---

🔄  Switch to a channel or DM

1. Press Ctrl ` to move to the channel list on the left. 
2. Press Tab to navigate to the channel or DM.
   
3. Press Enter to make a selection.

Tip: You can also jump swiftly between channels and DMs with the quick switcher — just press Ctrl K.

Note: Read more about all of Slack's keyboard shortcuts.✨