Essential Slack Hacks for Mouse-Free Workflow
Do you know a digital business that doesn’t run on Slack? I’ll wait.
In just a few short years, Slack has come to DOMINATE the team communication game to the point where we have no idea how we’d do what we do without it.
That doesn’t mean we don’t also hate it sometimes. 👿
It’s so easy for it to get cluttered and become a distraction that dominates your waking life as you mouse between dozens of blinking channels and private messages.
It’s important that you get a handle on the shortcuts that make all day Slack toggling a breeze and to ensure you’re using Slack as a tool, and not feeling like a tool chasing after it all day.🔧
It’s well known that most developers loathe the mouse. The classic point and click GUI gets the job done, but it requires a whole different part of your brain to grab the mouse, move it around, scroll, and type. This alone can often take you out of flow, while the endless scroll can lead to a myriad of other distractions.
Imagine if you could just think and type, hands never leaving the keys, a perfect amalgam of person and Slack.
Are you ready to take the red pill? 💊
- One Shortcut to Rule Them All ( cmnd + / )
Go to Slack’s desktop app and press command (ctrl on PC) and forward slash.
Bang, now we’re cooking with Crisco. Welcome to the wonderful world of mouse-free Slack wizardry:
Play around with a few of these simple functions and you’ll find that you no longer have to break your train of thought to mouse through an endless list of teammates or channels to find the one you need.
- The Basics ( cmnd + n, cmnd + k or t )
Command + N, K to toggle between your conversations, or start a new one.
- Catch Up Quick (cmnd + shift + a)
Once you’ve integrated these, try: cmnd + shift + a 👉 to open all unread channels to quickly scan for new messages in threads or channels to see what you’ve missed without having to mouse around.
There’s no doubt that Slack has done wonders for remote teams around the world, and with a handle on these basic shortcuts, you and your team can keep it working for you as you scale your team and your business.
For a full list of Slack Shortcut wizardry, check out makeuseof.com
