Slack Keyboard Shortcuts
One binding does most of the work in Slack: the quick switcher. Learn it and you never click a channel in the sidebar again. The rest of the sheet covers formatting and getting through unreads without losing your place.
14 shortcuts across 3 groups
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + K | Jump to a channel or person |
| Ctrl + Shift + K | Open direct messages |
| Alt + Up / Down | Previous or next channel |
| Ctrl + Shift + A | Open all unreads |
| Ctrl + . | Toggle the right pane |
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + B | Bold the selected text |
| Ctrl + I | Italic the selected text |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Format as a code block |
| Up | Edit your last message |
| Ctrl + Shift + \ | React with an emoji |
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Esc | Mark the channel as read |
| Ctrl + F | Search the current channel |
| Ctrl + G | Search all of Slack |
| Ctrl + / | Show the shortcut list |
Source: Slack Help Center, Slack keyboard shortcuts. Bindings listed for Windows. On macOS, Ctrl becomes Cmd across the Slack keymap. The Slack version these bindings were checked against is not established, so treat any binding that does not work as a version difference and check the vendor documentation linked above. 14 shortcuts.
Getting these into muscle memory
A cheat sheet only helps if the bindings move from the page into your hands. The fastest way is to pick two or three shortcuts from a single group above, force yourself to use them for a few days even when the mouse feels quicker, and only then add more. Trying to memorize an entire sheet at once rarely sticks, because none of the bindings get enough repetition to become automatic.
The groups here are ordered by how often you reach for them. Openers and palettes come first because they unlock everything else, then editing and navigation, which is where most of a session is spent. Keep this page open in a tab while you learn, and it will quietly work its way out of your sight and into your fingers.