Slack keyboard shortcuts.
Move through Slack at speed — jump between channels, clear unreads, and format messages by keyboard.
The quick switcher is the one to learn
If you take a single shortcut from this page, make it ⌘/Ctrl + K — the quick switcher. Start typing a channel name or a person's name and jump straight there, no scrolling the sidebar. In a busy workspace with dozens of channels and DMs, this one shortcut removes most of the navigation friction by itself, and it's the habit that separates people who feel fast in Slack from those who don't.
Clearing the backlog
For getting through unreads, ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + A opens the All Unreads view where you can read and mark everything in one place, and Esc marks the current channel read. Moving between channels with Alt + ↑/↓ (and jumping to the next unread with Alt + Shift + ↑/↓) lets you sweep through a morning's messages quickly. Editing your last message is just the ↑ arrow in an empty message box — a small thing you'll use constantly.
Formatting and focus
A few more earn their place: ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + \ adds an emoji reaction, and the markdown-style formatting (⌘/Ctrl + B bold, ⌘/Ctrl + I italic, ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + X strikethrough) keeps your hands on the keyboard while you write. Press ⌘/Ctrl + / to see the full shortcut list inside Slack any time. If your team also uses other tools, the Microsoft Teams and Discord cheatsheets cover the same ground there.