Find and Organize Communication
Chat includes several ways to return to important work without manually scanning every channel.
Use Activity
Select Activity to review recent events across conversations you can access. Activity can include:
- New messages and thread replies
- Mentions, clearly labeled Mentioned you
- Reactions added or removed
- Members added or removed
- Channels renamed, archived, or restored
- Email sent, received, or failed
- New external submissions
Select the conversation name beside an activity item to jump to the relevant message. More activity loads automatically as you reach the end.
Search All Messages
Select the search field in the sidebar or press / while focus is not in an editor. You can search every accessible channel and direct message by message text, then narrow results by:
- Conversation
- Sender
- Type: message, email, or announcement
- Start date
- End date
Select Open conversation on a result to jump to the exact message in context. Results load progressively when there are many matches.
Search respects conversation access. A result from a private channel is visible only to people who can open that channel.
Use the Quick Switcher
On mobile, open the magnifying-glass button at the top of the chat sidebar. On any device with a keyboard, press Command/Ctrl + K. Search by conversation name or participant name.
The quick switcher also provides shortcuts to:
- Search messages
- Start a conversation
- Open Activity
- Open Saved messages
Unread counts appear beside matching conversations, which helps you jump directly to the busiest item.
Save a Message for Later
Hover over or focus a message and select the bookmark action, or right-click it on desktop and choose Save for later. The message appears in your personal Saved view with a link back to its conversation.
Use Saved for information you personally want to revisit, such as a phone number, decision, or task you have not finished. Select the filled bookmark again to remove it.
Saved messages are personal. Use a pin when everyone in the conversation should be able to find the item.
Pin Important Messages
Select the pin action on a message to add it to the conversation's shared Pins and links list. Open the pin button in the conversation header to review pinned messages and jump back to the original.
Pins are useful for decisions, procedures, schedules, and reference messages that should remain easy for the whole conversation to find.
Add Shared Links
Conversation managers can open Pins and links and add a URL with a friendly label. This keeps frequently used external resources beside pinned messages instead of burying them in chat history.
Examples include a volunteer calendar, an external transport sheet, a vendor portal, or a public campaign page.
Copy a Message Link
Use the link action on a message to copy a URL that opens the correct conversation and highlights the exact message. Only people with permission to access that conversation can open it.
Control Your Conversation List
Use All for active conversations, Unread for active conversations with unread messages, and Archived for read-only conversations that have been archived. The tab counts show how much is in each view. Rows with unread messages show a count, and the same unread total appears at the top of Chat and in the main app sidebar.
Use a row's more-actions button or right-click the row on desktop to mark it read or unread, star or unstar it, and archive or restore it. Mark a conversation unread when you want it to return to your attention; starred conversations sort first within their tab.
Work with Long Histories
Conversation lists, search results, email, activity, saved messages, submissions, and threads all load in pages rather than downloading the entire history at once. Inside a conversation, older messages load automatically when you scroll upward, and the reading position is preserved while those messages are added.
The message list renders only the portion currently needed on screen, helping large channels remain responsive. A Jump to latest control appears when you move away from the newest messages.