Even if you know all the best Slack tips, you may still run into Slack issues. If you work from home, or if Slack is just the best way to communicate with your coworkers, then you know how important it is that the app runs smoothly.
But if not, we’ve got your back. In this guide, we look at five of the most common Slack issues and show you how to fix them so you can get your workday up and running again.
Problem connecting to Slack
One of the most common issues with Slack is connectivity. And even if there are times when the entire platform goes down, connectivity issues aren’t just from global outages. It is also possible that your connection issues could be on your end. If you’re having trouble connecting to Slack, the first thing you should do is check your own connection. Check your connection by trying to load another website in your browser. Slack also recommends checking your connection to its service by using its own connection test, which can be accessed at slack.com/help/test.
If your connection passes the two tests above, then it’s likely that Slack is experiencing its own platform crash, and you should wait until Slack fixes it. You can confirm such an outage by visiting a website like Downdetector, which will allow you to find the current outage status on services like Slack. Slack also has its own status board.
If your connection is the problem, then you need to reset your internet connection and then restart Slack. In most cases, this should resolve your connection issue.
Too many notifications
You’ve just been enrolled in your company’s Slack workspace and you’ve been invited to multiple channels to keep up with your work events. That’s great, except for the fact that now you get a million notifications on your computer and phone every time a coworker says something, even if it has nothing to do with you. Here are some ways to reduce it. The three most effective methods are: Do Not Disturb, leaving a channel, or muting a channel.
Enabling the Do Not Disturb (DND) feature is great if you need to temporarily mute all notifications. To do this, select your Profile Picture icon in the upper right corner of your screen and select Stop Notifications. In the pop-up menu that appears, select your desired time period for which you want to stop notifications.
You can also leave a channel if you think most of its messages are not relevant to you. If you want to leave a channel, just right-click on the channel name in your sidebar and select Leave the Channel option from the menu that appears. You can also leave a channel by navigating to that channel and then clicking on Show Channel Details icon in the upper right corner of that channel. This icon looks like a circle with an “i” in it. Then, click on In addition icon. In the pop-up menu that appears, select Leave the #Name-of-Channel. You can rejoin the channel if you need to do so later.
You also have the option to mute a channel. If you mute a channel, you will not receive notifications from it even in the situations you mentioned. To mute (or unmute) a channel, you can right-click the channel name in the sidebar and select Mute/Unmute Channel option from the menu that pops up. You can also mute a channel by opening that channel, clicking on Show channel details icon, and then click the In addition icon. In the pop-up menu that appears, select Mute/Unmute #Name-of-Channel.
Audio issues with Slack calls
Maybe you’re on a Slack video call, but you’re having trouble hearing the people on the other end, or they’re having trouble hearing you. If you’re having Slack issues with the audio of your calls, there are a few troubleshooting methods you can try.
- According to Slack’s Help Center, you have four options when you call through the Slack desktop app: Review your call’s audio settings in the app, restart the app, review the audio settings in your device, or update your device’s audio drivers. You can check your call audio settings in the Slack app by selecting the call window Gear icon. From there, you need to confirm that the correct input/output devices are selected.
- You can also restart the Slack app (or restart your device) to see if that helps the problem. You can also review your device’s audio settings to make sure your hardware isn’t muted there and that Slack is granted access to your microphone. Finally, you may want to consider updating your device’s audio drivers if they are not up to date.
Search for a specific message (among the many you receive)
When you’re looking for a specific message in Slack, scrolling through your channels to find it can seem daunting. But you don’t have to live like that. You can always search for a message by using the search box at the top of the screen. When you search in Slack this way, you also have access to filters and modifiers that help you narrow down your results by things like people, channels, or time periods.
And as a preventive measure against this Slack issue, you can also pin important messages to the top of a conversation or channel so you or others can review them later if needed. You can pin a message by hovering over it and selecting the Additional Actions (three vertical dots) icon that will pop up. Once you select that icon, a menu should appear.
Select the Pin to Channel option from that menu. If you want to view a pinned message in a channel or conversation, select Pushpin icon above the channel or conversation. Show you a sidebar showing all pinned messages from that channel or direct message.
Notifications that stay even after you check your messages
Usually, you can click the alert on your message and watch it go away as you read the message, but sometimes it doesn’t. If a notification remains, you can refresh the alerts. This can only be done if you clear the app’s cache to delete all lingering notifications while refreshing the alerts’ ability to function normally. We’ve searched the Help Center for steps to do this on the desktop, Android, and iOS apps.
In the Slack desktop app, you can clear your cache by clicking on the Three Horizontal Lines icon in the upper left corner of your screen. Then, choose Help > Troubleshooting > Clear Cache and Restart.
In Slack Android appsclick on you icon in the lower-right corner of your screen. Then choose Preferences > Advanced > Reset Cache. pat yea to confirm.
For the iOS Slack app, you visit your iOS device Settings app. Then, you make a choice Slack > Reset Cache on Next Launch. Then, open the Slack app again.
Slack doesn’t seem to update well
If you are not receiving updates as you expect and Slack is not automatically registering new messages as usual, there may be an issue with Slack’s WebSocket connections. When this happens, you will often see a message that says, “Last updated less than a minute ago…”
Generally, WebSocket connections are supported, although some network administrators may have rules that prohibit that. Try restarting Slack as we mentioned above and see if the issue is resolved. Reboot your device completely if it persists.
If you continue to encounter this error and lag, contact your network administrator and inform them of the problem. Slack requests that you send Net Logs to document this issue so that it can be further investigated.
Slack refuses to work because it thinks my device is jailbroken
If your device is actually jailbroken, then Slack is programmed not to work. However, this problem often comes up when Slack thinks a device is jailbroken, when it really isn’t. This is usually an issue with some settings IT has chosen for work phones, so apply any unique updates to the Slack app, and contact your system administrator or manager.
My company monitors Slack activity to measure productivity and I need to look busy
This problem began to grow more frequently during pandemic lockdowns and as companies moved to a hybrid workplace afterward. Ultimately, this isn’t an issue with how Slack works, and there aren’t any practical workarounds. Unlike some apps, Slack doesn’t allow you to customize your current status much. If you’re online but not currently active in Slack, your status will show this. If you’re not online, it will show in Slack. If Slack time is really used as a measure of your productivity, we suggest downloading the app on as many devices as possible and making sure you’re always logged into one wherever you are.
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