Set your Slack status and availability
As you work in Slack, it's helpful to let your team know how quickly you can respond to messages and when you're available. Slack has a couple of ways to share your whereabouts and indicate your availability to other members.
- A status is a message that lets others know what you’re up to.
- Availability refers to the dot next your display name that indicates if you’re active in Slack.
Tip: If you're a workspace owner or admin, learn how to customise the status suggestions that members can choose from.
Update your Slack status
When you set a status in Slack, you'll see your status emoji appear next to your name. Other members can see your status emoji anywhere that they can see your full or display name, and they can view your full status either in your profile or when they hover over your status emoji on desktop. If you don’t select a status emoji, a 💬 speech balloon will display by default.
Desktop
Mobile
Set your status
- Click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Click the Update your status field.
- Enter a status and select an emoji or choose a suggested status option.
- Click on Clear after to choose when your status will clear. If you like, tick the box next to Pause notifications to turn off notifications until your status clears.
- Click on Save.
Edit or clear your status
- Click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Click on your current status to edit it, or click on Clear status to remove it.
Set your status
- Tap your profile picture.
- Tap the status field.
- Enter a status, then tap the emoji icon to select an emoji, if you'd like. Or select a suggested status option.
- Tap Clear after to choose when your status will clear.
- Tap Done.
Edit or clear your status
- Tap your profile picture.
- Tap your current status to edit it, or tap Clear to clear it.
Note: Depending on your workspace or Grid org settings, your status may be visible to members of other organisations in channels shared externally.
Manage automatic statuses
Slack can let people know that you may be slow to respond based on your activity if you're in a huddle, in focus mode or it's after your working hours.
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Select Preferences.
- Under Automatic statuses, tick or untick the box next to the statuses that you want to be updated automatically.
Schedule a status
You can schedule a status in advance for when you’ll be away from Slack or otherwise busy, like when you’re on holiday, having lunch or in an important meeting. Scheduled statuses turn on automatically at the time you set.
Set a scheduled status
- Click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Click the Update your status field.
- Enter a status and select an emoji or choose a suggested status option.
- From the Duration drop-down menu, click Choose a start and end time.
- Select a start and end date for your status.
- Click on Save.
Manage a scheduled status
You can view, edit or cancel a status before it starts.
- Click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Under Scheduled, click the status you want to manage.
- Edit the details and click Save.
- To remove a scheduled status, hover over it and click the delete icon.
Tip: You can schedule up to five statuses at a time.
Manage your availability
From the dot next to your name, your colleagues can see whether you’re set to active or away, and if you’ve paused your notifications.
Slack automatically determines your availability: you’re set to active when Slack is open on your desktop or mobile device. You’re set to away after ten minutes of desktop inactivity or if you navigate away or close the app on your mobile device.
Active
Away
Set your availability
If you like, you can manually set yourself to active or away at any time.
Desktop
Mobile
- Click your profile picture in the sidebar.
- Click on Set yourself as away or Set yourself as active.
- Tap your profile picture.
- Tap Set yourself away or Set yourself as active.