Securing Your Slack Account: A Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Your Password

Hey there! As remote collaboration has taken off, you likely rely on Slack across your devices for messaging teammates. But with sensitive company data flowing through Slack channels, it‘s crucial your account stays locked down.

The foundation is a strong password that you update often. Here‘s an in-depth walkthrough on changing your Slack password to keep your account secure.

Why Updating Passwords Matters

Before jumping to the how-to, let‘s look at a few reasons why changing passwords regularly is critical for account security:

Breaches are common – A 2022 survey by Tessian found that 52% of employees had one of their work accounts compromised. With remote work expanding attack surfaces, threats are increasing.
Old passwords get exposed – According to Microsoft, every second an incredible 123,000 password attempts are made by cybercriminals. The longer a password sticks around, the more chances it has to get cracked.
Minimize damage – In the event your credentials do get stolen, regularly updating passwords limits the window of account access. Damage control becomes easier.

Now that you know changing passwords matters, let‘s walk through doing so in Slack.

Step 1: Log Into Your Slack Account

First, you‘ll need access to your account by logging in on slack.com or the Slack app:

Once your credentials are validated on this screen, you‘ll enter your Slack workspace.

Step 2: Navigate to Account Settings

After logging in, click your circular profile picture at the top right and choose "Account Settings":

This will open a new page with your Slack account details.

Step 3: Expand Password Section

In your account settings, find the "Password" box and click the right arrow to expand it:

Expanding this section allows you to enter both your current valid password and a new one.

Step 4: Enter Current and New Password

In the expanded Password section, first enter your existing password in the "Current password" field.

Then in "New password" and "Confirm password", type the new credentials you want to switch to:

Slack passwords must:

Have at least 6 characters
Cannot contain personal info
Cannot be a recently used password

For better security, use 10+ characters, numbers, symbols, and obscure phrases.

Step 5: Save New Password

Once you‘ve filled in the proper password fields, click the green "Save" button at the bottom:

Slack will confirm your new password is updated. Sign out then back in to validate it works.

Changing Passwords: Summary

For quick reference, here are the steps to update your Slack password:

Step	Action
1	Log into your Slack account
2	Go to Account Settings
3	Expand Password section
4	Enter current and new password
5	Click Save button

Easy enough!

Building Better Passwords

In addition to changing passwords routinely, using strong passwords is also crucial for security.

Here are password best practices based on guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):

✅	❌
10-64 characters	Under 10 characters
Obscure phrases	Real words found in dictionaries
Numbers, symbols, mixed case	All lower-case letters
Unique for each account	Re-using passwords

Generally, longer passwords with multiple character types are much harder to crack. Aim for at least 10 characters.

Additional Measures Beyond Passwords

While strong, frequently changed passwords are critical, Slack also offers extra layers of security:

Two-factor authentication – Have a code sent to your phone to validate logins
Approved device list – Only allow access on designated devices
Remote sign out – Sign out all sessions if your credential is compromised

For high security accounts, experts recommend enabling all of these.

Combined with routinely changing your password to a long, complex one, your Slack account will be nearly impenetrable!