Your Complete Guide to Private Slack Channels

Do you ever have confidential business matters to discuss over Slack? Do you want an easy way to have focused conversations with just a subset of your team?

If so, it may be time to look into Slack‘s private channel feature!

Private channels give you granular control over who can access information and participate in conversations. They are an incredibly useful productivity tool when utilized correctly.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore what exactly private Slack channels are, when to use them, and how to create and manage private channels securely.

Let‘s get started!

What Are Private Slack Channels?

Slack channels facilitate communication by grouping conversations into categories like departments, projects, or subjects.

By default, any Slack workspace member can view or join public channels. Private channels are invite-only for approved members.

When might private Slack channels come in handy? A few examples:

• Discussing financial data, acquisition deals, payroll info or other confidential matters
• Customer support or crisis management conversations
• Working closely with a subset of employees like a leadership team
• Ideation for new products still in stealth mode

Private channels operate separate from Slack‘s direct messaging feature since those DMs aren‘t permanent chat rooms around specific topics.

Yet private channels still contain conversations, document sharing and workflow benefits without permitting the entire company to view or search messages like public channels do.

Key Benefits of Using Private Slack Channels

If public channels act like town halls for company-wide communication, think of private channels as closed conference rooms for specialized projects and groups.

Benefits of private Slack channels include:

• Restricted access for confidential legal/business matters
• Better moderation for internal discussions
• Collaboration with a subset of your team

According to SmallBizTrends, roughly 68% of teams using Slack have at least one private channel set up. So if you aren‘t yet using private channels, you may be missing out!

Private channels aren‘t a free-for-all though. Only Owners, Admins and Managers can create them due to the sensitivity of restricted content. But properly utilized, they can greatly improve team communication and productivity.

Now let‘s walk through how to create and manage private Slack channels.

Step-by-Step Instructions

You have two options for establishing a private channel – either convert an existing public channel or create a brand new private channel. We‘ll cover both methods with helpful visual guides.

Making an Existing Public Channel Private

Best for when you have…

• An active #general or #random channel with off-topic messages
• Confidential info accidentally posted in a public channel

If you simply need to apply some retroactive privacy to conversations in a channel, converting from public to private only takes a minute.

To make an existing public Slack channel private:

1. Open the channel by clicking its name in the left sidebar
2. Click on the blue channel name at the top of the screen
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu
4. Click the button to Change to a private channel
5. Confirm you want to make the change permanent

Let‘s visualize those five quick steps:

And finally…

5. Confirm Privacy Change

That‘s all it takes to convert an existing channel over to private status!

Do note that…

• You cannot revert to public channel status later
• Any prior messages still remain visible to members

So only make channels private if you need sustained privacy moving forward.

Next up, we‘ll explore creating a totally new private channel instead.

Creating a Brand New Private Slack Channel

Best for when you want to…

• Discuss confidential financial data
• Collaborate with leadership on strategy
• Ideate on stealth mode projects

Starting fresh with a private channel ensures privacy from the very first message.

Here is how to create a new private Slack channel:

1. Click Add channels in the left sidebar
2. Select Create a new channel
3. Give the channel a name and description
4. Toggle the switch to Make private on
5. Click the Create button

Let me visualize the process for you:

And you‘re done! You‘ll now see your new private channel in the channel list.

Now let‘s quickly cover mobile app instructions…

Creating Private Slack Channels on Mobile

Good news – the iOS and Android Slack apps also permit private channel creation. However, you cannot convert existing channels to private via mobile.

Here is how to make new private channels on mobile:

1. Tap the + or Add Channel button
2. Select the Create Channel option
3. Give your private channel a name and description
4. Toggle the Make Private switch on
5. Tap Create to finish the process

While the mobile process is quite similar, here are handy visual guides:

On iOS devices:

On Android devices:

And that covers mobile private channel creation!

Managing Private Channel Permissions

But what if you aren‘t seeing options to make channels private? Access limitations may be at play.

Here‘s how to update permissions for private channel creation:

1. Click your workspace name
2. Select Settings & administration
3. Click Manage members
4. Click the three dot menu by a member‘s name
5. Choose Change account type
6. Select Owner or Admin to allow access

Let me visualize those permission steps:

5. Select Owner or Admin Role

And that‘s it! Tweak as needed until you see private channels options appear.

Now let‘s wrap things up with some key takeaways…

Key Takeaways About Private Slack Channels

Here are some final thoughts to keep in mind:

• Once made private, channels cannot revert to public
• Look for a lock icon by private channel names
• Default channels like #general remain public
• About 68% of Slack teams use private channels
• Mind permissions needed to create private channels

I hope these images, step-by-steps, and tips give you a full guide to mastering private channels in Slack!

Let me know if you have any other questions. I‘m always happy to help explain Slack features and best practices. Feel free to also reach out if you need any help setting up private channels for your team.