How to open preferences in Slack on Mac: keyboard shortcut and profile menu, 2026

Slack puts your personal settings in one window called Preferences. On a Mac, you can reach it in two common ways. One is a keyboard shortcut. The other is a menu that starts at your profile picture. Both lead to the same window, and this page covers each route, plus the fixes you need when something goes wrong.

Open preferences with the keyboard shortcut

Make Slack the active app first. Click an empty part of the Slack window, or switch to Slack with your usual app switcher. Then hold Command, tap the comma key, and let go. The shortcut is written ⌘ , in this guide, and Preferences opens in its own window.

Slack's screen reader help article gives the same shortcut for Mac. It says to press Command plus Comma to open your preferences. On Windows and Linux, the shortcut uses Ctrl plus Comma instead. That detail matters if you switch between a Mac and another computer.

The comma key sits near the M key on a standard US keyboard, on the bottom row. Other keyboard layouts can put it somewhere else. Apple says shortcuts can differ by language and keyboard layout, so the key you press may not match the guide exactly.

Slack's help center documents this shortcut for the desktop app only. If you use Slack in a browser, do not count on ⌘ , working there. Use the profile picture route instead, because Slack's help center describes that route for both versions.

Open preferences from your profile picture

If you prefer the mouse or trackpad, start in the left sidebar. Click your profile picture. Choose Preferences from the menu that opens. Slack's notifications help article gives this same path for the desktop app on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Click the picture itself. Clicking a channel or a message does not lead to Preferences in the steps Slack documents. If you see a menu without Preferences in it, close the menu and try again on your picture.

What you will find inside Preferences

Preferences is split into tabs. Slack's help articles name Notifications and Advanced. They also mention an Accessibility tab, which is worth a look if you use assistive tools. Notifications controls when Slack alerts you. Advanced holds search options.

Tabs can change over time. Slack's update log says sidebar tabs were consolidated in September 2025 and can be reordered in September 2026. Those changes were made to the sidebar, not to Preferences, so the tab names in this guide should still help you find your way.

Change notification settings in Preferences

Say a busy channel keeps sending alerts you do not need. Open Preferences, then click Notifications. Slack's notifications article documents this route for the desktop app. Change one setting at a time, then watch how alerts behave over the next day.

Write down what you changed. If you change several things at once, you cannot tell which change helped. This habit takes a minute and saves you from undoing good settings later.

Limit search results by excluding channels

Search can fill with results from a noisy channel. Slack's search article describes the fix. Open your profile picture, choose Preferences, select Advanced, then find Search options. Add the channels you want to exclude from results.

The same article says these steps work from the desktop app or from Slack in your browser. In a browser, the Advanced area also has a setting where Cmd F or Ctrl F starts a Slack search. Check that setting if the shortcut does nothing for you in a browser.

For a quick test, run a search you ran last week. Compare the results before and after you exclude a channel. If the channel no longer appears, the setting worked. If you want the full search workflow, read how to search messages in Slack on Mac.

Quick reference for Preferences on Mac

Check your Slack version before you troubleshoot

Menu labels and shortcuts can change between builds. Slack's Mac release notes list 4.53.280 as the latest stable build with a date you can verify, Nov 3, 2026. That release note covers security improvements.

The recent Mac release notes do not mention menus, Preferences, settings, or navigation. That is useful, but it does not guarantee your screen matches this guide. Follow the labels you see, and treat this page as a map rather than a script.

When the shortcut does not open Preferences

Start by making sure Slack is the active app. Then check the menu bar. Apple's help says that if a shortcut does not work, you should look in the app menus for the correct one, because shortcuts can differ by language and keyboard layout.

Next, look for a conflict. Open System Settings, go to Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts. Apple says a warning icon appears next to conflicting shortcuts. Double-click the shortcut and press the new key combination to change it.

Last, fully quit Slack with ⌘ Q and open it again. This tip comes from community guides, not from Slack's help center, so treat it as a test rather than an official fix. Some utilities also grab key combinations. If one is running, quit it and try the shortcut again.

Here is a worked example. You press ⌘ , in Slack and nothing happens. You click the Slack window and try again, with the same result. You open System Settings, check Keyboard Shortcuts, and find a warning icon next to a conflict. You change that shortcut, and Preferences opens when you press ⌘ , again.

When your IT team locks a setting

On a work Mac, an administrator may control some defaults. Slack's configuration article says desktop app configuration is supported for version 4.31 and higher. Admins use .plist or .mobileconfig files under the domain com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap.

If a setting will not change, do not keep guessing. Ask your admin whether that setting is managed. That answer usually saves more time than any shortcut fix.

Use Preferences in Slack in a browser

Slack in a browser has the same profile picture route. Slack's search article says those steps work from the desktop app or from Slack in your browser. The ⌘ , shortcut is not documented for the browser, so start from the profile picture there.

The browser setting that makes Cmd F or Ctrl F start a Slack search lives under the same Preferences path. If you use both the desktop app and a browser, check that setting in each place and note which one you changed.

Common mistakes with Preferences in Slack

• Clicking the wrong spot. Use your profile picture in the sidebar, not a channel name.
• Pressing ⌘ , while another app is in front. Click the Slack window first.
• Following an old screenshot. Tab names can change, so match the labels on your screen.
• Assuming the shortcut works in a browser. Slack documents it only for the desktop app.
• Skipping the conflict check. A conflicting shortcut can stop the keys from working, so check before you decide Slack is broken.

What to do after Preferences opens

Change one setting at a time. Close Preferences when you finish. Reopen it later with the same route to confirm the change held. A setting that looks wrong in the moment often works fine once you see it in use.

If your next job is clearing unread items, read how to mark all messages as read in Slack on Mac. It covers the Unreads view and the steps that follow it.

Slack's labels can change, so trust the screen in front of you over any guide, including this one. Remember the two routes, the shortcut and the profile picture, and you can get to Preferences from almost any state of the app.