# How to save a message for later in Slack on Mac: steps, shortcut and fixes

> Learn how to save a message for later in Slack on Mac: hover, More actions, Add to saved, the A shortcut, and Home > Saved.

URL: https://www.lazur.app/how-to/save-a-message-for-later-in-slack
Updated: 2026-11-06

Hover over the message in Slack on your Mac, click More actions (the three dots), and choose Add to saved. With the message focused, press A to do the same thing, then find it later under Home > Saved.

## Quick answer

- Hover over the message, click More actions (the three dots), then choose Add to saved.
- With the message focused, press A to save it, and press A again to remove it from Saved.
- Find saved items under Home > Saved. Only you can see them.
- A third-party guide says Slack renamed Save for later to Add to saved in October 2026. Look under Home for Saved and To-dos.
- With the message focused, press M to create a reminder about it.

Applies to: Slack desktop app on macOS, with the Home layout that shows Saved and To-dos. Time: 2 min. Difficulty: Easy.

## What you need

- Slack desktop app for Mac, signed in to your workspace
- A message you can see in a channel, direct message, or thread
- Access to Home in the Slack sidebar

## How to Save a Slack message on Mac and find it later in Slack on a Mac

1. **Hover over the message.** Open the channel, direct message, or thread that holds the message. Move your pointer over the message until the small toolbar appears on its right side. Tip: If no toolbar shows, move the pointer over the message text itself.
2. **Open More actions.** (Message toolbar > More actions) Click the More actions icon. It looks like three dots. Slack's help article uses this name for the icon. Tip: Hover over each icon to read its label before you click.
3. **Choose Add to saved.** (More actions > Add to saved) In the menu, click Add to saved. The message is now saved, and only you can see your saved items. Tip: Older guides say Save for later. It is the same action.
4. **Save with the A shortcut.** Shortcut: A. Make sure the message is focused, then press A. Press A again on the same message to remove it from Saved. Tip: If a letter appears in the message box, click the message and try again.
5. **Open Home.** (Sidebar > Home > Saved) Click Home in the sidebar, then find the Saved section. Your saved items appear there.
6. **Open a saved message in context.** (Home > Saved > More actions > Open in Home) Hover over the saved item, click More actions, and choose Open in Home. Slack shows the message inside its conversation.
7. **Remove a single item.** (Home > Saved > Clear icon) Hover over the saved item and click the clear icon. The item leaves your Saved list.
8. **Clean up in bulk.** (Home > Saved > Clean-up icon) Use the clean-up icon to remove all saved items, or to move the items you select to To-dos. Read the prompt before you confirm.
9. **Set a reminder with M.** Shortcut: M. With the message focused, press M to create a reminder about it. Follow the prompt that appears, because the official pages do not describe every option.
10. **Check To-dos.** (Home > To-dos) If an item seems missing from Saved, open Home and check To-dos. Items that clean-up moved there appear in that section.

## Where the save option lives on a Mac

The save option sits on the message, not in the sidebar. Hover over a message in a channel, a direct message, or a thread, and a small toolbar appears on its right side. Click More actions, the icon with three dots. Then choose Add to saved. That is the desktop flow in Slack's official Help Center article.

![Person at a Mac laptop learning how to save a message for later in Slack on Mac](https://lfobmih1tpj3sgpo.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/content-images/howto/save-a-message-for-later-in-slack/how-to-save-a-message-for-later-1-02f295.jpg)

## Save a message with the A shortcut

If you save often, the keyboard is faster. Slack's keyboard shortcuts page lists A as the way to save a message, with that message focused. Press A again on the same message to remove it from Saved. Check Home > Saved if you are not sure what you just did.

Focus is the catch. The shortcut needs a focused message. If A types a letter into the message box, the box had focus instead. Click the message itself, then press A. Keep the message box empty when you practice, so a stray letter cannot end up in a draft.

![Man typing on a laptop keyboard while Slack stays open on the screen](https://lfobmih1tpj3sgpo.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/content-images/howto/save-a-message-for-later-in-slack/how-to-save-a-message-for-later-2-c24f78.jpg)

## Find your saved messages under Home

Saved items live in Home. Click Home in the sidebar, then look for the Saved section. Slack's help article says saved items are visible only to you. Nobody else can browse your list.

To go back to a saved message in its original place, use the route Slack's help article gives:

1. Click Home in the sidebar, then open the Saved section.
2. Hover over the item you want.
3. Click More actions, then choose Open in Home.
4. Read the conversation around the message, and reply in place.

| Action | Where it lives on Mac | Shortcut |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Save a message | Hover, More actions, Add to saved | A, with the message focused |
| Remove a message from Saved | Home > Saved, then the clear icon | A, with the message focused |
| Open a saved message in context | Home > Saved, More actions, Open in Home | None listed |
| Remove all saved items, or move some to To-dos | Home > Saved, clean-up icon | None listed |
| Create a reminder about a message | Not covered by the official steps | M, with the message focused |

_Saved message actions in Slack on Mac, from Slack's Help Center and shortcuts page_

## Remove items and clean up the Saved list

A saved list grows quietly. To remove one item, go to Home > Saved, hover over it, and click the clear icon. Slack's help article describes that icon for single items.

The clean-up icon works on the whole list. Slack's help article says it either removes all saved items or moves the items you select to To-dos. Read the prompt before you confirm, because the two choices do different things.

> **Check the icon:** Clean-up and clear are different icons. Hover first and read the label before you click. Clicking clean-up by mistake can clear more than you meant.

## Create a reminder about a message with M

Slack's keyboard shortcuts page lists M as the shortcut to create a reminder about a message, with that message focused. That is the one reminder detail the official pages confirm. Slack's help pages do not spell out reminder times, delivery, or where reminders appear. Follow the prompt Slack shows, and test it on a low-stakes message first.

## What changed in October 2026: Later became Saved and To-dos

Older articles and screenshots say Save for later, and they show a Later tab. A third-party guide from Slack Green says Slack renamed the action to Add to saved in October 2026, and split the old Later tab into Saved and To-dos. Slack's desktop article already uses Add to saved. Slack's official pages do not confirm the split.

If you looked for a Later tab and found nothing, check Home for Saved and To-dos. Slack Green tested the flow on desktop and web in a test workspace. It describes pressing A with a message in focus to save it. It does not test the Mac app on its own, so treat its details as a guide, not a guarantee.

> **Wording check:** Slack's article uses Add to saved for desktop but still says Save for later for mobile. If your menu uses different words, match the action, not the label.

## A worked example: saving a launch checklist

Here is a common case. Someone posts a launch checklist in a channel called #launch-prep while you are in a planning call. Hover over the message, click More actions, and choose Add to saved. You stay in your meeting, and nothing else changes.

After the call, click Home in the sidebar and open Saved. Hover over the checklist, click More actions, and choose Open in Home. Slack takes you to the message in context. You read the replies, post your answer in the thread, and clear the item with the clear icon once the work is done. You never scroll back through a busy channel to find it.

![Home office desk with a laptop, the place to check your Saved list in Slack](https://lfobmih1tpj3sgpo.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/content-images/howto/save-a-message-for-later-in-slack/how-to-save-a-message-for-later-3-b5f698.jpg)

## Mistakes people make with saved messages

- Pressing A while typing. The letter lands in the message box, and nothing gets saved.
- Looking for a Later tab after the October 2026 change. The items now sit under Home.
- Treating Saved as a reminder. Saving keeps a message. A reminder is a separate action with M.
- Using clean-up when you meant clear. Clean-up works on the whole list or on the items you select.
- Planning around a limit. Slack's help article does not state a limit on saved items.

## Mac, web, and mobile: is the flow the same?

Slack's official article has two sections, Desktop and Mobile. It has no separate Mac section, so the Mac app follows the desktop steps in this guide. The official pages show no Mac-only difference for this flow. Slack Green describes the same save flow on desktop and web. On a phone, the article still says Save for later, so expect different words.

## When a saved message seems to be missing

Two causes are documented. The first is the rename and split described above. The second is a display fault. Slack's status page for 19 March 2025 reports that some users could not see the Later option in the navigation bar. The workaround is to refresh Slack with ⌘ ⇧ R on a Mac.

Refresh first, then check Home > Saved and Home > To-dos. If the message still does not show, search for the original. [Search messages in Slack on Mac](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/search-messages-in-slack) walks through the steps. Save the message again once you find it.

## Saved, To-dos, or a thread: which one to use

Use Saved for messages you want to come back to, with no set task attached. Use To-dos for work you still have to finish, since clean-up can move items there. If you want to follow one conversation from start to end, open the threads view instead. [Open the Threads view in Slack on Mac](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/open-the-threads-view-in-slack) shows the steps.

## Save files too, and what the article covers

The official article is titled Save messages and files for later, so files count too. The article text does not spell out a separate file flow. Open the More actions icon on a shared file, look for Add to saved, then check Home > Saved to confirm it arrived.

## Keep the Saved list short

Slack's 2023 Workforce Index says desk workers would ideally spend about four hours a day in focus time. That figure is a self-reported ideal, not a measure of how people actually work. The same index found that 37% of desk workers log on outside standard hours at least weekly. Of those who log on after hours, 54% say they feel pressured to.

A saved list helps you stop checking a channel for one message. Pick a set time each day, such as the end of your first meeting block, to open Home > Saved. Work through the items, reply where needed, then clear what you have finished. Keep the list to the few items you need this week.

## Shortcut details the official list does not settle

Slack's keyboard shortcuts page confirms A and M for this job. It also lists a key for the shortcuts panel, but the page gives different keys in different versions. One version shows ⌘ /, and another shows ⌘ ,. Do not rely on either until you check the shortcuts list in the app.

> **Practice tip:** Use the menu once on a message. Then try A on the next one, and fall back to the menu when the shortcut does nothing.

Once saving feels routine, the next gain is cutting noise. These guides cover the next steps: [jump to the latest unread message](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/jump-to-the-latest-unread-message-in-slack), [pause notifications](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/pause-notifications-in-slack), and [search inside a conversation](https://www.lazur.app/how-to/search-inside-a-conversation-in-slack).

## Shortcuts

- Save a message, or remove it from Saved: A
- Create a reminder about a message: M

## If it does not work

- **The Later or Saved option is missing.** Refresh Slack with ⌘ ⇧ R. Slack's 19 March 2025 status incident gave that workaround for a missing Later option. Then check Home > Saved and Home > To-dos.
- **A saved message vanished after the October 2026 change.** Check Home > To-dos first, since clean-up can move items there. If it is not there, search for the original message and save it again.
- **Pressing A types a letter instead of saving.** The message did not have focus. Click the message itself, then press A. Keep the message box empty when you test.
- **A saved message shows as This message was deleted.** Slack Green reports that the grey row stays until you remove it. Remove it from Home > Saved with the clear icon. Labels may vary by version.
- **The shortcuts panel key does not work.** Slack's shortcuts page lists two different keys for it in different versions, ⌘ / and ⌘ ,. Check the shortcuts list inside the app before you rely on either.

## With Lazur

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. Hold ⌥ ⌘ and ask; it sees your screen, answers out loud, points at buttons and walks you through apps. Hold fn to dictate. Free for 3 days, then $18/month: https://www.lazur.app/download

- “Where's the More actions button?”: Lazur circles the More actions icon on screen and labels it, so you can see which dots to click. (Points at it)

## FAQ

### Can other people see the messages I save in Slack?

No, saved items are visible only to you. Slack's Help Center says they appear in the Saved section of Home.

### Is there a limit on how many messages I can save?

Slack's help article does not state a limit on saved items. Do not plan around a fixed number. Clean up the list when it gets long.

### Is there a separate Mac guide for saving messages?

Not on Slack's official page. The article covers Desktop and Mobile only. The Mac app uses the desktop steps in this guide.

### What is the difference between Saved and To-dos?

Saved holds the messages you keep. Slack's Help Center says clean-up can move selected items to To-dos. A third-party guide says To-dos came from a split of the old Later tab in October 2026.

### Why can't I find Later in Slack on my Mac?

A third-party guide says Slack renamed and split the old Later tab in October 2026. Look under Home for Saved and To-dos. If neither shows, refresh Slack with ⌘ ⇧ R.

### Does the M shortcut set a reminder time for me?

Slack's shortcuts page says M creates a reminder about a message. The official pages do not describe the time options, so follow the prompt Slack shows.

### Does the same flow work for files?

The official article is titled Save messages and files for later. Its text does not spell out a separate file flow, so check the More actions menu on the file.

## Sources

1. [Save messages and files for later - Slack Help Center](https://slack.com/help/articles/360042650274-Save-messages-and-files-for-later), Slack, checked 2026-11-07
2. [Slack keyboard shortcuts - Slack Help Center](https://slack.com/help/articles/201374536-Slack-keyboard-shortcuts), Slack, checked 2026-11-07
3. [Slack System Status - 2025-03-19](https://slack-status.com/2025-03-19), Slack, checked 2026-11-07
4. [Slack Save for Later: Where Your Saved Messages Went](https://slack.green/en/blog/slack-saved-for-later), Slack Green (third party), checked 2026-11-07
5. [The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity](https://slack.com/blog/news/the-surprising-connection-between-after-hours-work-and-decreased-productivity), Slack, checked 2026-11-07