How to view unread messages in Slack on Mac: Unreads view, step by step

What the Unreads view shows you

Unreads is one list. It gathers every conversation that has something new for you, so you do not have to check each channel and direct message one at a time. That is the job. You get one place to triage instead of a sidebar full of bold names.

Read conversations leave the list. Unreads works as a queue, not an archive. Once you handle an item, it stops competing for attention. What remains is what still needs you.

If you learned Slack a few years back, you may remember the view as All unreads. A third-party guide says Slack renamed it to Unreads. Slack's current help article uses Unreads, so search the menus for that name.

Open Unreads with the mouse or the keyboard

Mouse users start from Home. Keyboard users press ⌘ ⇧ A. Both routes open the same view, so pick the one that matches how you already move around Slack.

A third-party guide says the shortcut still works when Unreads is hidden from your sidebar. Slack's official article does not say that. Test it on your own copy before you depend on it during a busy morning.

If the Unreads entry is missing, the sidebar setting is the usual cause. A third-party guide says to open Preferences, choose Home, and tick Unreads under Always show in the sidebar. Slack's help article only says to adjust your sidebar preferences.

Sort and filter the list in the desktop app

Sort and Filter are desktop features. Slack's help article says so directly. If you work in a browser tab, you may not see these controls, so switch to the Mac app for triage.

Slack offers five sort options. Each one answers a different question about your backlog.

• Sidebar order: follows the order of your sidebar, so the view feels familiar.
• Alphabetical: useful when you know the channel name and want to scan.
• Recommended: the order Slack suggests. Slack's article lists it without detail.
• Newest activity: the most recent message first, for live conversations.
• Oldest activity: the longest-waiting item first, for clearing a backlog.

For a backlog, oldest activity usually comes first. Nothing sits forgotten at the bottom that way. For a live thread, newest activity keeps you on what people are saying right now.

Triage the list in a sensible order

Slack does not set a triage order for you. The order below is a suggestion. It works well for people who handle a lot of messages each day.

1. Direct messages first. They are addressed to you, and someone may be waiting on a yes or no.
2. Mentions next. Someone named you in a channel, so the message needs a reply or a look.
3. Threads after that. Thread replies can sit outside the channel view, so check them on purpose.
4. Busy channels last. They move fast, and most messages in them need no action from you.

Use one rule while you work down that list. Anything you can answer in under a minute, answer now. Anything longer stays unread until you can finish it properly.

Sorting by oldest activity supports this order. The messages that have waited longest get handled before they age out of your attention.

Clear everything at once with Mark All Messages Read

When the list is mostly noise, scroll to the bottom and click Mark All Messages Read. Every conversation in the view becomes read. If you clicked too quickly, Slack's help article says to click Undo to restore messages to Unreads.

The button changes read status. Slack's help article describes it as a way to mark messages read. It does not describe deleting anything, so your messages stay in their channels and conversations.

Undo is for quick mistakes. Do not rely on it to recover a message you skipped by accident. Find the message in its conversation instead.

Mark one conversation read or keep a message unread

A bulk clear is blunt. Most mornings you want finer control. Open the conversation, handle it, and use Mark as Read from the conversation's options. Slack's help article describes that action per conversation.

Two shortcuts give you more control. Esc marks a group read, according to Slack's keyboard page. Option plus click marks a single message unread, so it stays in Unreads until you deal with it.

Option plus click suits a message you must answer after a meeting. The message returns to your list, so you have a reminder in the one place you already check.

Mac keyboard shortcuts for unread messages

Slack's keyboard shortcuts page lists the shortcuts in the table below. Some are desktop only. Check the notes column before you rely on one in a browser.

Filter Activity down to unreads

Activity is Slack's feed of things that involve you. Slack's Activity article describes a new Activity view that began rolling out gradually in January 2026. Its filters include Unreads, Mentions, Threads, and others.

Use the Unreads filter in Activity when you want the items that need a response. Use the Unreads view when you want every new message. The two answer different questions. Detailed and Dense layouts are desktop only.

Why the badge shows unreads you cannot find

This is the most common confusion. A badge can show a count while the Unreads view looks empty. A third-party guide says the badge can count items that the Unreads list does not show.

• Unread thread replies, which can sit outside the channel you are looking at.
• Unreads in another workspace, if you belong to more than one.
• Unhandled items in Activity.
• Due reminders in To-dos, which Slack called Later until October 2026.
• A stale desktop cache that keeps old counts.
• Phone badges that have not synced yet.

Work down that list in order. Check Activity first, then other workspaces, then reminders. If the count is still there, move on to the fixes in the troubleshooting section.

Fix a badge that will not clear on Mac

Start with the lightest fix. A reload costs you a few seconds. A cache reset takes longer, and signing out takes longest. Move to the next step only when the badge still shows.

According to a third-party guide, a reload on the desktop app uses ⌘ R. The cache reset is under Help, then Troubleshooting, then Clear Cache and Restart. Updating Slack or signing out and back in comes last.

Mistakes people make with unread messages

• Clearing the list before scanning it. Mark All takes one click, and a message that needed an answer can disappear with the rest.
• Trusting the badge number. The count can include items you cannot see in Unreads.
• Forgetting other workspaces. Unreads in a second workspace can keep a badge lit.
• Missing the Undo moment. If you clicked Mark All too fast, click Undo right away.
• Leaving Activity items unhandled, then wondering why the badge stays.
• Checking the phone and assuming the Mac updated. Phone badges can lag behind the desktop.

A morning pass from start to finish

Here is a routine that works in a busy workspace. Open Unreads with ⌘ ⇧ A. Sort by oldest activity, so the longest-waiting items come first.

Work through direct messages and mentions first, using the triage order above. Mark each finished conversation read with Esc or from its options, then move to the next one.

Option plus click anything you still need to answer after a meeting. Before you finish, scroll to the bottom of the list and look at what remains.

Click Mark All Messages Read only when what remains is noise. If real work is still on the list, let it shrink as you go. Mark All is safe only after you have scanned the whole list.

How much of your day unread messages take

Slack's Workforce Index survey asked desk workers about after-hours logins. Slack fielded it from August 24 to September 15, 2023, with 10,333 desk workers. The results show how often people check work outside standard hours.

Those numbers measure logins, not the time people spend reading unreads. In the sources I checked, no Slack figure covers time spent on unreads. The figures below come straight from that survey.

The survey also reports that many of the weekly after-hours loggers feel pressure to log on. A short, ordered unread list makes that check-in easier to finish, and it makes the check-in easier to stop.

Desktop app or browser: which one to use

Use the Mac app for this job. Sort, Filter, the Activity layouts, ⌘ ⇧ M, and ⌘ J are all listed as desktop only. Whether ⌘ ⇧ A works in a browser is unclear from Slack's pages.

The browser works for a quick look on a shared computer. For a full pass through your unreads, the Mac app gives you the full set of controls.

Related guides for Slack on Mac

If the bulk clear is your main question, read how to mark all messages as read in Slack on Mac. It goes deeper on that one button. If you know a message exists but cannot find it in the list, read how to search messages in Slack on Mac.

How these steps were checked

Slack's help center describes the Unreads view, Sort and Filter, and Mark All Messages Read. Its keyboard page lists the shortcuts. No source ties these steps to one Slack version.

Slack's Mac release notes, from 4.52.182 on October 20, 2026 to 4.53.280 on November 3, 2026, mention no changes to Unreads, Activity, or menus. If a label differs on your screen, trust your screen and check the help center.