Slack Search Operators
Search operators to find messages, files, and conversations in Slack.
27 operators across 5 categories
Tips & Notes
- Combine operators with spaces for AND logic.
- Search results respect channel permissions—you won't see private channel messages you're not in.
- Use quotes for exact phrase matching.
- Date operators use your local timezone.
- Search also indexes file contents (PDFs, docs, etc.) when available.
People & Channels
| Operator | Description | Example | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
from: | Find messages from a specific user | from:@johndoe | |
from:me | Find your own messages | from:me meeting | |
to: | Find direct messages to a specific user | to:@jane | |
in: | Find messages in a specific channel or DM | in:#engineering | |
in:@ | Find messages in a DM with a specific user | in:@manager |
Date Filters
| Operator | Description | Example | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
before: | Find messages before a date | before:2024-01-15 | |
after: | Find messages after a date | after:2024-06-01 | |
on: | Find messages on a specific date | on:2024-03-15 | |
during: | Find messages during a month or year | during:january |
Content Type
| Operator | Description | Example | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
has:link | Find messages containing URLs | has:link from:@dev | |
has:reaction | Find messages with any reaction | has:reaction in:#announcements | |
has::emoji: | Find messages with a specific reaction | has::thumbsup: | |
has:star | Find your starred messages | has:star | |
has:pin | Find pinned messages | has:pin in:#general | |
is:saved | Find your saved messages | is:saved | |
is:thread | Find threaded messages only | is:thread from:me |
File Search
| Operator | Description | Example | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
type:file | Find all shared files | type:file in:#design | |
type:image | Find shared images | type:image mockup | |
type:pdf | Find shared PDFs | type:pdf contract | |
type:doc | Find shared documents | type:doc proposal | |
type:spreadsheet | Find shared spreadsheets | type:spreadsheet budget | |
type:video | Find shared videos | type:video demo | |
ext: | Find files with a specific extension | ext:sketch |
Boolean & Exact Match
| Operator | Description | Example | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|
"exact phrase" | Find an exact phrase | "deploy to production" | |
OR | Match either term | bug OR issue in:#support | |
- | Exclude a term | meeting -standup | |
* | Wildcard for partial matches | deploy* |