Slack just got a new design with a much more purple sidebar in an update. Here’s how to change Slack’s sidebar colors back to the classic theme you’re familiar with, or pick any other color scheme.
Open Slack’s preferences by clicking the name of your team at the top left corner of the Slack window and clicking “Preferences.”
Select the “Sidebar” option on Slack’s preferences screen.
Slack’s new default theme is Aubergine, and you were automatically switched to it if you were using Slack’s original theme. Select “Aubergine Classic” to go back to the classic colors.
You can also select any of Slack’s other built-in themes here. Any theme you choose will only be seen by you, and everyone else in the Slack workspace can choose their own preferred theme.
If you don’t like any of these themes, you can choose a user-created theme—or even make your own! Just click the “Customize your theme and share it with others” link at the bottom of the theme list.
You can select custom colors for Slack’s theme here.
You can find user-created themes on websites like slackthemes.net. Just copy-and-paste the values from the theme website into the Custom Theme box on your Slack preferences screen.
For example, here’s a nice-looking Tron theme if you’d like a dark black sidebar with blue highlights. Just copy the theme code from the website and paste it straight into the box on Slack’s preferences screen. Your changes will instantly take effect.
Want to share a cool theme you found or created with other people in Slack? That’s easy, too. Just paste the code into a Slack message and send it. Other people in Slack will see a “Switch Sidebar Theme” button they can click to quickly switch to your shared theme.
The theme you choose will follow your Slack account across devices, so you’ll see your chosen Slack theme on all your PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, iPads—and even your phone.
Adjust your profile and preferences to make Slack work just for you.
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- Change your settings & preferences Manage your sidebar preferences
As you become a part of more channels and direct messages (DMs), the list of conversations in your sidebar will grow. There are a few preferences you can manage to tailor your sidebar to the way you work.
Tip: If your workspace is on the Standard, Plus, or Enterprise Grid plan, learn how to organize conversations with custom sections in your sidebar.
At the top of your sidebar, you’ll see a list of items, such as Threads, All DMs, and Saved items, that you can use to navigate Slack. These items are revealed as soon as you interact with the features in Slack. For example, your Saved items page will appear the first time you save a message or file. Click More to browse channels, people, files, or apps.
Adjust sidebar items
You can adjust which items you see listed in your sidebar from your Preferences:
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Sidebar in the left-side column.
- Under Show these items in the sidebar, check or uncheck the boxes next to the sidebar items you’d like to show or hide.
Tip: If you choose to hide any items from your sidebar, you can find them by clicking More.
By default, members’ profile photos will appear next to DMs in your sidebar. If you’d like, you can adjust this preference:
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Sidebar in the left-side column.
- Check or uncheck the boxes next to Show profile photos next to DMs.
By default, all private and public channels will be listed together in your sidebar. If you’d like, you can choose to list private channels separately from public channels:
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Sidebar in the left-side column.
- Check or uncheck the boxes next to List private channels separately.
By default, Slack will display all the channels you’ve joined and the DMs you use most frequently in your sidebar. On the free version of Slack, you can choose to either show all your conversations or unread conversations only in your sidebar.
Note: On the Standard, Plus, and Enterprise Grid plans, you can manage this preference for each section in your sidebar. Visit Organize your sidebar with custom sections to learn more.
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Sidebar in the left-side column.
- Under Show, choose either All your conversations or Unread conversations only.
Tip: You can star channels or DMs so they’re easier to come back to. These conversations will appear in the Starred section of your sidebar.
You can adjust your sorting preference for your sidebar. You can choose to sort conversations by recent activity, alphabetically, or by priority:
- Recent activity: Conversations with recent activity will be listed at the top of the custom section.
- Alphabetically: Conversations will display in alphabetical order.
- Priority: Conversations you use most frequently will be listed at the top of a custom section.
- From your desktop, click your profile picture in the top right.
- Select Preferences from the menu.
- Click Sidebar in the left-side column.
- Under Sort, choose your sorting preference.
Note: On the Standard, Plus, and Enterprise Grid plans, you can manage this preference for each section in your sidebar. Visit Organize your sidebar with custom sections to learn more.
If you’d like your sidebar to take up less space in your Slack window, you can adjust the width or collapse it completely:
- Click and drag the edge of your sidebar to adjust it to your preferred width.
- Press ⌘ Shift D (Mac) or Ctrl Shift D (Windows/Linux) to collapse or open the sidebar whenever you’d like.
Thanks so much for your feedback!
If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please send a note to [email protected]
If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please send a note to [email protected]
If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please send a note to [email protected]
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