Send emails to Slack

Slack can help you keep all of your work communication — including emails — in one place. There are a few ways to send email to Slack, depending on your plan and how you’d like to use emails once they’ve been sent to your workspace.

Note: If your Enterprise Grid organization is HIPAA compliant, you can’t send emails to Slack. 


How to send email to Slack

Method Description Plan availability
Create an email address for a channel or direct message (DM) Set up a dedicated email address to send emails to that conversation Paid plans
Use an email add-on Install an email add-on to send individual emails from Gmail or Outlook to channels or DMs All plans
Forward email to your DM with Slackbot Create a forwarding address to send individual emails to your DM with Slackbot All plans


Create an email address for a channel or DM

By default, anyone can create an email address for a channel or DM. Once an email address has been created for a conversation, anyone with the email address can use it to send email to Slack.

Note: If you work with people from other organizations in channels, each organization can create a unique email address for a channel. Any email sent to that channel will be visible to all members.

 

Create an email address

  1. From your desktop, open the channel or DM you’d like to send email to.
  2. Click the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    Gif of a cursor clicking the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click the Integrations tab.
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Click Get Email Address
  6. If you’d like to set up an automatic forwarding rule from your email provider or add the email to your address book, click Copy next to the email address.
  7. If you created an email address for a channel, Slackbot will post a message that’s only visible to you with a prompt to let members know an email address has been created. Click Share Email Address to post a message to the channel with any details you’d like. Otherwise, click Dismiss.

Note: Owners and admins can manage members’ ability to create email addresses for channels and DMs. If you don’t see this option, find an owner or admin to ask for help.

 

Customize email appearance

If you’d like, you can add an image and custom name for emails posted to Slack so they’re easier for people to recognize.

  1. From your desktop, open a channel or DM with an email address.
  2. Click the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    Gif of a cursor clicking the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click the Integrations tab. 
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Click  Customize Email Appearance.
  6. Below Email Icon, open the drop-down menu to upload an image or choose an emoji to display alongside emails posted to Slack.
  7. Below Email Name, enter a label for your emails.
  8. Click Save Changes.


Delete an email address

Owners, admins, and members with permission to create email addresses for conversations can delete the email address for any channel or DM they’re a part of. If a conversation’s email address is deleted, emails sent to it will not be posted in Slack.

  1. From your desktop, open the channel or DM.
  2. Click the channel or member name(s) in the conversation header.
    Gif of a cursor clicking the channel name in the channel header
  3. Click the Integrations tab. 
  4. Select Send emails to this [channel] or [conversation]
  5. Below the email address, click Delete Address.
  6. Click Delete email address to confirm.


Use an email add-on

Gmail

Outlook

Send email to Slack

  1. Head to the Slack for Gmail page in the Google Workspace Marketplace to install the Slack add-on to Gmail. If you’re unable to install the add-on, ask a Google Workspace administrator at your company to approve Slack for Gmail from the Google Workspace Admin Console.
  2. After you install the add-on, click the Slack icon in the right sidebar to connect your Gmail account to Slack. When prompted, open an email and click Connect to Slack.
  3. To send an email to Slack, click the Slack icon in the right sidebar and select Search Channels and People. Choose a workspace from the drop-down menu, then type the name of a channel or person and press Enter or select their name.
  4. Click Send to [name]. Click View to see your email in Slack.


Disconnect Gmail and Slack

  1. Head to the Google Workspace Marketplace.
  2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Manage Apps.
  3. Find Slack, then click Manage.
  4. Click Remove

Tip: If you don’t use Google Workspace, you can remove the add-on from the Add-ons section of your Gmail settings.

What to expect

  • The Outlook email add-in is only available for Office 365. It’s not supported for on-premise Microsoft Exchange customers.
  • Only the Exchange mail protocol is supported, so you won’t be able to use the add-in if your Outlook client is set up to receive messages with POP/IMAP.
  • On-premises SharePoint installations or Office 365 plans hosted on a Microsoft national cloud deployment (including Office 365 U.S. Government, Office 365 Germany, and Office 365 operated by 21Vianet in China) are not currently supported.


Send email to Slack

  1. Head to the Slack for Outlook page in Microsoft AppSource. Click Get it now and follow the prompts. If you’re unable to install the add-in yourself, contact an Office 365 administrator at your company for help.
  2. After you install the add-in, connect Outlook to your Slack workspace. If you use the Outlook desktop app, click the Slack icon in the toolbar and select Connect to Slack. If you use Outlook in a browser, open an email and click the  three dots icon, then select Slack for Outlook.
  3. To send an email to Slack from the Outlook desktop app, open an email and click the Slack icon to select the name of a channel or person from the dropdown menu. Click Send to Slack to send the email.
  4. To send an email to Slack from Outlook in a browser, open an email and click the  three dots icon and select Send to Slack. Select the name of a channel or person from the dropdown menu, then click Send to Slack

Note: If you run into problems connecting Slack and Outlook, try using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, then restart the Outlook desktop app. 

Disconnect Outlook and Slack

  1. Sign in to the Outlook desktop app.
  2. Click Get add-ins from the toolbar.
  3. Click My add-ins.
  4. Find Slack for Outlook and click the  three dots icon.
  5. Click Remove


Set up a Slackbot forwarding address

  1. From your desktop, click your profile picture in the tab bar.
  2. Select Preferences from the menu.
  3. Click Messages & media.
  4. Scroll down to Bring emails into Slack, then click Get a Forwarding Address. Slack will generate a forwarding email address.
  5. Click Copy and use the forwarding address to set up a forwarding rule in your email client if you’d like.

If you need to stop forwarding emails, go to the Messages & media section of your preferences. Below your forwarding address, click Disable this address.

Note: If emails you send to Slack aren’t delivered, incoming emails may have been disabled for your workspace or org. Find an owner or admin to ask for help.

Who can use this feature?
  • All members (by default)
  • Available on all plans