How to Add Everyone to a Channel in Slack

When you have remote workers join your team, a virtual office can be a real life saver. It makes communication quick and easy and gives you a chance to organize everything neatly, from team members to the work they submit.

Slack is a great virtual space where you can brainstorm, exchange ideas, advice, assign and submit tasks, pretty much everything. But how do you add your colleagues to this virtual office? Read on to find out how to use Slack.

How Do I Add People to a Channel on Slack?

There’s a Slack app for Android and iOS users. Therefore, adding people on Slack can differ depending on the device you use. Here’s a quick guide for all the options.

If you’re using the Desktop version of Slack:

1. Open your Slack workspace and select the channel where you want to add a new member.
   
2. At the top right of your screen, choose Add people to channel icon.
   
3. If it’s a new channel, select the Create a new channel option. If the channel already exists, click the Add to + channel name option.
   
4. Find the names of the members you’d like to add and select them.
   
5. Click Add.
   

If you’re using Slack on Android:

1. Launch the app.
   
2. Look for the channel name at the top of the screen and tap.
   
3. Choose the Add people option.
   
4. Select the names of the members you’d like to add and tap Add when you’re finished.
   
5. In the same way you do it on desktop, you can choose if you want to add the member(s) to a new channel or an existing one.
   

If you’re using Slack on an iOS device:

1. Open Slack.
2. Open the channel where you want to add new members by swiping right.
3. Tap on the channel name. It’s on the top of the screen.
4. Select Add Someone.
5. There’s a circle next to the name of each person. Tap the ones next to the people you want to add.
6. Choose between the Add to this channel and New private channel options.
7. Tap on Invite.
   

How Do I Add a Number of Team Members to a Channel at Once?

Slack allows you to add 1,000 team members to a channel all at once. Here’s what you need to do.

The desktop version of Slack will let you do this with no problems, but the mobile apps may be missing this feature at the moment.

If you’re using Slack on your desktop:

1. Before you add people to a channel, you need to make a list of your team members’ email addresses or names.
   You can find this info by accessing the Workspace Directory. You can open it by clicking on the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the Slack home page, or by using a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+E.
   Here, you can see all the members, their names, as well as email addresses.
   
2. Copy all the names or email addresses of the team members you want to add to a channel.
   
3. Open the desired channel.
   
4. Choose the Add people to channel option.
   
5. Paste the list of names or email addresses to the field that pops up on the screen.
   
6. Click Add to complete the action.
   

If you’re an Android user:

1. You also need to create a list of names or email addresses you want to add to a channel.
   
2. Copy them and open the desired channel.
   
3. Tap the channel name to find the Add people option.
   
4. When the channel invite field pops up, paste the list of team members you want to invite to the channel. Note that you need to separate the names by a space or a comma.
   
5. Tap Done when you’re finished.
   

How Do I Message Everyone in a Channel?

And what if you need to send an important message to the team members you’ve just added? Here’s what you should do:

If you want to notify all the channel members, whether they’re active or not, type @channel before entering your message.

If you want to send word to active members only, type @here before you start your announcement.

If you want to make something known to everyone in the #general channel, start your message with @everyone.

Apart from the workspace owners, all other members can use the @channel and @here features to notify their colleagues of something important. Unless, that is, the channel has more than 1,000 members. In this case, these mentions are available to the workspace owners and admins only.

Note that a person who’s enabled the Do Not Disturb option for their notifications won’t be notified about your message. If you want to give them a nudge as well, send them a direct message, or mention them in the channel, by typing @ before their name.

Creating Your Virtual Team

Slack contains plenty of useful features that make your remote working team feel like they’re working together, even when they’re not in the same office. Adding new members or multiple members to a channel is made easy with the mentioned shortcuts. In this way, your team can keep growing whilst never missing an important announcement.

Does your team use Slack? Share your virtual office experiences in the comments section below!