How to Delete a Slack Channel

Organize the workspace by getting rid of unused channels

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Updated on September 11, 2020

Slack is a popular communication and organization tool for both business and community projects. But if you've left a company or group, it's reached the end of its life, or you just don't want to be bothered by messages from its members any more, there are ways you can delete a Slack channel for good.

In this article, you'll learn how to delete both active and archived channels.

How to Delete an Active Slack Channel

If you have channels that you've created and you want to delete them, you can do so with a few clicks.

Deleting a channel on Slack is permanent. Make sure you're absolutely sure you don't need anything in that chat history before doing so. If you think you might, consider archiving the channel instead.

Open the Slack web or desktop client (or through a third-party collective chat app, like Rambox).
Select the Show channel details icon (it's an i with a circle around it, similar to an 'information' icon) in the top-right of the channel window.
Select the More icon (it's a three dot menu).
Select Additional Options.
Select Delete this channel.

In some cases, you may need to choose More > Additional Options > Delete this channel.
Tick the box next to Yes, permanently delete this channel. Then select Delete this channel, again.

How to Delete an Archived Slack Channel

Slack delete channel actions on archived channels is just as easy as deleting a non-archived channel—it just takes a couple of extra steps.

If you have channels you would rather archive than delete, right click the channel name, then choose Additional options. At the top of the Additional Options page, select Archive this channel and then confirm you want to archive the channel.

Select the Channel Browser.
Select Filter > All channel types, then select Archived Channels from the drop-down menu.
Select the channel you want to delete. Then select the More icon, and select Unarchive[channel name].
Select the More icon again, and select Additional Options.
Tick the box next to Yes, permanently delete this channel. Then select Delete this channel.

Why Should You Delete a Slack Channel?

Slack is a fantastic way to communicate with all sorts of people, especially among varied groups and communities within larger organizations. But no channel lasts forever. You might have niche topics and channels catered to specific projects which are super important one day, but no longer necessary the next.

If you organized a party over one channel and then have the party, it might be easier to just delete the channel. It could make your Slack interface that bit cleaner, or hide private information that you no longer need access to from prying eyes.

Get More Tips for Using Slack Channels

Who Can Delete a Slack Channel?

Not everyone can delete a channel in Slack. If they could, the new hire could go wild on your office's major communication platform and delete everything if they don't know what they're doing, or someone with a grudge and malicious intent could cause havoc for your team.

Only workspace owners and administrators can delete Slack channels. You don't need a paid account subscription to do it, though. Free, Standard, Plus, and Enterprise Gold accounts can all delete slack a channel on Slack.

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