A Complete Guide on Scheduling Messages in Slack

Scheduling emails or messages to be sent at a future time can significantly enhance productivity. This feature allows you to set critical deadlines in advance or send reminders to your colleagues. For teams working remotely across various time zones, scheduling messages ensures that everyone receives crucial communications promptly. Slack offers a handy “Schedule for later” function, making it easy to organize your messages. In this guide, we will demonstrate how to schedule messages in Slack.

How to Schedule Messages in Slack

To get started, launch the Slack application and navigate to the desired conversation or channel. Compose your message in the text input area as you typically would. After typing your message, position your mouse over the downward-facing Schedule for later icon, located beside the Send button.

Click the schedule icon and select your preferred sending time. You can opt for one of the suggested times or choose Custom time if you prefer to set a specific moment.

If you decide to go with a custom time, select the exact time you wish for the message to be sent. Once everything is set, hit Schedule message.

For Mobile Slack Users:

To schedule messages using the Slack mobile application, type your intended message and press and hold the send icon until a Schedule message pop-up appears.

Next, choose your desired time for the message to be sent. When you’re ready, tap on Schedule message.

These instructions apply to both iOS and Android devices, offering useful techniques to enhance your productivity with Slack.

Setting Up Recurring Messages in Slack

Besides standard messaging, you can optimize your Slack workflow by scheduling recurring messages. I often utilize this feature to remind myself of tasks or organize weekly meetings and more.

This feature requires a premium subscription. After upgrading, navigate to the More tab and select Automations.

Next, choose Templates -> Scheduled message.

Click on Set up.

Begin by selecting the day and time for when you want the recurring messages to be delivered. After that, tap the arrow icon to continue to the next step.

Expand the Select a channel option and choose the appropriate channel for your recurring message.

Type your message in the Add a message field. Finally, when everything is ready, click on Publish workflow.

Checking Scheduled Messages in Slack

When using the desktop app, you can view a notice above the text entry box indicating when your message is scheduled to be sent, as shown below.

If you need to cancel a scheduled message, navigate to See all scheduled messages. Then, click on the vertical three-dot icon and select Delete message, confirming your choice when prompted by Slack.

For mobile users, you can view your upcoming scheduled messages by tapping the note located directly above the text input area.

Access the Scheduled tab under Drafts & sent. Swipe left to unveil the trash can icon.

When prompted, confirm that you wish to delete your scheduled message.

Scheduling messages in Slack is straightforward, and while you require a Slack Pro subscription for setting up recurring messages, it isn’t necessary for one-time messages. You can always modify or delete messages as needed. Combining scheduled messaging with a guide on Slack keyboard shortcuts can enhance your productivity even further.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Danny Maiorca.

Author: Egor Kostenko

My goal is to make complex technical topics simple and accessible. On this site, I gather unique and useful content that not only solves users’ problems but also helps them better understand the capabilities of Windows.