Activity in Slack and Teams: Catch Up on Mentions and Replies

The quick version

In Slack, click Activity in the sidebar and use Filters to narrow the feed to things like Mentions, Threads or Reactions. In Teams, select Activity and use the filters for Unread, @Mentions and more. Slack shows a numbered badge for unread notifications. Teams shows a red circle, and says notifications stay in your feed for 30 days.

Slack: the Activity view

Slack describes Activity as the place to see everything you need to pay attention to. Open it from the sidebar on desktop, or tap Activity at the bottom of the screen on mobile. You get a feed of recent messages and notifications, with a numbered badge for unread ones, DMs included. On desktop you can switch between a detailed layout, which gives more context per item, and a dense layout, which is more like an inbox and shows more entries at once. To switch, use View as detailed or View as dense in the top right corner.

Slack: filters and what shows up

From the All view on desktop, click Filters. Slack lists these: Unreads, DMs, Mentions, Threads, Channels, Reactions, Invitations, Apps and Reminders, plus VIP and Specific channel or section, which Slack says are only on paid plans, and Cleared notifications. The Channels filter covers channels where your notification preference is All new posts. To choose what appears in Activity at all, go to your profile picture, then Preferences, then Notifications, and under What to show in Activity check the boxes. You can reply to a message from Activity, and Slack marks messages you reply to as read. You can also clear a notification, or select several and clear them in bulk.

Teams: the Activity feed

Microsoft calls the Activity feed a summary of everything that has happened across Teams, from chat and channel @mentions to meeting invites and cancellations. Select Activity to open it. A red circle next to Activity means you have a notification. Use the search icon to find names or keywords, and the More filters drop-down for the rest. Microsoft's page names the Unread, @Mentions and Tag mentions filters, and says a version of the page also lists Replies and Reactions. It also says notifications remain in your feed for 30 days, then expire and no longer show.

Teams: symbols, mark as read and settings

Teams marks each notification type with its own symbol, so you can scan the feed. The list includes @mentions of you, @team mentions, @channel mentions, replies to your posts, posts you liked, being added to a team or made a team owner, and meeting invites and updates. To mark everything read, Microsoft says to select More options, then Mark all as read, in the top-right corner. To reach notification settings, select your profile picture, then Notifications.

Which one for what?

Our read: start the morning in Activity, filter to mentions and threads, reply or clear what you can, and only then open channels. Slack lists its VIP and Specific channel filters as paid-plan only, so check your plan if you do not see them. In Teams, keep an eye on the 30-day limit if you return from a long break. For muting the noisy sources first, see our mute channels guide.

What to be careful about

• Teams items expire after 30 days. Microsoft says older notifications no longer show in the feed.
• Slack's VIP and per-channel filters need a paid plan. Slack says so on its Activity page.
• Slack Activity only shows what you allow. Check What to show in Activity if a type of message seems missing.
• The Channels filter is narrow. Slack says it only covers channels where your preference is All new posts.
• Teams menus vary by version. Microsoft's page describes the feed more than one way, including different spots for the Activity button. Follow the one that matches your app.

Sources

Checked October 22, 2026. Steps and limits follow each product's own help articles. The morning routine is our suggestion.

• Slack: Get your work done from the Activity view
• Microsoft Support: Explore the Activity feed in Microsoft Teams