Add Tabs to a Slack Channel or Teams Chat for Links and Files

The quick version

In Slack, click the plus sign at the top of a channel or DM and choose what to add: a canvas, list, workflow, folder or link. You can have up to 15 tabs. In Teams, select Add a tab in the channel, group chat or one-on-one chat, pick an app, then select Add. Microsoft describes tabs as working almost like bookmarks for you and your teammates.

Slack: what tabs hold

Every Slack channel and DM starts with a Messages tab. As you share files, create workflows and pin messages, more tabs appear on their own. You can also create tabs for canvases and lists, workflows, messages and links or other files kept in folders, up to 15 in total. To add a canvas or list, click the plus sign at the top of the conversation, select Canvas or List, pick an existing one or create a new one, choose a view if it is a list, click Insert, then review access and click Share. Workflows follow the same path with Add and Save.

Slack: folders, links and files

For a set of resources such as onboarding materials, create a folder: plus sign, then Folder, name it and click Create. Slack says you can add up to 100 items or folders per channel. Add a link with plus sign, then Link, paste the URL and optionally edit the display name and emoji. Add a file by opening a folder, clicking its plus sign and choosing File, then click Share to give access to everyone in the conversation. You can also drag files and links from the conversation into a folder. Anyone in the conversation can add or remove folder content, or rename or delete a folder, even when tab editing is limited to Channel Managers.

Slack: arrange tabs and control who edits

Drag tabs in the conversation header to reorder them. To hide, show or delete a tab, click the plus sign, select Edit tabs, hover a tab and use the eye or trash can icon. Channel Managers can allow everyone to edit a channel's tabs or restrict editing to Channel Managers, under the channel name, Settings, and the setting labeled Choose who can add, remove, and reorder tabs. Slack lists the feature as available on all plans, and for all members and guests by default. Pinned messages show up in a Pins tab. For when to pin, see our pinning guide.

Teams: add a tab

Go to a channel, group chat or one-on-one chat and select Add a tab, then choose the app and select Add. To turn a file into a tab, the file must already be uploaded or shared in a message in that chat or channel. Select Add a tab, choose the app for the file type (Microsoft's example is Word for a Word file), pick the file from the list and select Save. When you add a tab, a box to post to the channel about it is selected, and you can clear it. Inside a tab, Show tab conversation shows or hides the discussion, and replies there also appear as replies to the original channel post.

Teams: edit, share and remove

Microsoft 365 file types can be edited in a tab by anyone in the same channel or chat. Other file types need to be edited in their own apps and uploaded again. To share a tab, right-click it and select Copy link to tab. To remove one, right-click and select Remove. In chats anyone in the conversation can remove tabs. In channels anyone on the team can, as long as the team owner has set it up that way. Posts and Shared are default tabs that cannot be removed.

Which one for what?

Our read: tabs are worth the five minutes in any channel with a recurring question, like where the plan or the onboarding links live. In Slack, a folder of links is the closest match for a resource list. In Teams, a tab on the shared document is the better fit for something people edit together. Keep the tab row short either way so the useful ones stay visible.

What to be careful about

• Slack caps tabs at 15. Folders hold up to 100 items or folders per channel.
• Slack steps are for desktop. The help page describes each step from the desktop app.
• Folder edits are open to everyone in Slack. Even when tab editing is limited to Channel Managers, anyone in the conversation can change a folder's contents.
• Teams file tabs need the file shared first. Post or upload it in the chat or channel before you add the tab.
• Only Microsoft 365 files edit inside a Teams tab. For other types, edit the original in its own app, then upload it again.
• Remove may be missing in Teams. Posts and Shared cannot be removed, and an org or team owner can restrict channel tab changes.

Sources

Checked October 20, 2026. Limits, steps and features follow each product's own help articles. The which-one-for-what advice is ours.

• Slack: Add and manage tabs in channels and direct messages
• Microsoft Support: Use a tab in a channel or chat in Microsoft Teams