Keyboard Shortcuts in Slack and Teams: The Ones That Match
If you use both Slack and Teams, your fingers will mix them up. Some jobs share a shortcut and some do not. This table covers the Windows desktop versions, taken from each product's own shortcut list.
Miles Crawford
The quick version
Ctrl+F, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+J and Shift+Esc do the same job in both apps. Search and jumping to a conversation are the two to watch: Slack uses Ctrl+G for search and Ctrl+K to jump, while Teams uses Ctrl+E for search and Ctrl+G to go to a chat or channel.
Windows shortcuts side by side
| To do this | Slack | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Ctrl+G | Ctrl+E |
| Search inside the current conversation | Ctrl+F | Ctrl+F |
| Start a new message or chat | Ctrl+N | Ctrl+N |
| Jump to a conversation | Ctrl+K | Ctrl+G |
| Jump to the latest unread or newest message | Ctrl+J (desktop app only) | Ctrl+J |
| Mark everything as read | Shift+Esc | Shift+Esc |
| Open settings or preferences | Ctrl+, (desktop app only) | Ctrl+, (desktop app) |
| Mute or unmute in a call | Ctrl+Shift+Space (huddle) | Ctrl+Shift+M |
Teams lists the Windows desktop column and a separate web app column. Where the web app differs, check Microsoft's list. Both products publish separate Mac lists, so check those if you are on a Mac.
Slack: one-key message actions
Slack says you can right-click any message, or focus on it and press a single key. Its list includes E to edit a message you sent, T or the right arrow to open or reply to a thread, F to forward, P to pin or unpin, A to save, M to create a reminder and R to add an emoji reaction. Slack also notes that pressing the up arrow in the message field edits your last message by default. You can change that preference so the up arrow moves focus to the last visible message instead.
Teams: chat shortcuts worth knowing
Microsoft's list includes Alt+Shift+R to reply to the last message, Ctrl+Alt+R to react to the last message, Ctrl+Alt+U to see all unread chats and Alt+1 to Alt+9 to open the tabs in a chat header. To see the list inside Teams, press Ctrl+Period (.) or Alt+/. For meetings, Microsoft lists Ctrl+Spacebar as temporarily unmute, and says you first need to turn on the keyboard shortcut to unmute in Settings, under Privacy.
Setting your status
Slack lists Ctrl+Shift+Y to set your status. We did not find a matching status shortcut on Microsoft's Teams list, so we cannot point you to a key for it.
What to be careful about
- Slack says some shortcuts differ by keyboard. Its list marks these, and the emoji reaction shortcut is one of them. Non-English layouts may behave differently.
- Some Slack shortcuts are desktop-app only. Slack marks them with two asterisks, so they will not work in a browser tab.
- You cannot set custom shortcuts in Slack. Slack says this is not currently possible. Teams' list has a section on opening and customizing keyboard shortcuts.
- Teams web and desktop differ. The Search shortcut is Ctrl+E in the desktop app and Ctrl+Alt+E in the web app.
- Your own settings can override a shortcut. This is our own tip: if a shortcut does nothing, check for a browser extension or another app using it.
Our read
If you only learn two, learn the search pair and the jump pair, since those are the ones that differ. For the rest, calls and huddles have their own mute keys. The advice on which to learn first is ours.
Sources
Checked October 21, 2026. Shortcuts follow each product's own list. Slack's page is laid out confusingly, so we used its Windows/Linux (Ctrl) tables only.