Raise Hand and Reactions in Slack and Teams: Stickers vs Queues

The quick version

In a Slack huddle, click the emoji icon and pick from the Reactions, Effects, Stickers or GIFs tabs; reactions fade, while stickers like Raise hand stay until you remove them. In a Teams meeting, select Raise in the meeting controls to join a visible, ordered hand queue that notifies presenters, and select React for five live reactions that float over your video.

Slack: reactions and stickers in a huddle

Click the emoji icon in the huddle window, then pick a tab: Reactions, Effects, Stickers or GIFs. Reactions, effects and GIFs appear to everyone in the huddle temporarily, as a way to signal coworkers without interrupting the conversation. Stickers are the exception: they remain until you remove them, and Slack's examples are Raise hand and Be right back. One caveat from Slack: GIFs must be allowed in your Slack workspace to use them as reactions in huddles, and there is a Show reaction animations checkbox in your huddles preferences if you want to turn the animations off.

Slack: what a raised hand is (and is not)

In Slack, Raise hand is a sticker, not a queue. Slack's article describes it as staying visible until you remove it, and does not document a raised-hand list, an order of hands, or notifications to the person running the call. For a small huddle that is usually enough: everyone can see the sticker on your video and call on you. Just do not expect Slack to track who raised first.

Teams: raise your hand

Select Raise in the meeting controls (or React, then Raise hand, or More actions, then React, then Raise hand). Meeting presenters receive a notification that your hand is raised, and in meetings where attendees cannot unmute themselves, a presenter can allow you to unmute. To see the queue, select People: anyone with a raised hand shows a hand icon next to their name, and multiple hands are numbered in the order they went up. Teams detects when you have spoken and notifies you that your hand will lower automatically, with a Keep it raised option if you are not done; to lower it yourself, use the same controls and select Lower hand. One quirk: if Noise suppression is turned off, which Microsoft says happens by default when your device has high CPU usage, your hand will not lower automatically after you speak. Presenters and organizers can clear the room from People, then More options next to Participants, then Lower all hands.

Teams: five live reactions

Select React in the meeting controls and choose from Like, Love, Applause, Laugh and Surprise. Your reaction pops up momentarily over your video feed or profile picture, and when someone is sharing content (a desktop, window, PowerPoint deck, photo, video or whiteboard) reactions float up from the bottom of the screen for a few seconds. Live reactions work in Teams on the web and the desktop app, appear alongside filters and backgrounds and in breakout rooms, but not in large gallery view, and not on a whiteboard from a mobile device. Organizers can turn live reactions off in participant settings, and Microsoft says to check with the organizer or IT admin if the feature is unavailable.

Teams: reactions on mobile and tablets

On an iOS or Android phone, tap More info in the meeting controls along the bottom of the screen to pick a live reaction or raise your hand. On an iPad or Android tablet, tap React in the meeting controls along the edge of the screen, then tap the reaction you want in your own video feed. In both cases the reaction appears over your live video, or over your profile picture if your camera is off.

Which one for what?

Our read: for applause and quick vibes, both work, and Slack's effects and GIF tabs are the more playful set. For actually managing speaking turns, Teams is the only one of the two that documents the machinery: a persistent, ordered queue the presenter can see and clear, notifications on raise, and automatic lowering after you speak. Slack's Raise hand sticker fits the huddle model, where the group is small enough to just notice it. In a big meeting, that informality is exactly what you do not want.

What to be careful about

• Slack has no documented hand queue. The Raise hand sticker stays until removed, with no ordering or presenter notifications in Slack's article.
• Slack GIFs can be disabled per workspace. GIFs must be allowed in Slack to use them as huddle reactions.
• Teams auto-lowers your hand after you speak. Choose Keep it raised if you still want the floor.
• High CPU can disable auto-lower. Noise suppression turns off by default under high CPU usage, and then your hand stays up after speaking.
• Teams reactions vanish in some views. Not in large gallery view, and not on a whiteboard from mobile.
• Organizers control Teams reactions. They can turn live reactions off in participant settings, and lower all hands at once.

Sources

Checked October 25, 2026. Features, steps and limits follow each product's own help articles. The guidance on when each shines is ours.

• Slack: Use huddles in Slack
• Microsoft Support: Raise your hand in Microsoft Teams meetings
• Microsoft Support: Express yourself in Microsoft Teams meetings with live reactions