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Group Conversations

Group DMs let you bring multiple people into a single private conversation without the overhead of creating a dedicated channel. They are ideal for quick coordination, ad-hoc project discussions, or any situation where you need more than two people but do not need the full structure of a text channel.

Creating a Group DM​

To start a group conversation:

  1. Click the compose icon (pencil) next to the Direct Messages heading in the sidebar.
  2. In the "To:" field, search for and select two or more workspace members.
  3. Start typing your message. The group DM is created as soon as you send the first message.

You can add up to several participants to a single group DM. Each person sees the conversation in their own Direct Messages list.

How Group DMs Differ from One-on-One DMs​

Group DMs share most features with one-on-one conversations -- rich text formatting, file sharing, emoji reactions, pinned messages, threaded replies, and message search all work the same way. The key differences are:

  • No voice calls. Peer-to-peer voice calls are available only in one-on-one DMs. For group audio, use a meeting channel instead.
  • Participant names in the header. The conversation title is automatically generated from the names of all participants (excluding you), so you can tell at a glance who is in the conversation.
  • Rename option. Group DMs can be given a custom name to make them easier to identify in your sidebar.

Renaming a Group Conversation​

By default, a group DM is titled with the names of its participants (for example, "Alice, Bob, Carol"). To give it a more meaningful name:

  1. Open the group DM.
  2. Click the pencil icon next to the conversation title in the header.
  3. Enter a new name in the dialog that appears, then click Save.

To revert to the default participant-based name, open the rename dialog and click Reset to default.

tip

Give your group DMs descriptive names like "Q1 Launch Planning" or "Design Review" so they are easy to locate later in your sidebar.

Managing Participants​

You can view the list of participants at any time by clicking on the conversation header to open the details panel. The details panel shows all current members along with shared media and pinned messages.

Converting a Group DM to a Text Channel​

As a group conversation grows in scope and importance, it often makes sense to promote it to a full text channel. Converting gives the conversation a proper home inside a category, makes it discoverable by other team members, and unlocks additional channel features like channel-specific settings and permissions.

To convert a group DM:

  1. Open the group DM.
  2. Click the people-group icon next to the conversation title in the header. This icon appears only when the DM has more than two participants and no external users.
  3. In the conversion dialog, enter a channel name (the current conversation name is pre-filled).
  4. Click Convert.

After conversion, the conversation keeps its full message history, so nothing is lost. All current participants automatically become members of the new text channel.

note

The conversion option is not available for group DMs that include external (guest) users. External users cannot be members of text channels, so the conversation must remain a DM.

tip

When should you convert? A good rule of thumb is to convert when the conversation starts attracting regular, ongoing discussion that other team members might benefit from seeing -- or when you need channel-level features like custom permissions and notification settings.

Group DM Settings​

Open the details panel from the conversation header to access settings for your group DM. From here you can:

  • View shared media -- Browse all files, images, and links that have been shared in the conversation.
  • Manage pinned messages -- See and unpin previously pinned messages.
  • Adjust notification preferences -- Mute the conversation or set it to notify only on mentions.
  • Rename the group -- Change the custom display name.