You’re trying to find that one document someone dropped in the channel last week—but now you’re 400 messages deep, in ‘Noted 🙌’ replies and espresso machine memes.

Re-scrolling? Hard pass.

Instead of wasting your afternoon digging through the chaos, here’s how to search smarter in Slack. We’ll walk you through filters, shortcuts, and simple tricks to help you find what you need—fast.

How to Search in Slack Channels, DMs, and Files

How to Search in Slack

So, you’ve got a ton of channels, a swarm of DMs, and files flying in left and right. But here’s the thing: using Slack effectively means being able to find what you need without losing your mind.

Let’s break it down in easy steps. ⚒️

Step #1: Open the search field

At the top of your Slack window, you’ll see the search bar. That’s your starting point. Click it on the desktop or tap it on mobile.

Want to make it a little faster? Use these shortcuts to jump straight into search:

Mac: Press ⌘ + G to start a search or ⌘ + F to search inside a specific channel or DM
Windows/ Linux: Click Ctrl + G or Ctrl + F

Step #2: Type what you want

Start typing a search term, like a keyword, phrase, or topic, into the Slack search field. It’ll automatically suggest recent queries or highlight matching content as you type. You can either pick from the suggestions or hit Enter to see full results.

Slack Search: how to search in slack — via Slack

🔍 Did You Know? The global team collaboration software market size is expected to grow to $60.38 billion at a CAGR of 11.9% during the forecast period (2024-2032).

Step #3: Refine your search with modifiers

Now, here’s where it gets smart. Slack gives you a bunch of search modifiers to fine-tune what you’re looking for. These work like filters, helping you narrow results and hide the noise:

in::Search in a specific channel or DM (e.g., in:#design, in:@maria)
from:: Find messages from someone specific (e.g., from:@james)
has:: Search only messages that include stars, emojis, or files (e.g., has:star, has:👍, has:link)
to:: View messages sent directly to you (to:me)
before:/after:/on: Pinpoint messages by date (e.g., before:2025-05-01)
Quotes: Use “exact phrases” to search messages word-for-word

📌 Example: You’re looking for a marketing report that Sara sent in the marketing channel. Here’s a prompt you can try: ‘marketing report in:#team-marketing from:@sara’

Step #4: Sort by message, file, channel, or person

Once you hit Enter, Slack splits your search results into tabs:

Messages, for everything chat-related
Files, for shared docs, PDFs, images, etc.
Channels, if you’re trying to remember where a topic lives
People, when you’re looking for someone’s profile

Click the tab that fits your need, and you’ll be on the right track.

💡 Pro Tip: Use Slack AI to summarize long threads or catch you up on unread messages in busy channels. It’s a great way to get the gist without scrolling through hours of content.

Step #5: Search inside a specific channel or DM

If you’re already in the channel or DM where you think the info is, make it even easier:

Press ⌘ + F (Mac) or Ctrl + F (Windows/Linux), and it’ll search just that space
Type your keyword in the main search bar, followed by in:#channel-name or in:@username

It’s a quick shortcut experienced users rely on.

For example, searching inside #design-review when you know a mockup was shared last Tuesday.

📖 Also Read: Free Project Communication Plan Templates

Step #6: Find files faster

Need a deck, doc, or spreadsheet? Here’s how you get it:

Type your keyword in the search bar
Click the Files tab in the results
Use modifiers like from:@alex or in:#finance to zone in

This beats scrolling through the ‘files’ tab in each channel, especially when you’re racing to hit a deadline.

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re not sure which channel a conversation belongs in, use basic search with the channel name or related keywords and then click the Channels tab. Slack will list matches based on channel names, topics, or descriptions.

Step #7: Use filters to find deeper

After searching, Slack gives you even more filtering options. Click Filters, and you can narrow by:

Date ranges
Who sent the message
Which channel is it in

It’s like a mini knowledge base search and helps keep your team communication organized.

Step #8: Try Slash commands (for power users)

Want to search while staying in the message window?

✅ Try This: /search in:#channel-name from:@username

It works just like the search bar, and it’s quick for users who live in slash commands.

Limitations of Searching in Slack

Slack is a great tool for quick chats and team updates—but when it comes to finding something later, it’s not always smooth sailing. Here are some of the most common pain points that might have you exploring Slack alternatives. 👇

Slack only searches internal messages and files shared inside Slack: Even when Google Drive or Dropbox files are linked, you’ll still need to search those tools separately for the full contents
Search interface feels clunky: Without knowing exact keywords or modifiers, searching in Slack can feel like trial and error—especially for new users
Too many irrelevant results: Even when you know what you’re looking for, Slack often pulls up outdated conversations or unrelated files, making it harder to locate the right one
Scattered messages and text files: Content lives across different locations like channels, DMs, group chats, and threads, which means you’ll have to jump between places manually
Modifier quirks and feature issues: While Slack’s unified search helps reduce silos inside Slack, its commands sometimes fail to work or behave unpredictably. Small typos or extra spaces can break your search, which is frustrating when you’re in a hurry

🎥 We’ll cover semantic search, NLP relevance, connectors, security, and how ClickUp’s Converged AI Workspace unifies your data so your team gets answers instantly instead of digging through chaos.

Search Better With ClickUp

So you’ve explored Slack’s pros and cons and still find yourself buried in irrelevant results or toggling between tools?

ClickUp, the everything app for work, brings it all together. Messages, files, decisions, and tasks live in one place, with an AI-powered search assistant that understands your context and keeps everything in a unified system.
With ClickUp Chat, you can collaborate in topic-based channels or DMs, turn messages into tasks, and keep every discussion tied to a project.

Additionally, ClickUp SyncUps let you start instant audio or video calls (with screen sharing) right from any chat. Quick decisions and real-time collaboration happen where your work already lives.

Enterprise Search: Find anything, anywhere

ClickUp’s Enterprise Search lets you search across ClickUp and your integrated tools (Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, Jira, and more) from a single search bar. No more switching tabs or platforms—just type your query and instantly see results from all your connected apps.

Workspace Enterprise Search: Admins can enable this so everyone in your workspace can search files and messages that the admin account can access. For Slack, only public channels are indexed
Personal Enterprise Search: Set up your own private connections to search your personal files and messages in supported apps. (Note: Personal Enterprise Search for Slack is not available.)
Real-time indexing: New Slack messages and files from other apps are indexed quickly—usually within minutes—so your search results are always up to date
Permissions & privacy: What you can find depends on your access in the source app and how the integration is set up. Admins can control which drives, folders, or channels are indexed for workspace-wide search

If you’ve been away or just want a quick summary, type “Catch me up” in any ClickUp Chat channel or DM. ClickUp Brain will summarize the most important updates, decisions, and shared files from the last few days so you don’t have to scroll through long threads.

Why is it powerful?

Provides AI-powered search
Gets you a concise, actionable recap tailored to your needs
Helps you stay in the loop—perfect for busy teams and managers

*Catch me up in ClickUp Chat gives you an instant summary of recent updates*

ClickUp Brain: Find context in seconds

Tired of fumbling with search modifiers? Just ask. ClickUp Brain, your AI-powered assistant, helps you instantly locate files, tasks, Docs, or meeting notes—without needing the exact keywords.

Turn to ClickUp Brain for contextual answers and advice

Try ClickUp Brain for free

Natural language search: Ask questions in plain English—no need for exact keywords or complex filters. For example, “Show me the final Q2 marketing deck from Slack and the latest client contract from Dropbox”
Contextual answers: ClickUp Brain understands your workspace and connected apps, pulling up the most relevant tasks, Docs, files, and even Slack messages
Summarize & take action: Instantly summarize long threads, generate meeting notes, or create action items from conversations
Respects permissions: You’ll only see results you have access to, based on your ClickUp and integration permissions

📌 Example Prompt: You can simply type, “Show me the final Q2 marketing deck and the meeting notes from the client call with Acme Corp on April 15.”
ClickUp Brain will pull the finalized presentation file, link the related ClickUp task, and display the exact meeting notes or summary.

📮 ClickUp Insight: 30% of our respondents rely on AI tools for research and information gathering. But is there an AI that helps you find that one lost file at work or that important Slack thread you forgot to save?

Yes! ClickUp’s AI-powered Connected Search can instantly search across all your workspace content, including integrated third-party apps, pulling up insights, resources, and answers. Save up to 5 hours in a week with ClickUp’s advanced search!

ClickUp Knowledge Management: One source of truth

This is where ClickUp really stands apart from Slack alternatives. With ClickUp Knowledge Management, you can store, organize, and retrieve your team’s collective knowledge—from SOPs to team notes, Docs, and other reference material—all inside one workspace.

Unified workspace: Store SOPs, project docs, meeting notes, and more in ClickUp Docs. Link docs, tasks, and chats for seamless context
Fully searchable: Everything—tasks, Docs, comments, chat, and files from connected apps—is instantly searchable
No more lost files: No more asking teammates to resend links or hunting through old threads. Everything lives where your work happens

💡Pro Tip: Use ClickUp Chat to keep conversations right where the work happens—inside tasks. No more lost DMs or scattered threads. When a quick chat turns into an action item, ClickUp Docs lets you capture it instantly and link it to your workflow. Goodbye, endless Slack scrolls.

Security, privacy & best practices

Strong encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2/1.3) and at rest (AES-256)
Data handling: ClickUp AI and Enterprise Search do not use your data to train AI models. Third-party AI providers have zero data retention
Admin controls: Admins decide what’s indexed and who can connect integrations. For best results, connect shared drives/folders, not personal ones
Automatic updates: If a file or message is deleted in the source app, it’s removed from ClickUp’s index too

Forget Endless Threads, ClickUp’s Got You

You’ve got work to do, not chats to dig through. Slack keeps conversations moving, but when it’s time to find information, it can fall short—especially when your files and notes live in other tools.

ClickUp, the everything app for work, brings it all together. Messages, files, decisions, and tasks all live in one place, with an AI-powered search assistant that actually understands the context and creates a unified system.

So, why waste time? Save it by signing up on ClickUp for free today! ✅