Slack is a versatile, work-oriented social app where you can create a variety of channels to hold discussions, get advice, talk one-on-one, and share content. We have a whole guide on the service (linked to above), and many of you might have gotten used to it during work-from-home situations in the past few years.
However, things change. Maybe your company moved away from Slack or the project you were working on with Slack finished – or maybe you’re leaving for a new opportunity and want to fully remove your Slack account before you go. There’s a process to completely deactivate your Slack profile. We’ll show you what to do and what this means for your account in the future.
How to deactivate a Slack account
Have your Slack login information ready before you begin. You can log in either to the web app or the desktop client — these steps should work for both.
Step 1: Find your Profile picture in the upper-right corner of your Slack window and select it.
Step 2: In the dropdown menu, select Profile.
Step 3: Select the Three-dot button under your profile, aka the More option.
Step 4: Select Account settings.
Step 5: You’ll then be taken to a new page with a variety of account info. Scroll down until you reach the button to Deactivate your account. Select it.
You’ll see that Slack gives you several important pieces of advice, including that you can contact the owner of this specific Slack workspace and request that they delete all your profile information entirely through their channels. If you want to fully remove your presence from this Slack, this is a good additional step to take when you’re done (more of the effects of deleting your account below).
Step 6: Confirm that you really do want to delete your account. Enter your account login and password again to finalize the choice. Your account will be immediately deactivated at this time.
What to know about deleting a Slack account
If you are simply switching to a new email, you don’t have to delete your Slack account entirely. There’s a Settings option to effortlessly replace the current email you use in Slack without losing anything. Likewise, you can also change your username at any time.
Deactivating your account like this will only delete it from this particular Slack workspace. If you have multiple Slacks, your other Slack accounts will remain intact; it will not affect them. If you want to delete yourself from Slack entirely, you’ll have to do it one at a time.
The reason it’s called “deactivating” instead of deleting is that your messages and files will remain part of the Slack workspace. An administrator for that workplace can reinstate your account – if, say, you end up coming back for another project at a later time. However, as we mentioned above, if you really want to clear out all related information, you’ll have to contact an administrator and specifically request it.
Slack can integrate with a variety of apps. If you have installed apps that work with Slack and then deactivate all your Slack accounts, those apps may no longer work, or at least not in the same way. Be prepared to log in a different way, or ask a Workspace Owner for specific allowances when it comes to apps that you’ll still need.
If you are a Primary Owner of a workspace, you can’t deactivate your account like this. For a workspace to exist, someone needs to be the Primary Owner. You will have to transfer Primary Ownership to another account or shut down the Slack space entirely.
Considering whether it’s worth it to stay with Slack? It’s always a good idea to examine your alternatives. Take a look at our guide on Slack versus Microsoft Teams to learn more.
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