Does Slack notify when you screenshot? What you need to know

May 2024 ยท 3 minute read

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If you're a frequent Slack user, you've no doubt had occasion to preserve a conversation outside of the Slack app. Perhaps you've taken a screenshot of a message to share with someone else or to save for your own purposes. Either way, you've probably wondered if, like some social media and messaging apps, Slack notifies the other party when you take a screenshot. 

Does Slack notify users about screenshots?

Not all social media and messaging apps handle screenshots the same, but if you're concerned that someone was notified when you took a screenshot in Slack, you're in for a relief.

In a nutshell, Slack does not notify anyone if you take a screenshot within the app. You can capture a group conversation, a chat within a channel, a direct message, or even a user's profile and photo; there will be no notification or record that you did this whether you do it on the desktop or in a mobile app. 

That means you can capture a screenshot of anything in Slack and share it with people outside the app, and no one else involved in the conversation will find out. On the other hand, that of course means that other Slack users can do this to you without notification as well. 

How other apps notify users about screenshots

Slack is far from the only messaging app which doesn't inform users about screenshots; in fact, this is pretty much the standard among messaging apps. Apps on the desktop generally have no way to know when a screenshot occurs, and relatively few mobile apps can recognize when a screenshot occurs either. 

In particular, Facebook Messenger doesn't notify users about screenshots, for example, nor do messaging apps like Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, or even the security-conscious Signal. In fact, the only major messaging app that notifies users about screenshots is Snapchat, though Telegram is able to notify the other party if you take a screenshot in certain situations, like in a "secret" chat. 

Freelance Writer Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider. Read more Read less

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