1. Slack Help Center
  2. Using Slack
  3. Make calls & share your screen

Slack Calls: the basics

With Slack Calls, you can make a voice or video call and connect with any member of your workspace. Keep reading to get familiar with the basics of Slack’s call features and availability.


Features

In Slack, getting in touch with your teammates and sharing information is a piece of cake. Make a voice call, connect by video, share your screen and more! 🍰

Voice call Talk with your teammates in Slack.
Video call   Talk or video conference in Slack.
Share your screen Present to others and allow them to draw on your screen if you'd like.

Note: Some of Slack's call features are only available to workspaces on paid plans, including group calls (voice and video) and screen sharing.


Availability

Need to make a voice call or share your screen with teammates? Check the table below to see which devices support voice, video, and screen sharing.

  Mac* Windows Linux iOS Android
Voice calls   ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓
Video calls  ✓  ✓  ✓    

Screen sharing:
present

  ✓  ✓  ✓    

Screen sharing:
draw

 ✓  ✓       

*Calls are not supported on app versions older than 2.5.1. Also, make sure to download the app from our website (and not the App Store) to access screen sharing. 

A note about browsers: With Google Chrome, you can make voice and video calls and view a teammate's screen, but you can't start a screen share. Slack calls isn't supported in other browsers at this time.

Note: Slack Calls are not officially supported on virtual machines. Performance and availability of features may vary depending on the environment.


Call actions

Here's your key for all things related to voice calls, video calls, and screen sharing.

Desktop

iOS

Android

You'll find built-in controls in your call window:

Action Icon
Add a member to a call or share a call in a channel  
Mute or unmute your microphone   
Enable or disable video on a call  
Start or stop sharing your screen  
Draw on your screen  
Let others draw on your screen  
Call settings (call name + voice and video settings)  
Send an emoji reaction  
Exit a call  

 

You can also use keyboard shortcuts:

Action Key
Toggle mute on and off
(hold down to talk when muted)		 M
Toggle video on and off V
Show the invite list + or A
View and select and emoji reaction E then 1 - 9
Change the color of your pen while drawing on your screen  ⌘ (Mac)
Ctrl (Windows/Linux)
📞  Start a call
Tap the channel or direct message name to expand the channel or conversation info, and choose Start a call.
☎️  End a call
Press the red End button.
🙋  Answer a call
Tap Answer from the pop-up notification or on the call message in the channel or direct message where the call is taking place.
🙅  Decline a call
Press Dismiss on the pop-up notification. 
📞  Start a call
Tap the channel or direct message name to open the channel or conversation info, and choose Start a call.
☎️  End a call
Tap the red End button.
🙋  Answer a call
Tap the green  phone icon to accept a call in a direct message or Join this call from the channel where the call is taking place.
🙅  Decline a call
Tap Dismiss to decline an incoming call.


Get started

Now that we’ve covered the basics, you’re ready to go. Use the links below to discover more about Slack calls.

📞  Make calls in Slack
Get the low down on making voice and video calls.

🖥  Share your screen in Slack
Learn how to start a call and share your screen.

🛠  Troubleshoot Slack Calls
Having connection, audio, or video trouble? Learn how to troubleshoot.

🚓  Slack voice and video call security
Privacy and security are important to us — get the details you need.

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