Unread activity

The dock icon for the Mac desktop app will display a red circle when you have unread activity in Slack.

	A red circle with a white dot means there is some unread activity in one of your Slack workspaces.
	A red circle with a number indicates direct messages, mentions, or messages containing one of your highlight words.

Turn off Mac dock icon notifications

If you’d prefer not to see the dot when you have unread activity, you can turn it off in your Preferences.

1. Click your workspace name in the top left to open the menu.
   
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click the Notifications tab.
4. Under Dock App Icon, uncheck Show (•) symbol on icon to indicate unread activity.

You can adjust dock icon notifications for each workspace you're a member of — you can turn it off for one while tracking activity for another.

Notification area

When Slack is running, you’ll find a Slack icon in your notifications area. You'll see a blue dot when you have unread activity in one of your Slack workspaces, and a red dot when you've received a mention, announcement, or direct message.

While there’s no option to turn off this dot, you can choose not to leave Slack running when the window is closed:

1. Click your workspace name in the top left to open the menu.
   
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click to the Windows App tab.
4. Uncheck the Leave app running in notification area when the window is closed option. 

Taskbar

From Preferences, you can choose to flash the Slack icon on the taskbar when you receive a message by checking the box next to Flash window when receiving a notification.

A red circle with a number indicates direct messages, mentions, or messages containing one of your highlight words.

You also have the option to Only flash window when I'm not actively using my computer, which will flash the window only if you receive a notification after your computer has been idle for 10 seconds.

Note: Checking the option to Flash window and not Only when not actively using my computer will keep the Slack icon on the taskbar when the window closes, regardless of other settings.

Notification area

You’ll find a Slack icon in your notifications area when Slack is running. You'll see a blue dot when you have unread activity in one of your Slack workspaces, and a red dot when you've received a mention, announcement, or direct message.

It's not an option to turn off this dot, but you can choose to not leave Slack running when the window is closed:

1. Click your workspace name in the top left to open the menu.
   
2. Select Preferences.
3. Click the Linux App tab.
4. Uncheck the Leave app running in notification area when the window is closed option.

Note: The icon in the panel won't indicate if any of your highlight words have been used in direct messages, mentions, or messages.