You can delete your own messages, but not everyone else's

In Slack, you can delete any message you sent yourself within a time window — usually 30 days, though your workspace admin can change this. Once you delete a message, it disappears from the channel or direct message thread for everyone. However, you cannot delete messages that other people sent, even if you are a workspace admin or channel owner. If someone else's message violates your workspace rules, you report it to an admin instead of removing it yourself.

The ability to delete your own messages is built into Slack's core features and works the same way across desktop, mobile, and web versions. The process takes seconds, but understanding what happens after you delete — and what you cannot undo — matters for both privacy and accountability in shared workspaces.

Key Takeaways

  • You can delete only messages you wrote yourself; admins cannot delete other people's messages, though they can hide them from view in some cases.
  • Deleted messages disappear for everyone in the channel or thread, not just for you, so deletion is permanent and visible to others as a removal.
  • The default window to delete a message is 30 days after you send it, but your workspace admin can shorten or extend this limit.
  • Slack keeps deleted messages in backup logs that admins and compliance tools can access, so deletion does not erase the message from your workspace's record.

How to delete a message you sent on desktop or web

Open Slack in your browser or desktop app and find the message you want to delete. Hover your mouse over the message — a small row of icons will appear to the right of the text. Click the three-dot menu icon (sometimes called "more actions") at the end of that row. A dropdown menu will open with several options, including "Delete message" near the bottom. Click it, and Slack will ask you to confirm. Click "Delete" again in the confirmation box, and the message is gone.

The entire process takes about five seconds. After deletion, the message space in the channel shows "[This message was deleted]" or similar text, so other people can see that a message was removed — they just cannot read what it said. This is different from editing a message, which shows "[edited]" and keeps the updated text visible.

How to delete a message on mobile (iPhone or Android)

Open the Slack app and find the message you sent. Press and hold on the message until a menu appears with several options. Tap "Delete message" or the trash icon, depending on your phone's operating system. Confirm the deletion when prompted. On both iPhone and Android, the message will disappear from the channel when ready, and other members will see the deletion marker in its place.

Mobile deletion works identically to desktop deletion in terms of what happens to the message — it vanishes for everyone and shows as deleted in the thread. The only difference is the gesture: hold instead of hover, then tap instead of click.

What happens to deleted messages in your workspace

When you delete a message, it disappears from the channel view that regular members see. However, your workspace admin and any compliance or eDiscovery tools your company uses can still access deleted messages through Slack's backend logs. This is true even if you delete a message seconds after sending it. Slack stores these logs separately from the regular message history, and they persist for as long as your workspace's data retention policy allows.

This matters if your workplace has legal or regulatory requirements to keep records of communications. Deleting a message does not mean it never existed in your workspace's official record. If your company is subject to regulations like HIPAA, SOX, or GDPR, deleted messages may still be discoverable in litigation or compliance audits. Check with your admin or legal team if you work in a regulated industry.

The time limit for deleting your own messages

By default, Slack gives you 30 days from the moment you send a message to delete it. After 30 days, the delete option disappears from the three-dot menu, and you can no longer remove the message yourself. However, your workspace admin can change this window. Some workspaces shorten it to 5 minutes or 1 hour to prevent people from deleting messages after they have been read and discussed. Others extend it to 90 days or longer.

To find out what your workspace's deletion window is, ask your admin directly — there is no public setting you can check yourself. If you need to delete a message and the option is not available, the 30-day window has likely passed, or your admin has disabled message deletion entirely for your workspace.

What you cannot delete and what to do instead

You cannot delete messages sent by other people, even if you are a channel owner or workspace admin. If someone else's message is offensive, violates your workspace guidelines, or contains sensitive information, you cannot remove it yourself. Instead, right-click or long-press the message and select "Report message" or "Flag for review." This sends the message to your workspace admins, who can then decide whether to delete it, hide it, or take other action.

Some workspace admins have the ability to hide messages from view without deleting them entirely — this keeps the message in the record but removes it from the channel display. If you are an admin and need to remove someone else's message, check your workspace settings under "Moderation" to see what tools are available to you. Regular members always report; only admins can take direct action on other people's messages.

Why you might want to delete a message

Common reasons to delete a message include sending it to the wrong channel, sharing information you did not mean to share, or correcting a mistake. In most cases, editing the message is better than deleting it — editing shows the change was made and keeps the conversation context intact. Use deletion when the message itself should not exist in the record, not when you just want to fix a typo or add clarity.

If you delete a message by accident, Slack does not have an undo button. You cannot recover a deleted message yourself. If the message is important, you may be able to ask your admin to retrieve it from backup logs, but this is not may provide and depends on your workspace's data retention settings and admin policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete messages in a thread or only in the main channel?

You can delete messages in threads the same way you delete messages in the main channel. Hover or long-press, select the three-dot menu, and choose delete. The message disappears from the thread, and other members see the deletion marker.

If I delete a message, do people get a notification that I deleted it?

No, Slack does not send a notification when you delete a message. Other members will see that a message was deleted when they look at the channel, but they will not receive a push notification or alert about the deletion.

Can my admin see what a deleted message said?

Yes. Workspace admins and compliance tools can access deleted messages through Slack's backend logs. The message is not truly gone from your workspace's record, even though regular members cannot see it in the channel.

What if I delete a message and then want to send it again?

You will have to type or paste the message again — Slack does not save a copy of deleted messages for you to resend. If it was a long or important message, consider copying it before you delete it, or use the edit feature instead of deletion if you just want to change part of it.

Does deleting a message remove it from search results?

Deleted messages do not appear in regular member searches. However, admins searching through backup logs or compliance tools may still find deleted messages depending on your workspace's retention and search settings.