Deleting a channel on Slack is permanent and irreversible. When you delete a Slack channel, all of the messages are removed from the platform so make sure to proceed with care. But not everyone can delete a channel — only Workspace Owners and Workspace Admins can delete a channel (except for the #general channel).
However, instead of permanently deleting the channel, you can consider archiving the channel. Archived channels are closed to new activity, but the message history is retained and searchable. As for deleted channels, they are permanently removed from a workspace, including message history.
But what is Slack and what is a Channel? Slack is a go-to online communication and organization tool for both business and community projects. Its workspaces enable you to organize communications in dedicated spaces called Channels for group discussions on any project or topic. Unlike email, discussions in channels are focused on specific topics, so you can join and leave them as needed.
If a Channel has it’s reached the end of its purpose, you can decide to permanently delete it. As we mentioned before, only workspace owners and workspace admins can delete a channel — and once done, it is irreversible so make sure to proceed with care.
So, how to delete a Channel — here’s how:
1. Open the Slack web or desktop client (or even via a third-party collective chat app such as Rambox).
2. Click the Show channel details icon (it’s I with a circle around it, similar to an ‘information’ icon) in the top-right of the channel window.
3. Click the More icon (it’s a three-dot menu)
4. Choose Additional Options.
5. Click Delete this channel.
Note: In some cases, you may need to choose More > Additional Options > Delete this channel.
6. Tick the box next to Yes, and permanently delete this channel. Then click Delete this channel, again.
In case you have an archived slack channel, here’s how to delete it:
Slack delete channel actions on archived channels are just as easy as deleting a non-archived channel — however, there are a few extra steps.
Tip: In case there are channels you would rather archive than delete, right-click the channel name, then choose Additional options. At the top of the Additional Options page, click Archive this channel and then confirm you want to archive the channel.
1. Click All channels at the top of your left sidebar. If you don’t see this option, click More to find it.
2. Search for and select a channel, or click Filter and select Archived channels from the Channel type drop-down menu.
3. Select the channel you’d like to delete from the list.
4. Click the channel name in the conversation header.
5. Click Settings, then Delete this channel.
6. Check the box next to Yes, permanently delete the channel, then click Delete Channel.
