To send email to Slack, open the channel, click its name, go to the Automations tab and choose Send emails to this channel, then Get email address. Anything sent to that address posts in the channel. Channel addresses need a paid Slack plan. On any plan, you can send single emails with Slack for Gmail or Slack for Outlook, or auto-forward matching mail with a Gmail filter or an Outlook rule.
Slack gives you three built-in ways to get email into a workspace: an email address for a channel or DM, an add-on for Gmail and Outlook, and a personal forwarding address that drops emails into your DM with Slackbot. Add your email provider's filters and you can forward only the mail you care about, without anyone clicking a button.
This guide walks through each method with the exact clicks, compares them in one table, and covers what email in Slack can't do, starting with replying. The fourth method is for one specific case: cold email replies, where a word filter isn't enough to tell a hot lead from an unsubscribe.
Revbound sorts every reply by intent first and sends alerts to your channel. You answer from Revbound.
Try it free for 3 days3 days free, every featureWhat you need before you start
Checklist
- A Slack workspace and the channel the email should land in. Create the channel first, for example #inbound or #client-replies.
- Your Slack plan. A channel email address needs a paid subscription. The add-ons and the Slackbot forwarding address work on every plan.
- Gmail or Outlook open on a computer. Gmail filters and forwarding are set up on the web, and the Outlook add-in only works with Office 365.
- Permission from a Slack owner or admin if the email option is missing. Admins can limit who creates channel addresses, and on Business+ and Enterprise they can switch incoming email off.
Step 1. Get a channel's email address
A Slack email address is a unique address tied to one channel or DM. Any email sent to it is posted in that conversation, so everyone in the channel can read it. Anyone with the address can send to it, which is why it works with forwarding rules too.
- Channel name
- Automations tab
- Send emails to this channel
- Get email address
On desktop, open the channel and click its name in the conversation header. Go to the Automations tab, select Send emails to this channel, and click Get email address. Click Copy next to the address to paste it into a forwarding rule or your contacts. Slack then offers to share the address with the channel, or you can dismiss the prompt.
On the phone app, open the channel, tap its name in the header and tap Copy channel email.
Make the emails easy to spot
In the same Send emails to this channel panel, click Customize email appearance. You can set an icon and a name for every email posted to the channel, such as "Website inbox", so they don't blend in with messages from teammates.
On the free plan: use your Slackbot forwarding address
- Profile picture
- Preferences
- Messages and media
- Get a forwarding address
Click your profile picture at the top right, choose Preferences, then Messages and media. Scroll to Bring emails into Slack and click Get a forwarding address. Emails sent there land in your DM with Slackbot instead of a channel, so only you see them. Disable this address in the same place when you're done.
Step 2. Forward one email with Slack for Gmail or Outlook
The add-ons are for the email you pick by hand: a client complaint the team should see, or a thread you want to discuss without forwarding it around. They work on every Slack plan.
Slack for Gmail
- Slack icon in the sidebar
- Search channels and people
- Pick a channel
- Send
Install Slack for Gmail from the Google Workspace Marketplace. If your company blocks it, a Google Workspace admin can approve it in the admin console. Open an email, click the Slack icon in the right-hand sidebar, and click Connect to Slack the first time.
To send an email, click the Slack icon, select Search channels and people, choose the workspace, then type a channel or person and press Enter. Click Send to [name], then View to see it in Slack. The add-on lets you add a message and include the attachments, so the channel can open the files too.
Slack for Outlook
Get Slack for Outlook from Microsoft AppSource and connect it to your workspace. In the Outlook desktop app, open an email, click the Slack icon, pick a channel or person and click Send to Slack. In Outlook on the web, open the email, click the three dots, select Send to Slack, choose the destination and click Send to Slack.
Check the requirements before you install. The add-in only works with Office 365, it doesn't support on-premise Exchange, and it needs the Exchange mail protocol, so an Outlook client receiving mail over POP or IMAP can't use it.
Step 3. Auto-forward with filters
For a steady stream, such as every invoice from one supplier or every email to a support address, let your email provider forward it to the channel address from Step 1. The key word is filter. Forwarding your whole inbox to a channel buries the useful emails under newsletters within a day.
Gmail: add the address, then filter
- Settings gear
- See all settings
- Forwarding and POP/IMAP
- Add a forwarding address
In Gmail on your computer, click Settings, then See all settings, and open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Click Add a forwarding address, paste the Slack channel address, and click Next, Proceed and OK. Gmail sends a verification link to that address. Because the address posts into Slack, the verification email shows up in the channel: open it there and click the link.
- Show search options
- Your criteria
- Create filter
- Forward it
Now forward only what matters. Click Show search options in the Gmail search box and enter the criteria: a sender in From, an address in To, or words in the subject. Click Search to check what matches, then Create filter, tick Forward it, choose the Slack address and click Create filter.
Outlook: a rule that forwards or redirects
- Settings
- Rules
- Add rule
In new Outlook or Outlook on the web, open Settings, then Mail, then Rules, and select Add rule. Name the rule, add a condition such as a sender or words in the subject, then add the action Forward to or Redirect to with the Slack channel address. Click Save. In classic Outlook, the same rule starts from Move, then Rules, then Manage Rules and Alerts.
Forward and redirect look different in Slack. A forwarded email appears to come from you. A redirected email keeps the original sender, which makes the channel easier to scan, since you see who wrote in without opening each post.
The same filters drive Gmail's automatic replies, so if you're setting these up anyway, our guide to the Gmail auto reply with filters and templates covers the sender rules in more detail.
Step 4. Get Slack alerts for cold email replies
Filters match words and addresses. That's fine for invoices. It falls apart for cold email replies, which arrive from dozens of sending mailboxes and say the same words with opposite meanings. "Interested, but not this quarter" and "Not interested" both contain "interested". A filter forwards both, or neither.
Sales teams want the channel to show the replies that need a person, and nothing else. Getting there takes something that reads each reply before it reaches Slack, and it should also stop your cold email sequence for that lead once they've answered.
Revbound is a reply inbox for cold email. It pulls every reply from Instantly, Smartlead, Email Bison, PlusVibe, SendKit and ArcSend into one inbox and sorts each one with AI: interested, meeting requested, out of office, referral, not interested. It drafts or sends the answer, offers times that are actually free on your Cal.com or Google Calendar, and books the meeting when the lead says yes. It also sends alerts to a Slack channel. Plans, all month to month, are on the Revbound pricing page, with a 3-day free trial.
Slack is for alerts only. You can't answer a lead from Slack, so the reply goes out from Revbound. Out-of-office replies get a follow-up when the lead returns, and referrals get an email to the person the lead pointed to, so those never need a human in the channel at all. If your team answers by hand, the free email reply generator writes a response for each reply type, from interested to not now.
Choose which events post to Slack
Revbound posts to one Slack webhook per workspace, and you pick which events reach it. Open Settings, then Notifications, paste the webhook, and tick the events you want:
- An interested lead waits past the reply target (on by default)
- A mailbox has a problem (on by default)
- A positive reply comes in (off by default)
- A lead asks for a meeting (off by default)
Late replies that Revbound picks up in its catch-up sweep are not posted, so an old backlog doesn't flood the channel.
Want your Slack channel to hear about cold email replies after they're sorted, not before?
Try it free for 3 daysWhich method to use: comparison table
| Method | Slack plan | What reaches Slack | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel email address | Paid | Every email sent to the address | A shared inbox the whole channel should see |
| Slackbot forwarding address | All plans | Every email sent to it, in your DM only | Personal reminders on the free plan |
| Slack for Gmail or Outlook | All plans | One email you choose, with attachments | Discussing a single thread with the team |
| Gmail filter or Outlook rule | Paid for a channel, any plan to your DM | Emails matching a sender, address or words | Steady streams like invoices or a support address |
| Revbound alerts | Slack workspace | Alerts about cold email replies, sorted by intent first | Sales teams and agencies running cold email |
Slack behavior from Slack's help center; forwarding from Google's Gmail help and Microsoft's Outlook support pages.
Limits of email in Slack (threads, replying back)
Every native method moves email in one direction. Slack's own help article lists three ways to send email into Slack, and none of them send an answer back to whoever wrote the email. Anything you type under the post is a Slack message. The sender never sees it.
So the person who replies still opens their inbox. If you want the team to discuss first and answer second, that works well. If you expected to answer customers or leads from the channel, it doesn't. Some third-party tools add two-way email for support teams, and in cold email, Master Inbox lets reps reply from Slack, which Revbound does not.
A few other limits to plan around:
- Channel addresses can be created by any member except guests by default. Owners and admins can restrict who creates them.
- On Business+ and Enterprise, admins can switch incoming email off for the whole workspace. Admins on Pro can't.
- An Outlook forward (as opposed to a redirect) shows you as the sender, and a reply to it comes to you, not the original sender.
- The Slack for Outlook add-in doesn't run on POP or IMAP accounts or on-premise Exchange.
Slack email notifications (the other direction)
If you landed here wondering why Slack emails you, that's the reverse flow. Slack sends email notifications when you're not active in Slack: for mentions, DMs and replies to threads you follow. They're bundled and sent once every 15 minutes or once an hour, depending on your preferences. You also get them by default if you join a workspace without turning on mobile notifications.
You can reply to a Slack message straight from one of those notification emails. Change how often they arrive, or switch them off, in your Slack notification preferences.
FAQ
What is a Slack email address?
A Slack email address is a unique address for one channel or DM. Emails sent to it are posted in that conversation for every member to read. You get it from the channel's Automations tab under Send emails to this channel, and it needs a paid Slack subscription.
How do I send a message to Slack by email?
Send it to a channel's email address, which posts it in the channel, or to your personal Slackbot forwarding address, which posts it in your DM with Slackbot. The Slackbot address works on every plan and is under Preferences, Messages and media, Bring emails into Slack.
Why did I get an email from Slack?
Slack emails you about mentions, direct messages and replies to threads you follow when you're not active in Slack. You also get these by default if you joined a workspace without turning on mobile notifications. They arrive bundled, every 15 minutes or every hour, and you can change them in your notification preferences.
Can I connect my Gmail to Slack?
Yes. Install Slack for Gmail from the Google Workspace Marketplace, open an email, click the Slack icon in the right-hand sidebar and click Connect to Slack. After that you can send any email, with its attachments, to a channel or person. For automatic sending, forward matching emails to a channel address with a Gmail filter.
Can you reply to an email from Slack?
Not with Slack's built-in email features. They bring email into Slack, and anything typed under the post stays in Slack, so the original sender never sees it. You answer from your email inbox. The reverse works: you can reply to a Slack message from a Slack notification email.
Can I send email to Slack on the free plan?
Yes, but not to a channel. Channel and DM email addresses need a paid subscription. On the free plan, use Slack for Gmail or Slack for Outlook to send single emails, or a Slackbot forwarding address, which drops emails into your own DM with Slackbot.
Can I choose which Revbound alerts go to Slack?
Yes. In Settings, under Notifications, each workspace has a checkbox per event. A lead waiting past the reply target and a mailbox problem are on by default. A positive reply and a meeting request are off until you tick them. Late replies picked up by the catch-up sweep are not posted.
Does Revbound let you answer cold email leads from Slack?
No. Revbound sends alerts to a Slack channel, and the answer is sent from the Revbound inbox. Revbound sorts each cold email reply by intent, drafts or sends the answer, and books the meeting on Cal.com or Google Calendar when the lead says yes.
