How to Remove Reactions in Slack

Slack is a convenient tool for companies that have teams of mobile workers spread across the world. It’s simple to use, well-organized, and features everything a virtual office might need. On a Slack channel, you can brainstorm with your colleagues, exchange experiences, submit projects, and make suggestions.

But what if a colleague makes a cool suggestion that you like? Well, Slack allows you to add a reaction to a message with an emoji. If you’ve accidentally chosen a wrong emoji, here’s how to remove it.

Adding and Removing a Reaction on Slack

Emoji reactions are super-convenient. When you don’t have much time or aren’t in a position to type an answer, just choose an emoji to best express your reaction. Like two hands clapping when you want to say “Well done!” or the thumbs up emoji to say “Okay” or “Noted”.

If you’re using Slack on your desktop computer, add a reaction by:

1. Navigating with your mouse to the message you want to react to and clicking on the Add a reaction icon that appears in the top right corner.
   
2. Choosing the desired emoji and clicking on it.
   
3. You’ll see the emoji just below the message.
   

However, if you’re using Slack on your mobile phone, do the following:

1. Tap and hold the desired message.
2. Tap on Add reaction.
   
3. Choose an emoji from the list and tap to add it to the message. You can pick one from the list of the most used emojis, or tap on the Add reaction icon in the top right corner to choose another one.
   

You can also tap on the message you want to react to. Once it’s opened, tap on the Add reaction icon below the message.

Accidentally adding a wrong reaction can be a bit embarrassing. However, it can happen to anyone, so simply remove it and move on with your day. It’s a piece of cake – tap or click on the reaction in blue (that’s the one you’ve added), and it will disappear.

You can’t remove reactions added by other team members, however, only the ones you’ve added yourself. You’re allowed to add up to 23 reactions to any given message.

How Can I See Who Reacted to My Message?

If you want to know who reacted to your message and what emoji they used, here’s how to find out.

When you’re using Slack on your computer, do the following:

1. In the top left corner, choose @ Mentions & reactions.
   
2. Scroll through the list to see who reacted to your message.
   

Another way is to hover over the reaction to see who added it.

If you’re accessing Slack from an Android smartphone, follow these steps:

1. Tap the @ Mentions tab at the bottom of the screen.
   
2. Scroll to see all the reactions to your messages.
   

Note that you might need to scroll for a while to find what you’re looking for because people’s comments are also listed within Activity. If you only want to see the reaction, go to your message, tap and hold the reaction, and check who reacted on the new screen that will appear.

If you’re an iOS user and want to know who reacted to your message on Slack, do this:

1. Open Slack and swipe to the left.
2. When the right sidebar appears, tap on Activity.

What Kind of Emoji Can I Use?

On Slack, you can use emojis in messages, or as a reaction to them. They make your virtual office a happier, more colorful place.

You can add an emoji to your message by choosing one from your keyboard, if you’re using Slack on your smartphone, or by typing in the emoji code. There are :tada:, :+1:, :raised_hands:, etc. to name a few. You can also tap the smiley face below the typing field and choose an emoji from the list.

Some emojis have a concise code, so you can type them instead of searching for them on the emoji list. For example, if you want the confetti celebration emoji, and you know the code by heart, just type :tada: and send the message. The code will turn into the corresponding emoji.

Note that if you’re using hand emoji or people emoji, you can customize them. If you want to change the skin tone to suit your own, for example, do the following.

From your computer:

1. Click on the smiley icon in the typing field.
   
2. Go to the bottom right corner and select the hand icon.
   
3. Choose the default skin tone for your future emoji.
   

From an Android phone:

1. Tap on the You tab in the bottom right corner to open the menu.
   
2. Choose Preferences.
   
3. Scroll to find Advanced and tap to open.
   
4. Tap Emoji Deluxe to set a default skin tone.
   

From an iOS device:

1. Tap and hold the desired emoji.
2. Choose the default skin tone from the pop-up menu.

Suitable Reactions for All Occasions

In many ways, this feature is just like Facebook, only better. The number of reactions is almost endless, so you can find a suitable reaction for almost any message you and your colleagues exchange on Slack. In case you accidentally tap the wrong emoji and put a sad face instead of a smiley face, you can immediately remove the reaction before anyone sees it.

Do you use Slack? What emoji are on your “commonly used” list? Let us know in the comments section below.