Slack Automated Messages: How to Automate Messages in Slack

The short answer: Slack has four built-in ways to send automated messages. Schedule a message to send once later, use /remind for a reminder that repeats, build a Workflow Builder workflow that posts on a schedule or when something happens (paid plans only), or set up Slackbot automated messages that reply when someone types a keyword.

Which one you want depends on three things: whether the message repeats, who it goes to, and what should set it off. The steps below were checked against Slack's own help centre on 1 October 2026. Slack moves its menus around, so if a label has changed, the article name is given so you can find the current version.

Table of Contents

• Which Slack automation to use
• 1. Schedule a message to send later
• 2. Repeat it with /remind
• 3. Workflow Builder: scheduled and triggered messages
• 4. Slackbot automated messages (keyword replies)
• 5. Messages triggered by other tools
• What none of these do: chase a person until they answer
• FAQs

Which Slack automation to use

1. Schedule a message to send later

This is the simplest automated message in Slack: you write it now and Slack sends it later.

On desktop:

1. Open the channel, DM or thread.
2. Type your message, with any mentions, files or formatting.
3. Click the arrow next to the paper plane icon and choose when to send it.

On mobile: type the message, then tap and hold the send icon to pick a time.

To see, edit or cancel what you have queued, open Drafts & sent at the top of the sidebar (on mobile, Drafts & Sent in the Home tab) and choose the Scheduled tab.

Limit: a scheduled message sends once. If you need it every week, use /remind or a workflow.

Slack help article: Schedule messages to send later.

2. Repeat it with /remind

/remind posts a reminder on a schedule, for you or for a channel. Type it in any message box:

/remind me to send the weekly report every Friday at 3pm

/remind #marketing-team to submit expenses every Thursday

The format is always who, what, when. A personal reminder (me) is private and shows up in your Later tab. A channel reminder posts for everyone in the channel, and you can mention someone in the text so they get notified.

What to know before you rely on it:

• Reminders repeat by the day (every Monday, every weekday), not by the hour. "Every hour" will not work.
• Guests can only set reminders for themselves.
• /remind list shows your reminders with a delete option. Channel reminders cannot be edited, only deleted and recreated.
• Slack recommends American English date and time formats when you type the time.

You can also set a personal reminder without the command: hover over a message, click the three dots, and choose Remind me about this. The full list of repeat phrases that work is in Slack recurring reminders: the /remind syntax that works.

Slack help article: Set a reminder.

3. Workflow Builder: scheduled and triggered messages

Workflow Builder is Slack's no-code automation tool. It is the right choice when you want a message you wrote, with your formatting, posted on a schedule, or posted when something happens in a channel. Slack lists it as available on paid plans.

To post a message on a schedule:

1. In the desktop sidebar, click Agents & tools (on some workspaces this is still called Tools). Under Workflows, click New, then Build Workflow.
2. Under "Start the workflow", click Choose an event, select On a schedule, and set the date, time and how often it repeats. Click Continue.
3. Add a step that sends a message, choose the channel, write the message and click Save. You need posting permission in that channel.
4. Click Finish Up, review the details, then click Publish.

The same builder can start a workflow from other events: someone joining a channel, an emoji reaction, a link or button click, or a webhook from another service. Steps can send messages, add people to channels, or act in connected apps such as Google Sheets.

On Business+ and Enterprise+ plans (and older plans with the Slack AI add-on), you can also describe the workflow in a sentence, such as "send a welcome message to people that join a channel", and Slack drafts it for you to edit and publish.

Limit: a scheduled workflow fires on its schedule regardless of what anyone did. It has no idea whether the person it is nudging already answered.

Slack help articles: Guide to Slack Workflow Builder, Build a workflow: Create a workflow in Slack, Use AI to build Slack workflows.

4. Slackbot automated messages (keyword replies)

If people keep asking the same thing ("what's the wifi password?", "where's the brand kit?"), Slackbot can answer for you when it sees a keyword.

1. From the Home tab, click your workspace name in the sidebar.
2. Hover over Tools & settings, then click Customize workspace.
3. Click Automated Messages, then Add Message.
4. Enter the keywords or phrases, and the response Slackbot should send. Click Save.

By default every member can create these, but admins can turn that off. Anyone can edit or delete them, including ones other people added.

Limit: automated messages post in channels and in your own DM, but not in DMs with other people or in Slack Connect conversations. That means they are not an out-of-office auto-reply for your direct messages.

Slack guide: Create automated messages in Slack.

5. Messages triggered by other tools

"Send me a Slack DM whenever a payment over $5,000 comes in" is a different job. The trigger lives in another app and Slack is just where the message lands. Your options:

• Workflow Builder with a webhook trigger or a connector step, on a paid plan.
• An automation platform such as Zapier or Make, which watches the other app and posts to Slack.
• The Slack API, if you have a developer. A small app with a bot token can post to any channel it has been added to.

All three need you to write the message once as a template. None of them write it for you.

What none of these do: chase a person until they answer

Every tool above sends a message at a time you chose. That covers announcements, routines and reminders to yourself. It does not cover the case that sends most people looking for automation in the first place: you asked someone for something, they went quiet, and you need to keep asking without it turning awkward.

Chasing a person needs three things Slack's tools do not have:

1. The message changes. A fourth reminder that reads exactly like the first tells the reader nothing changed. A real chase gets firmer: polite, then direct, then a deadline.
2. It stops when they answer. A workflow that pings someone who replied yesterday makes you look like you are not paying attention.
3. It reaches people outside your workspace. Clients and suppliers are usually not in your Slack at all.

This is the narrow job autoremind.ai does. You describe the chase in one sentence ("chase Priya for the signed-off copy, launch is Thursday"), and it writes up to four messages that go from professional to firm to urgent, then sends them on the schedule you choose.

Be clear about where it fits:

• Email is the main channel. It sends from your own Gmail in the original thread and stops on its own when the person replies, using a tracked reply address rather than reading your inbox. Most people use it this way, for clients, invoices and quotes.
• Slack works for internal chases. It posts to a teammate's DM or a channel from your own Slack account. Because it never reads your Slack messages, it cannot see a Slack reply, so when your teammate answers you pause or close the reminder yourself.
• No Microsoft Teams, no Outlook. Gmail and Slack only for now.

If you only need a routine message on a schedule, use the built-in tools above. They are free or already paid for, and they do it well. If the job is getting one person to answer, the Slack vs email guide helps you decide which channel the chase belongs in.

FAQs

How do I send automated messages in Slack? Slack has four built-in options. Schedule a message to send once later (the arrow next to the send button), use /remind for a repeating reminder, build a Workflow Builder workflow that starts on a schedule or an event (paid plans), or add a Slackbot automated message that replies when someone types a keyword.

Can Slack send a recurring message to a channel automatically? Yes, two ways. /remind #channel to do something every Monday posts a repeating reminder into the channel. For a message you write yourself on a schedule, build a workflow in Workflow Builder with the "On a schedule" trigger and a step that sends a message to the channel. Workflow Builder needs a paid plan.

Can I schedule a message in Slack? Yes. Type the message, then click the arrow next to the paper plane icon and pick a time. On mobile, tap and hold the send icon. Scheduled messages wait in Drafts & sent, under the Scheduled tab, where you can edit or cancel them. Each one sends once.

Does Slack have an auto-responder? Slackbot automated messages reply when someone uses a keyword or phrase you choose. They post in channels and in your own DM, but not in DMs with other people or in Slack Connect conversations, so they are not an out-of-office auto-reply.

Is Slack Workflow Builder free? No. Slack lists Workflow Builder as available on paid plans. On the free plan, /remind, scheduled messages and Slackbot automated messages are the built-in options.

Can an automated Slack message stop when someone replies? Not with the built-in tools. Scheduled messages, /remind and scheduled workflows all fire on their schedule whether or not anyone answered. Stopping on a reply needs something that watches for the answer, which in practice means email, where a tracked reply address can see the answer arrive.

How do I send a Slack DM automatically when something happens in another tool? Use Workflow Builder connector steps or a webhook trigger on a paid plan, an automation platform such as Zapier or Make, or the Slack API directly if you have a developer. The trigger lives in the other tool and Slack is only the destination.

See also: Slack Recurring Reminders: The /remind Syntax · Slackbot Reminders Without Building a Bot · Slack vs Email for Business Reminders · How to Use AI to Write Slack Follow-Up Messages · Build a Sales Follow-Up Workflow in Slack Without a CRM