Collaborate within channels#

Channels are where you connect, collaborate, and communicate with your team about various topics or projects. Use channels to organize conversations across different topics. as you’re sending messages, replying to messages, and participating in conversation threads.

You’re added to default channels automatically#

Everyone who joins a Mattermost workspace is automatically added to two default public channels: Town Square and Off-Topic. See our Channel Types documentation for details.

Town Square is great for your team-wide communications, such as announcements.
Off-Topic is great for fun, social, non-work-related conversations.

Note

Town Square can’t be archived or converted to a private channel, and users can’t leave this default channel.

Channel sidebar#

In the channel sidebar on the left, you’ll find all of the the channels you’re a member of as well as useful channel management tools. See the channel types to learn about the types of channels available, how they work, and how to identify them in the channel sidebar. Learn how to create channels by visiting the create channels documentation.

As your channel sidebar fills up with channels you’ve joined, you can organize your channels into categories based on how you work. See the customize your channel sidebar documentation for details.

Learn more#

Learn more about collaborating within Mattermost channels:

Channel naming conventions - Learn why channel names are important.
Communicate a channel’s focus and scope - Learn how to communicate a channel’s scope and focus.
Browse channels - Browse all available public channels you can join, and all channels you’re a member of.
Join and leave channels - Learn how to start or stop being a channel member.
Make calls in Mattermost - Learn how to start, join, and attend calls in Mattermost, as well as screen share.
Navigate between channels - Learn how to navigate between channels.
Create channels - Create channels to organize discussion by topic, project, or focus.
Rename a channel - Rename channels to make them more discoverable.
Convert public channels to private channels - Learn how to convert channel access and visibility.
Convert group messages to private channels - Learn how to convert group messages to private channels.
Manage channel members - Add and remove users from channels.
Mark channels as favorites - Mark commonly visited channels as favorites.
Manage channel bookmarks - Manage quick access links or files pinned to the top of channels.
Mark channels as unread - Mark channels unread to return to messages later.
Archive and unarchive channels - Keep the number of available channels manageable.