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. Sending messages, replying to messages, and participating in conversation threads are important ways to keep conversations active with your team.

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

All users are added to the Off-Topic and Town Square channels automatically. Town Square can’t be archived or converted to a private channel, and users can’t leave the Town Square 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. 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.

Mattermost offers four types of channels: public channels, private channels, direct messages, and group messages. See the Channel Types documentation for more information. Create channels, or start a new direct or group message by selecting the Plus icon.

Public channels are identified with a Globe icon. Anyone on the team can join a public channel.
Private channels are typically used for sensitive topics, and are identified with a Lock icon. You must be invited to private channels by another channel member.
Direct messages are private conversations between two people.
Group messages are private conversations for small groups of up to seven people. For larger group conversations, use a private channel instead.

Learn more#

Learn more about collaborating within Mattermost channels:

Channel types - Learn more about the types of channels available in Mattermost.
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.
Mark channels as unread - Mark channels unread to return to messages later.
Archive and unarchive channels - Keep the number of available channels manageable.