Learn About Policies and Settings in Slack

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

Explain the difference between org and workspace policies and settings.
Identify common examples of org-level settings.
Identify common examples of workspace-level settings.
Name the four levels of workspace access.

A Tale of Two Levels

Picture this: One of your coworkers is talking about Slack and throws out terms like “org-level settings” and “workspace-level settings.” You make a mental note to look up those terms later. Are orgs and workspaces the same thing in Slack? Are they different? If so, how are they different? Well, this badge is your definitive resource for answers: Here, you learn the difference between org-level settings and workspace-level settings in Slack.

In a nutshell, org-level settings determine the experience in Slack across the entire organization, while workspace-level settings determine the experience in a specific workspace. Org-level policies and settings lay the foundation for the Slack Enterprise Grid across workspaces.

Slack Org Explained

Org settings govern an entire Slack organization and apply across all of its workspaces, focusing on global policies and security like user provisioning, single sign-on (SSO), and app management.

Here are some examples of Slack org settings.

Default channels (channels that new members automatically join when they are provisioned to Slack, such as #help-slack or #announcements-global) set up for your entire organization.
Messaging permissions set to always display a warning for @channel and @everyone mentions.
A policy allowing Org Owners, Org Admins, and Workspace Owners/Admins to invite guests to Enterprise Grid workspaces.
Public file sharing disabled to prevent external file sharing via public URLs.

Slack Workspace Explained

Workspace settings are specific to a single Slack workspace and control its unique aspects, such as member access settings, channel management, and specific apps within that workspace.

Here are some examples of workspace settings.

Default channels set for each workspace. For example, if the organization has a workspace for its sales department, all new members of that workspace are automatically added to the #announcements-sales channel.
Permission for members to delete messages in the workspace and edit messages at any time.
Custom emoji creation restricted to Workspace Owners/Admins only.

Workspace Access Settings

Slack has four options to control how members can join a workspace.

Open: Anyone in the organization can view and join the workspace, such as a global workspace for all members.
By Request: Any org member can request access to the workspace–such as a workspace for any group, like interns–that you might want to control membership to but are also comfortable with anyone requesting to join. Note: This setting has the highest administrative overhead because admins are responsible for taking frequent actions on requests to join.

Workspace access settings.

Invite Only: Any org member can be invited to join (by a Workspace Owner/Admin) or added to the workspace (by an Org Owner/Admin), such as a workspace for a project or product with details that should be kept private from general audiences.

This setting requires less admin overhead than By Request, but more than if a workspace is Open or Hidden.

Hidden: Members cannot view the workspace and must be invited to join (by an Org Owner/Admin) or added (by an Org Owner/Admin), such as a workspace for mergers or acquisitions.

Generally, the Open option promotes a collaborative environment. But clients in highly regulated or security-conscious industries might prefer the other settings.

Is This a Workspace or an Org Setting?

There are dozens of policies and settings in Slack. They fall into several main categories, and can be workspaces, orgs, or both. Here’s a breakdown.

Category	Org or Workspace?	Definition	Example
General settings	Both	These settings define general organization info and enable native Slack functionality.	What’s the default language?
Admin roles	Both	Admin roles are designed for people responsible for managing accounts and settings in Slack.	Who can transfer ownership of the org and access channel management tools?
System roles	Org	On Enterprise Grid, system roles give an organization more flexibility around permissions that can be granted to members.	Who can place a legal hold in Slack?
Identity management	Org	These settings allow an organization to enable single sign-on (SSO) as an extra layer of security when employees sign in to Slack.	How do employees log in to Slack?
Security	Both	These settings define how Slack complies with an organization’s security expectations.	How does Slack manage who can download and send files?
Compliance	Both	These settings define how long communications in Slack remain in Slack.	Should Slack retain data from direct messages as well as revisions made to those messages?
Channel management	Both	These settings define who can create, edit, and archive channels, and who controls posting permissions on channels.	Who can manage which channels live across workspaces (multi-workspace channels)?
Apps	Both	These settings define how new apps should be added to the organization.	Must new apps be approved?

For a full list of settings and recommended configurations, you can reference the admin setup guide.

Important note

If a workspace is being migrated into Enterprise Grid, by default, the org settings for the grid override any preexisting workspace settings. To maintain any existing workspace settings during a migration, you need to choose to keep the workspace settings in the Enterprise Grid org policies.

Recap

Org-level settings and workspace-level settings are two very different things.

Org-level settings determine the experience in Slack across the entire organization.
Workspace-level settings determine the experience in a specific workspace.

And remember, workspace policies and settings can add to or override org-level settings as necessary to address specific workspace and business needs.

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