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In 2019, the Slack App had over 10 million daily active users, a figure that has doubled since then. It's understandable why so many enterprises and teams choose to use Slack as their primary communication tool.
Everything from the Slack dashboard to the Slack analytics is designed to improve teamwork and collaboration. Another gem in Slack's arsenal are the Slack logs.
Think of Slack logs as your virtual team diary, recording every conversation and action that takes place within the workspace. There are important things being discussed throughout the day with important statements and questions being exchanged. Such a statement and question shows research effort by the team and it needs to be logged.
Another important reason to log these conversations and activities is to acknowledge the members who invested time in that research effort. Even better, these logs are time-stamped. So, you know exactly when something happened or was updated.
But why would you need Slack logs? To maintain strict supervision on employees is not the answer. Let's take a closer look at what Slack logs are and how to navigate them effectively for team building, rewarding and essential communication.
Slack logs refer to all the information the platform records during the course of your team's interactions. Here are some of the key components of Slack logs.
Possibly, the most important information in Slack channels is the communication between members. A conversation isn't merely limited to direct messages. It also includes the files people have shared with each other or the threads where a team member has tagged another.
Slack logs this data as activity logs. You can view and export these logs from the desktop Slack app.
An important thing to remember here is that Slack doesn't have a built-in Deleted or Recycle Bin for messages. So, there are no Slack logs of deleted messages. Instead, you'd have to use other, more complicated methods to retrieve Slack messages that have been deleted.
You might need to check access logs if you suspect an unauthorized person has accessed your team's workspace. The ability to check these logs is available in the following Slack subscription plans:
If you're an admin or the owner, you can use access logs to see sign-in attempts from all members in a Slack workspace.
Here's what the access logs show you:
Slack updates these logs once every hour if you're actively using the platform. It generates new entries if you:
The analytics data is present in visual charts and graphs, making it easier to understand and analyze. You can also export this data for further analysis or to present it in meetings.
A Slack log is only available for the Enterprise Grid subscription. These logs show you all the actions taken by members in your workspace, including adding or removing users, creating both public and private channels, changing account settings, etc.
You have two options to access Slack logs. One, you can see them directly in Slack and then download them as a CSV file. Two, you can use the Audit Logs API to access these logs programmatically.
Every Slack workspace has a record of all members who have joined or left the workspace. It also tracks the roles and permissions assigned to each member. For instance, the logs give you a detailed account of the access privileges each member has within the workspace.
Why would you need Slack member logs, though? Well, these logs will show you how each member contributes to the workspace, their activity levels, and whether they have been granted the appropriate access. You can view or export this data, depending on your use case.
Here's a question to note: what's the point of having all this data? The answer is simple: insight. Here are a few things you can do with your Slack logs data.
Let's say a team member was on vacation. They'd been gone for a week and weren't connected to the work chat during that time.
They want to catch up on what happened while they were away, especially if important decisions were made. Slack logs make it easy for them to catch up on all the conversations they missed. They can also see who was involved in these conversations in case they need to follow up with someone.
Whether you use Slack for customer service, project management, or internal communication, there's a lot of information shared there. You might need to download Slack conversation history for a specific topic or project.
Then, you can find all the relevant information you need. Slack logs allow you to search for keywords or phrases, making it easier to find what you're looking for.
Remember how we mentioned earlier that Slack logs are time-stamped? That comes in handy when you need to document decisions.
You can refer back to the exact conversation where a decision was made and use that as a reference for future discussions. It also helps keep track of who was involved in the decision-making process. If there were any updates or subsequent decisions made about the same topic, you can easily trace back to the original conversation.
Suppose you're a healthcare or financial institution that needs to comply with strict regulations. For example, a healthcare company would have to follow the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) texting rules.
You need to conduct internal audits of all electronic communication to make sure you're not violating any regulations. The best way to do that is by using Slack logs.
You can filter and export Slack conversations by date, channel, user, or keyword. Then, you may go over the exported conversations to check if it's compliant with the regulations.
The type of data you can export from Slack will depend on your subscription plan. Enterprise Grid has the most extensive data export options, such as exporting conversation data that a single user has participated in. However, if you want to schedule recurring exports, the Business+ plan would allow you to do that.
We'll look at the methods to export Slack chat logs for different subscription plans
Follow these steps to download Slack logs:
The procedure to export Slack data is the same as the free and pro plans. However, you'll also have the option to schedule recurring exports in this plan. Plus, you can export chat data from DMs and private channels, too, provided you have the approval to export this data.
To get the approval, follow these steps:
The Slack Support team will review your request and send you an email with the approval decision.
In this plan, you have the option to export chat logs from all conversations and channels in your company. Here's how it works:
The Analytics tab is easily accessible in Slack, letting you see data and insights on how your team communicates. But what if you want to review this information outside of Slack? That's where the Analytics Logs come in.
In the Enterprise Grid plan, this process is even more streamlined. You can choose columns like members, workspaces, or org-wide to customize your data further. The logs are exported as CSV files.
Similarly, you can choose a custom date range for specific apps, members, or channels. Slack lets you access information from as far as 13 months.
You can use these analytics to:
Here's how:
That's it. You'll find all the information you need to manage and monitor user access in your workplace.
You can use these logs to:
Again, start by going to Settings & Administration and selecting Organization settings. Then, do this:
The audit logs feature is only available for the Enterprise Grid plan. Primary owners in the company can allow admins to access these logs by assigning them Audit log system roles.
Slack logs give you the ability to:
Slack member logs aren't as well-known as the previous two, but they are just as useful.
To access them:
It's quite simple. The member logs let you see if any foreign or rogue accounts have accessed your company's workspace.
Thanks to filters, you can identify and manage any inactive members, saving you valuable resources.
Do Slack logs get saved? Yes, they do. Does that mean you can use Slack as customer support insight? Absolutely.
For that, you'll need a customer service tool like JustReply that lets you manage your support conversations directly through Slack. The powerful search, smart editor, and help center further enhance the experience.
Whichever support conversations pass through JustReply will also get stored in your team's Slack channel, allowing you to:
Get started with JustReply to see these benefits in action.
