Slack's format shortcut handles markdown — run it twice
Slack can convert pasted markdown into its own formatting via a keyboard shortcut. Running it two times in a row gives a noticeably cleaner result.
• 2 min readPasting markdown into Slack — from an LLM, a README, a doc, anywhere — usually leaves the raw syntax sitting there in your message: **bold**, _italics_, list markers, the lot. I’d been manually cleaning that up for longer than I care to admit.
Turns out Slack has a shortcut for it built into the composer:
- Mac:
Cmd + Shift + F - Windows:
Ctrl + Shift + F
Select the pasted text, hit the shortcut, and Slack converts the markdown to its own native formatting.
The non-obvious bit
One pass cleans up most of it, but running the shortcut a second time picks up cases the first pass misses. It’s worth getting into the habit of just pressing it twice by default.
It’s not a complete conversion — heading #s, for instance, get left behind — but it gets you 90% of the way there in two keystrokes instead of a manual cleanup.
I picked this up from Converting ChatGPT Markdown to Slack Text on Young Leaders. Credit where it’s due.