If your team already lives in Slack, you don't have to start from an empty workspace. Tandem App can read Slack's own export file and bring your public channels, their messages, threads and reactions across with their original dates. This guide walks through it from start to finish.

What comes across, and what doesn't

Slack's standard export contains public channels and their history. From it, Tandem imports:

  • Channels, with their names and descriptions.
  • Messages, with their original dates and authors.
  • Threads, so replies stay attached to the message they answer.
  • Reactions.

Slack's export does not include uploaded files or direct messages, so neither can be imported. If there are files you need, download them from Slack before you switch and add them to the channel's Docs.

Step 1: export from Slack

  1. In Slack, open Settings & administration → Workspace settings.
  2. Choose Import/Export data, then the Export tab.
  3. Pick the date range (the whole history is usually what you want) and start the export.
  4. When Slack emails you that it's ready, download the .zip file. Don't unzip it.

Step 2: create your Tandem workspace

If you haven't already, sign up and choose your workspace address. You can do the import straight away; you don't need to invite anyone first.

Step 3: upload the export

  1. Signed in as the workspace owner, open Admin dashboard → Workspace settings.
  2. Find Import from Slack and choose the zip file.
  3. Upload it. The import runs in the background, so you can leave the page; the section shows its progress and the result.

Step 4: how people are matched

Tandem matches Slack users to Tandem accounts by email address. Anyone already in your workspace gets their messages straight away. People who haven't joined yet are shown by name, and when they later accept an invitation with the same email address, those messages become theirs.

After the import, the Workspace settings page lists anyone from Slack who isn't in Tandem yet, so you can see who still needs an invitation.

Step 5: invite the team

Invite everyone from the admin Invitations page using the same email addresses they had in Slack. Each invitation link is valid for 7 days and can be resent.

Things that will feel familiar

Most Slack habits carry straight over: threads, @mentions, emoji reactions, pinned and saved messages, reminders, scheduled messages, /status, /dnd and /poll, and Ctrl/⌘ + K to jump to any channel or person. If your tools post into Slack with an incoming webhook, they can usually post into Tandem with no changes other than the address — see connecting GitHub and other tools.

What's different

Every channel in Tandem also has a task board and Docs folders, so you may find you no longer need a separate to-do tool for each project. And clients can join as guests who see only their own channel — covered in working with clients as guests.