What Does the Green Dot Mean on Slack?
Quick Definition
The green dot in Slack is a presence indicator showing that a person is currently active. It appears as a solid green circle next to their profile picture and name, indicating they've recently interacted with Slack.
Understanding Slack Green Dot
The green dot is part of Slack's presence system. When you see a solid green dot next to someone's name, it means they've been active in Slack within the last few minutes—typing, reading, or otherwise interacting with the app. A hollow circle (sometimes yellow-ish) indicates the person is away, either because they haven't used Slack recently or because all their devices are disconnected. The green dot appears in multiple locations throughout Slack: in the sidebar member list, in direct message conversations, in channel member lists, and on profile cards. Its ubiquity means that teammates constantly see each other's availability state, which has made it one of the most discussed aspects of remote work culture. In distributed teams, the green dot serves as a digital equivalent of seeing someone at their desk in an office. Its simplicity is both a strength and a limitation: it communicates availability in a glance, but it can't convey nuance like 'I'm here but in deep focus' or 'I'm available but about to leave for lunch'. This has led many teams to combine the green dot with custom status messages to provide richer availability context.
Key Points
- Solid green dot = active/online
- Hollow circle = away/offline
- Updates based on recent Slack activity
- Visible to all workspace members
- Cannot be hidden from others in your workspace
Examples
Checking availability
Before sending a message, you might check if someone has a green dot to know if they're likely to respond quickly.
Manager visibility
Managers can see the green dot to get a sense of team availability, though they shouldn't assume presence equals productivity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I hide my green dot from others?
Why does my green dot disappear?
Does a green dot mean someone is at their computer?
How Idle Pilot Helps
Idle Pilot keeps your green dot active during your scheduled work hours, so teammates see consistent availability without you needing to constantly interact with Slack. This is especially useful for remote workers who want their presence to reflect their actual work schedule.
Try Idle Pilot freeRelated Terms
Slack presence is the indicator (green or yellow dot) next to your name showing whether you're currently active or away in Slack. It's automatically determined by Slack based on your recent activity and connection status.
Slack auto-away is the automatic system that switches your presence status from active (green) to away (yellow) after a period of inactivity. Slack typically triggers this after approximately 10 minutes with no interaction.
A presence scheduler is a tool that automatically maintains your Slack presence status (active/online) during specified time windows, typically matching your work hours. Unlike mouse jigglers or scripts, modern presence schedulers run from the cloud.