If your team has been using Slack for communications, connecting Slack and Notion allows users to share ideas and information between the applications for greater productivity. Here’s how to do it.
Native Slack Integration from Notion
All Notion plans, including the Free plan, come with an optional Slack integration. It is up to the individual to install the integration and take advantage of using Slack and Notion more fully. Notion upgraded its Slack integration in April 2023 to bring additional functionality. This also means users of the older integration need to install the upgrade to get all new features.
Integration Setup
The latest Slack integration with Notion allows users to set up the integration in either application depending on the need to connect. But the user needs to install the integration only once to get all the functionality across the workspace. At the moment, users cannot choose to install only parts of the integration. By restricting permissions, however, one can control a feature of the integration.
To install the integration, Notion users can choose to connect the apps from the Notion website Integration Gallery page, from the Notion app, or from the Slack app.
Installing from the Notion Website
In Notion’s Integration gallery page, search for Slack, and click its box.
On the Slack integration page, click the Add to Notion button on the upper right side.
To continue with the Slack integration with Notion, you need to log in to your Slack account by entering your workspace’s Slack URL.
After logging into your Slack account, you will see the access request from Notion and what it means when you grant the permission. To proceed with the integration, click Allow.
Integration from the Notion App
Notion users can keep track of changes happening in Notion while they are working in Slack. The Slack integration with Notion offers two ways to bring this about: @-mention notifications and database notifications.
@-mention Notifications
Whenever a team member @-mentions specific users on a Notions page, those users will receive a Slack message about it. These include getting tagged in a body of a page, inside a comment, or inside the Person property of a database. These mentioned users will get a message informing them of the context in which they were tagged. If mentioned inside a comment, users can reply directly from Slack, and their reply will appear as a regular comment in Notion.
To activate the personal notification setup, go to “Settings & members” in the left navigation pane in Notion.
Then click “My notifications & settings.”
Select Slack notifications and then “Add new account.” Take note that you can turn off notifications from Slack at any time by selecting “Off” from the dropdown.
If your integration has been set up, you can click on the dropdown to choose an existing Slack workspace. In this example, it is the JD&Co workspace.
Database Notifications
Another way to track projects and other changes in Notion is by receiving Slack notifications whenever a team member adds or makes changes to a page in a database.
From any Notion page, go to the page’s database 3-dot main menu in the upper right corner.
From the dropdown, select Slack notifications. If it is the first time connecting with Slack, you will get a prompt to connect using the integration, just like in Figure 04.
After a successful integration, you can proceed to create the new database notification. For example, on the Tasks database page, you can opt to get notified every time a task status is set to “Complete.” You can choose to apply a filter or not and simply choose any page on the Tasks page.
The next step is to add a trigger that will activate Notion to send the notification in Slack. Notion gives you several choices such as when someone adds a page or when a page property is edited. In this example, you want to be notified during a Status change.
Continuing with the example, you would want to get notified when a status is set to “Complete”, so make sure that checkbox is ticked.
The last step is to choose the Slack channel you want to send the notifications to. Then hit the Create button.
With this database notification setup, whenever a team member marks a task as complete, you will get a Slack message stating the same. You can also add multiple triggers to your notification.
Slack Link Preview
Communications happen in Slack spontaneously. When team members share important information worth remembering, users can copy and paste these messages into a Notion page. The message will appear in Notion as a link preview.
To copy a message in Slack, go to the message’s 3-dot menu, which will show More actions.
From the dropdown, select Copy link.
Go the specific Notion page where you want to paste the message, then right-click to show the menu, and click Paste. By default, Notion will paste the Slack message as a preview enclosed in a rectangle. But users can also choose to paste the message as a mention/comment or as as an HTML link.
Integration from the Slack App
Another way to integrate Slack with Notion is from the Slack app. When a user pastes a Notion link into Slack for the first time, they will get a prompt to connect Slack to Notion (see Figure 04). From here, they can install the Slack integration with Notion by allowing access.
After the integration is complete, any Notion link pasted into Slack will automatically unfurl or expand with details. It will show the Notion page’s title and creator. All users included in that Slack channel will be able to get an idea of what the link or page is about even if they don’t have access to that page.
In that case, the user who pasted the link will see a Slack popup message stating that not everyone has access to that page. At the same time, the integration allows the user to give instant access to the rest of the team right from Slack. No more requests from team members asking for access.
Add Slack Items to a Notion Database
During conversations in Slack, team members may come up with action items like tasks, requests, or reminders that need to be in Notion. Instead of switching apps, the user can send these items into a Notion database without leaving Slack.
If this is the first time you are connecting Slack to Notion, you will receive a prompt to connect your Slack workspace to Notion.
In the Notion app, you will likewise receive a message request from Slack. The message provides the details of what it means to give permission. To continue with the integration, click the “Allow access” button.
You can choose the name of the database or page you want to add items in, add a title, and add one or more properties.
Once you’re finished, click Save, and a confirmation message will appear in your Slack channel.
In Notion, the items are now added in that particular page. You are able to add items without having to leave Slack.
Other Slack-Notion Integration using Third-party Apps
Aside from this native Slack integration from Notion, there are other ways to connect the two apps. For instance, Zapier can connect Slack and Notion to help users of both apps to automate processes. Integrately has ready-to-use workflow automation recipes that connects Slack and Notion in one click. Other tools that can connect Slack and Notion are Bardeen, Pipedream, Make, and Appy Pie.
Ready to do more with Slack integration with Notion?
Connecting Slack with Notion helps teams facilitate their work by seamlessly accessing information across apps. Important action items come up during conversations in Slack. With the integration, users can easily log the action items into a particular Notion page without having to leave Slack and interrupt the flow. The Slack integration with Notion helps save time and effort for teams who work on both apps frequently. It also keeps teams updated and in-sync regardless of the app they currently working on.
