Chat Between Slack and Teams: How to Bridge the Gap

Many organizations need to chat between Slack and Teams to get work done, especially when different departments or external partners use different tools. But without a native connection, the challenge isn’t the work itself; it’s keeping communication aligned across both platforms.

Without a tool like Conclude, bridging the gap between Slack and Microsoft Teams is nearly impossible. Messages are missed, updates are delayed, and teams waste time switching tools or repeating information.

This article breaks down the ways you can bridge Slack and Microsoft Teams to align conversations and improve overall communication flow. Learn what connections are possible and how to find the right solution for your team’s needs.

Want to simplify how your team chats between Slack and Teams? Try Conclude free for 14 days and streamline your conversations.

Why You Might Need a Slack–Teams Bridge

In many companies, different departments or teams utilize various chat tools. One of the most common scenarios is when IT teams continue working in Slack, while the rest of the organization adopts Microsoft Teams. Over time, this creates shadow messaging, resulting in missed updates and fragmented conversations that are difficult to track and retain.

The challenge extends beyond internal teams, as many organizations work with external clients, partners, or vendors who don’t use the same tools. If your team runs on Slack and your client is on Teams, you’re left forwarding messages, repeating updates, or defaulting to email – all of which slow down communication and increase the risk of misalignment.

A Slack and Teams bridge helps teams avoid these workarounds by syncing conversations in real-time, so everyone stays in the loop, no matter which platform they use.

Benefits of Cross-Platform Chats

Connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams allows teams to communicate more effectively across platforms, without the friction of switching tools. Here are some key benefits:

• Eliminate message duplication – no more forwarding, copy-pasting, or repeating the same update in multiple places. A single, shared channel or chat maintains a single source of truth, reducing unnecessary confusion
• Less reliance on emails for updates and quick conversations – while many users still rely heavily on email, the average employee receives over 120 emails daily, leading to inbox overload and email fatigue. Bridging Slack and Teams reduces the need to rely on email for everyday communication
• Improved productivity in the tools you use – keeping conversations in one place reduces context switching and keeps teams productive and focused. For additional tips on improving productivity in Slack, read our Top Slack Productivity Tips article
• More control and visibility – centralized conversations mean fewer blind spots. With everything synced across Slack and Teams, it’s easier for Team Leads and Project Managers to track progress, address bottlenecks, and keep everyone aligned

4 Ways To Chat Between Slack and Microsoft Teams

This section breaks down the main connection types available between Slack and Microsoft Teams with Conclude Connect. Discover options for internal and external communication, including channel-to-channel and chat-to-channel links.

1. Connect Slack Channels and Teams Channels Internally

Connecting Slack channels with Microsoft Teams channels inside the same organization is one of the most common ways to bridge communication between the two platforms. This method allows teams that are using different tools to collaborate in real-time, without switching apps.

This is especially useful for companies where different departments prefer different chat platforms. For example, IT might use Slack while Operations use Teams, making internal collaboration challenging without connected channels.

There are some manual workarounds and third-party tools available, but many are limited or complex to set up.

Conclude Connect for internal connections offers a solution for bridging Slack and Teams channels. After setting up Conclude and signing in with both platforms, admins can easily create two-way channel connections. Once set up, you can access the following features:

• Synced reactions
• Send and receive messages
• Edit and delete messages
• Sync threaded messages
• Use emojis (inside messages)
• Language translation (up to 60 languages)
• Connect Teams Chats with Slack
• Sync channels on both platforms
• File and document sharing
• @mention your colleagues
• Rich text formatting

To learn more about connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams, see How to Create Channel Connections Between Slack and Microsoft Teams.

2. Connect Slack Channels and Teams Channels Externally

What about collaborating with people outside your company? External channel connections allow organizations to communicate with clients, partners, or vendors who use Slack or Teams. This setup helps to avoid reliance on emails and keeps conversations flowing in real-time.

For agencies working with clients who prefer different platforms, this is a common challenge. For example, a digital agency may operate in Slack while a client uses Microsoft Teams. Without proper integration, teams rely on workarounds like managing multiple accounts, forwarding messages, or using email, which creates friction, lost context, and duplicated effort.

One of the most common solutions (for Slack users) is Slack Connect – but it only works between paid Slack workspaces and excludes Microsoft Teams users. Other third-party tools claim to bridge the gap between Slack and Teams but are unable to provide bi-directional message synchronization.

With Conclude Connect for external connections, you can link a Slack channel directly with a client’s Teams channel or vice versa, allowing both sides to join the conversation without switching apps or duplicating messages.

Only the organization initiating the connection needs a Conclude license, making it cost-effective for even small agencies, consultants, and vendors working with external clients.

To learn more about the benefits of using Conclude Connect for agency and partner communication, see How Digital Agencies Can Improve Agency-Client Communication on Slack and Teams.

3. Connect Teams Chats and Slack Channels Internally

In Microsoft Teams, chats are often the default for project updates and day-to-day communication – more so than channels. Meanwhile, Slack users tend to collaborate via shared channels or direct messages.

Connecting Teams chats and Slack channels that sync both ways has been a challenge for many businesses – until now. Conclude Connect allows users to link Microsoft Teams chats with public or private Slack channels, replicating a near-native direct chat experience.

This connection is designed for Teams users who need to collaborate with other departments working in Slack (and vice versa) in the same organization, enabling them to stay aligned on projects and other important updates.

See our guide on How to Connect Microsoft Teams Chats with Slack Channels.

4. Connect Teams Chats and Slack Channels Externally

The need to connect Microsoft Teams chats with Slack doesn’t end with internal teams. Many companies work with external partners or clients, and it can be challenging to bridge the two without requiring one side to switch tools.

Conclude Connect makes it easy to link a new or existing Teams group chat with a Slack channel (public or private) to message one or multiple collaborators. It’s a practical solution for service teams, agencies, or businesses that work closely with clients who prefer Teams chats.

The organization initiating the connection sends an email invite. Once accepted, the Teams chat and Slack channel are linked to enable a near-native direct chat experience. However, only the company accepting the connection can choose to connect a Teams chat.

If you’re starting the connection from Teams, you can only link to Slack channels – not individual chats. Only the company that is initiating the connection needs a Conclude license, making this a cost-effective solution for external communication.

For more details on how this works, see Conclude’s External connections Quickstart Guide.

Choosing the Best Way to Chat Between Slack and Teams

Generally speaking, there are limited options for connecting Microsoft Teams and Slack, and not all of them support the kind of collaboration most teams need. Choosing the right Slack and Teams connection bridge depends on how your organization is structured, who you’re communicating with, and what workflows you want to support.

Conclude Connect is the most complete solution for chatting between Slack and Microsoft Teams available. It supports chats and channels, works for both internal and external communication, and helps teams stay aligned without switching platforms or duplicating messages – all with a simple and easy to use interface.

Ready to simplify collaboration across Slack and Teams? Sign up free today and get connected in less than 15 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you chat between Slack and Microsoft Teams?

Yes, but only with the right integration. Slack and Microsoft Teams do not offer native support for cross-platform chat, so direct communication between the two isn’t possible out of the box. Conclude Connect provides a dedicated Slack and Microsoft Teams integration, allowing users to exchange messages across platforms without switching tools.

What are the ways to connect Teams and Slack?

There are four main connection types to chat between Slack and Teams:

1. Connecting Slack and Teams channels internally within the same organization
2. Connecting Slack and Teams channels externally with clients or partners
3. Connecting Teams chats to Slack channels internally
4. Connecting Teams chats to Slack channels externally

While manual workarounds exist, they tend to be complex and don’t always achieve two-way messaging. Conclude Connect, however, can create bridges across Slack and Teams, both via channels and chats.

How do I link a Slack channel to a Teams chat?

You can link a Slack channel to a Teams chat using Conclude Connect. Once set up, both sides can communicate directly from their preferred platform, with messages, files, and notifications automatically syncing between the Slack channel and the Teams chat.

To see more about how this works, read our guide on How to Link Microsoft Teams Chats to Slack.

Can Slack and Teams work together?

Slack and Microsoft Teams don’t natively work together for messaging. However, there are manual workarounds and reliable tools that offer a Slack and Teams integration. Conclude Connect bridges Slack channels with Teams chats or channels, so teams can collaborate without switching tools or losing context.

Does Slack integrate with Microsoft?

Slack does not offer a built-in integration for direct messaging or channel syncing with Microsoft Teams. However, Conclude Connect provides a dedicated integration between Slack and Teams, enabling users to exchange messages and files across platforms while continuing to work from their preferred tool.