In an era where digital communication is the lifeblood of organizations, Slack has become a massive repository of institutional knowledge, private conversations, and critical project decisions. But what happens when you need to leave a workspace, back up your history, or migrate to another platform? While Slack offers native export tools, they are often locked behind administrator privileges or specific paid tiers. Enter Slackdump—a powerful, open-source tool designed to give users back control over their data.
What is Slackdump?
Slackdump is an open-source command-line tool that allows you to save or export your private and public Slack messages, threads, files, and users locally.
The standout feature? It doesn’t require administrator privileges. If you can see the message in your Slack client, Slackdump can help you back it up.
Why Use Slackdump?
There are several scenarios where a standard Slack export isn’t enough:
- No Admin Access: Most workspace admins restrict exports. Slackdump works using your user token, meaning you can archive your own history.
- Free Tier Limitations: Slack’s free plan hides messages older than 90 days. While Slackdump can’t bypass Slack’s server-side restrictions on the free plan, it allows you to archive data now so you don’t lose it once it hits that 90-day window.
- Migration: If you are moving to platforms like Mattermost or Discord, Slackdump can generate exports in formats these tools understand.
- Privacy: Instead of trusting third-party “backup services” with your credentials, Slackdump runs locally on your machine.
Getting Started: How to Export Your Data
Slackdump is designed for simplicity. It features a “Workspace Wizard” (EZ-Login 3000) that handles the technical heavy lifting.
1. Installation
On macOS, you can use Homebrew:
brew install slackdump
For Windows or Linux, you can download the latest binary from the GitHub Releases page.
2. The “Wiz” Way
The easiest way to start is by running the wizard:
slackdump wiz
This will guide you through connecting to your workspace. It can often detect your existing Slack session or walk you through grabbing the necessary d-cookie and token from your browser’s developer tools.
3. Running a Dump
Once authenticated, you can dump a specific channel or your entire history:
- List all channels:
slackdump list channels - Dump a specific channel:
slackdump -c C12345678 dump - Create a full export:
slackdump export
Analyzing and Viewing Your Data
A folder full of JSON files isn’t very useful to the naked eye. Slackdump offers several ways to make sense of your data:
- Built-in Viewer: Slackdump includes an experimental viewer. Run
slackdump view <filename.zip>to browse your archive in a formatted way. - SlackLogViewer: For a more robust experience, Slackdump exports are compatible with SlackLogViewer, a C++ application that provides a familiar, Slack-like interface for your offline files.
- Slackdump2Html: If you want to host your archive or share it as a static site, this tool converts your dump into browsable HTML.
Security Best Practices
When dealing with communication data, security is paramount. Here is how to keep your Slackdump workflow secure:
Protect Your Tokens
Slackdump uses “token-based” authentication. These tokens (xoxc-...) and cookies (d-...) are essentially the keys to your Slack kingdom.
- Never share your tokens.
- Delete temporary logs if you used them to copy-paste credentials.
- Run Slackdump locally. Avoid running it on public servers or shared environments where others might access the exported files.
Data Encryption
By default, Slackdump saves data in plain text (JSON). If your export contains sensitive company secrets or personal info:
- Encrypt the resulting archive using tools like VeraCrypt or a password-protected 7z/ZIP file.
- Store backups on encrypted drives.
Administrative Compliance
While Slackdump allows you to export data without admin permission, always ensure you are complying with your organization’s data policies. Just because you can export the data doesn’t always mean your employment contract allows you to store it on a personal device.
Also see: The Best AI Checker Tools for Content Authenticity
Conclusion
Slackdump is an essential tool for power users and developers who want to ensure their digital footprint isn’t trapped behind a proprietary wall. Whether you’re archiving a project for posterity or preparing to migrate to a new platform, Slackdump provides a transparent, local, and secure way to handle your Slack history.
Ready to take control of your data? Head over to the Slackdump GitHub repository to get started.
