How To Export Slack Messages and Files for Litigation Discovery

Many businesses have simplified internal communications by using Slack more than email. However, that means that a legal case could require you to export Slack messages and files for litigation discovery.

Doing so efficiently gives you the evidence you need with time to prepare your case. Learn when you may have to use Slack export for discovery and how to do it.

Why You May Have To Export Slack Messages and Files for Litigation Discovery

Slack has an estimated 32 million daily users and over 54 million users monthly. While it may not be the most widely used platform, with Microsoft Teams currently holding that spot, Slack remains one of the top choices for modern organizations looking to streamline communication and collaboration.

The constant activity means relevant evidence could show up on your Slack channels, either as conversations or attachments. Reasons for litigation discovery include handling legal compliance, contractual disputes, workplace investigations, employee misconduct, and theft of intellectual property. Likewise, you should be able to back up and archive your data for security.

Can Slack Messages Be Used as Evidence in Court?

Yes, Slack messages can serve as evidence. Electronically stored information (ESI) has become an important resource in modern trials.

Owning this digital data and having privacy protections in place doesn't exempt the data from being presented in court, any more than it would for physical documents. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 26 for United States district courts gives ESI a broad definition that permits text, images, and any other digital data to be evidence. This means litigants can expect that they may have to export Slack messages and files for litigation discovery.

The U.S. government also included amendments in 2006 to make ESI its own category of evidence. The scope encompasses all future forms of electronic information. The European Union has similar rules to facilitate cross-border investigations.

Interestingly, Slack’s core mission makes its contents ideal for use in court and investigations. The name is an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”. As a result, it serves as a rich reference and database for past interactions, including in legal settings.

Are Slack Messages Discoverable?

Yes, Slack messages are discoverable in trials. Therefore, you must not only be ready to present it as evidence; you also need to be able to disclose it to the opposing party during the discovery process.

FRCP 34 allows a requesting party to inspect, test, sample, and copy discoverable ESI. This point emphasizes the need to properly store ESI to build an airtight case. Amendments to Rule 34 ensure that, as technology advances, discovery rules must keep up and allow all parties sufficient access to data.

How You Can Export Slack Messages and Files for Litigation Discovery

You have two choices for exporting Slack messages and files. Within the platform itself, you can manually export the data. Otherwise, you can expedite the process with a cloud-based data management solution.

Manual Process on Standard Export for Discovery

One way to export Slack messages and files for litigation discovery is to use the export function for each conversation you want to download. Administrators and owners can export data from public channels, including:

• Messages
• Files
• Activity logs
• Links to shared files
• Whole archived channels

You accomplish this with a Standard Export. However, Standard Export doesn’t allow you to specify which data sets you want, except by date. Everything goes into a ZIP file, and you can download it with each channel in a separate folder.

The export also separates communication by each day into a single file in JSON format. For that reason, you need software that can convert that into readable text and spreadsheets.

Administrators of a Free or Pro plan must request an export of Slack messages and files for litigation discovery if they include private channels or direct messages. The person must provide consent from the users of the files. Otherwise, Slack needs proof that the download is a right or requirement under the law or part of a valid legal process.

Manual Process for Corporate Export

Most large enterprises have Business+ or Enterprise Slack plans. These permit data export for all messages, including private and direct messages, with a Corporate Export.

Corporate Exports also allow the scheduling of regular Slack exports for discovery. Still, the process will download the files into ZIP files, just as Standard Exports do. Therefore, finding pertinent data requires manually sifting and searching through files.

The process starts with going to the sidebar and clicking the name of the appropriate workspace. Under the “Tools & Settings” tab, click “Workspace Settings,” and a new tab will open.

1. Click on “Import/Export Data” in the top right corner.
2. Go to the “Export” tab and the “Export date range” section.
3. Select the dates you would like to export.
4. Click “Start Export.”

You will receive an email later to tell you when the file is ready. In the email, select “Visit your workspace’s export page.” On the page, you can click “Ready for Download” to get the ZIP file.

Manual processes feel like climbing a never-ending staircase. It's exhausting, repetitive, and slow. Especially when you're selecting and sorting through large volumes of Slack data.

Automated Discovery With Cloud-Based Software

The Slack Connector within Expireon offers a powerful solution for automating Slack data preservation and eDiscovery. Unlike manual exports that result in large, fragmented JSON files, Expireon enables direct ingestion of Slack data into a unified, indexed archive that is optimized for legal and compliance workflows.

With targeted indexing, Expireon ensures that only the relevant Slack content, such as public/private channel messages, direct messages, threads, and file attachments, is indexed on demand. This significantly reduces costs and boosts eDiscovery efficiency. You can perform granular searches across custodians, phrases, metadata, emojis, and even Slack reactions. Capabilities that go far beyond Slack’s native search functions.

Expireon also supports advanced legal hold, ensuring that data across Slack, including from specific users, channels, or message types, is preserved in a legally defensible state for the duration of a case. This minimizes the risk of data loss or spoliation. Legal and compliance teams can apply, manage, and release holds within an intuitive administrative interface, without relying on Slack’s limited native hold features.

In addition to legal hold and search, Expireon enables retention policy enforcement. You can set customizable retention rules per custodian, channel, or content type, aligning Slack data governance with internal policies or regulatory obligations such as SEC 17a-4, GDPR, or HIPAA.

Expireon also solves the export format challenge. With flexible export options, legal teams can extract Slack data into standardized, review-ready formats like PDF, CSV, or Concordance, complete with conversation threads, timestamps, and full metadata. This removes the burden of JSON parsing and improves the downstream legal review process.

Whether you're managing terabytes of Slack data across global teams or just needing a defensible audit trail for compliance, the Slack Connector from Cloudficient bridges the gap between native Slack limitations and modern eDiscovery requirements. It empowers organizations with a seamless, scalable, and secure approach to Slack data management, helping ensure nothing falls through the cracks during litigation or audits.

Streamline How You Export Slack Messages and Files for Litigation Discovery

At some point, your organization will need to address eDiscovery requirements as part of standard business operations. Fortunately, this process can be streamlined to avoid unnecessary complexity or delays.

Cloudficient Expireon provides the optimal solution for retaining your Slack information and makes it easy to export Slack messages and files for litigation discovery. Talk to our team to learn more about how we help you keep Slack communications compliant and accessible.