How to create an anonymous poll in Slack

Simple Poll makes it quick and easy to create anonymous polls in Slack. There are a couple of ways to do so, so let’s start with the easiest.

1. Create an anonymous poll using a shortcut

A quick way to create an anonymous poll is by using a shortcut. You can access the Simple Poll shortcut by clicking the Run shortcut button in Slack. It’s the little / symbol in the bottom left of the message window.

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If Create poll with Simple Poll is not in the list already, you can search for it by typing "poll":

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After selecting the shortcut for Create poll with Simple Poll, a modal window that lets you create your poll will open. In the modal window, fill in the details of your poll, and under Settings make sure you tick the box for Make anonymous.

Once you’ve created your poll, you’ll see a count of votes for each option, as well as a check mark or other emoji for each vote cast on the option.

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2. Create an anonymous poll using the /poll command

You can create anonymous polls by using the /poll command. You can use this command in two ways:

1. Type in /poll and press Enter. This will open the modal window in the same way as using a shortcut. In the modal window, fill in the details of your poll, and under Settings make sure you tick the box for Make anonymous.

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2. Type in /poll directly followed by the question/topic you want to ask and the options you want to include. Surround your question and each option with quotation marks.

Finally, add the keyword anonymous to make the poll anonymous.  Keywords are not surrounded with quotation marks.

Here’s an example of what that would look like:

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/poll "How are people getting on for time?" "I'm ready now" "I could do with 5 more minutes" "I could do with 10 more minutes" anonymous

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Hitting enter, or send, will post the poll:

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3. Create an anonymous poll using the app

You can create a poll by navigating to the Simple Poll App on the left side of your Slack window. Once open click on the 'Create A Poll' button to open the modal window. Here you can fill in your poll details and settings. As above make sure you select the box labeled 'Make Anonymous'. When you’re ready, click Preview to check what your poll will look like.

If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to get in touch via [email protected]