Bob's Public Service Announcements

Friday, December 26, 2025

Thanks Gemini!

This is one of the most confusing aspects of Slack because it violates the "standard" Mac behavior.

The short answer: "M" is a single-key shortcut, meaning it only works when your cursor is NOT in the text box.

If you are typing a message and press M, you just type the letter "m". For the shortcut to work, you must perform a "focus shift" first.

To use the M key to set a reminder, you must first tell Slack, "I am not typing right now; I am looking at a message."

Step 1: Focus the Message List
- Press F6 (or Fn + F6 depending on your Mac settings).
- What happens: The blue (or grey) focus ring jumps from the text box to the message list above it.
- Alternative: You can press the Up Arrow key until a message is highlighted in grey.
Step 2: Select the Message
- Use the Up/Down Arrow keys to highlight the specific message you want to be reminded about.
Step 3: Press "M"
- Now, press M on your keyboard.
- What happens: The "Remind me about this" context menu will instantly pop up.
Step 4: Select Duration
- Use your arrow keys to select a preset (e.g., "In 1 hour") or arrow down to "Custom..." and press Enter to type your specific duration (e.g., "Tuesday 9am").

Now that seatguru has been shutdown after the Tripadvisor acquisition, seatmaps.com seems to be a reasonable replacement.

I've been surprised by how these bullets have generated good conversation more quickly than if we did a roundtable.