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Bots in chats, groups and channels
How do you add a bot to Telegram?
Open the bot’s profile and tap Add to Group or Channel, or open your group, tap its name and choose Add Members, then search the bot’s @username. A channel only accepts bots as administrators: Channel info › Administrators › Add Admin. For a private chat, open the bot and tap Start.
- Privacy mode is on by default. In a group, a normal bot only sees commands and replies meant for it.
- Admin bots see every message. Give admin rights only for the jobs the bot does.
- Search @your_group_bot
- Tap the group name
- Add Members
- Pick the bot · Add
What are the exact taps to add a bot to a group or channel?
Pick where the bot is going and the app you use. Menu names shift a little between versions, but the path stays the same.
Faster on any app: open the bot, tap its name, choose Add to Group or Channel, pick the chat and confirm. If a developer sends you a link ending in ?startgroup, it opens the same picker.
What can a bot read in your group?
This is the question most guides skip. Flip the switch and watch which messages reach the bot.
A member bot sees commands, replies, inline posts and service messages. Ordinary chatter stays private.
- Bot receives it
- Only in one case
- Bot never sees it
/weather@your_group_bot/startTwo rules nobody tells you. Changing privacy mode in @BotFather does nothing until the bot is removed and added again. And bots never see messages from other bots, admin or not, unless the developer turns on Telegram’s bot-to-bot mode.
Members can check this. In the member list, Telegram shows under each bot whether it has access to messages.
Which admin rights does the bot really need?
Give the smallest set that lets it do its job. Choose a job, then copy a ready add link that asks for exactly those rights.
- Delete messages
- Ban users
- Pin messages
- Invite users
- Post messages
- Edit messages
- Change info
- Add new admins
Never give a bot “Add new admins”. A bot with that right can promote other accounts, and if its token leaks, whoever holds it can hand your group to someone else.
Why can a bot join a channel only as an admin?
A channel is a stage, not a room. Subscribers can only read, and a bot that cannot post or read is useless, so Telegram only lets you place bots on the admin podium.
That is why Telegram’s ?startchannel add link must always carry a list of admin rights, while a group link can work without one. Once inside, a channel bot receives every post, whatever its privacy setting.
- neededPost messages to publish
- oftenEdit messages to fix or update posts, and to pin them
- oftenDelete messages to clean up
- avoidAdd new admins and Change channel info
You need the Add new admins right yourself to add a bot to a channel. Owners always have it.
How can you tell a real bot from a copycat?
Scammers clone popular bots with look-alike names. Tap the result you would trust.
Global search
Demo names. The fakes are invented for this exercise.
Pick a result to check your eye.
- 1
The badge sits next to the name, drawn by Telegram. A ✓ typed into the name itself, like the fourth result, is just text.
- 2
Check the exact @username. Bot usernames are 5 to 32 characters and normally end in “bot”. Exceptions such as @gif and @wiki are older Telegram bots or collectible usernames.
- 3
Look for third-party verification. Since January 2025, organizations approved by Telegram can add their own icon to accounts and bots they vouch for.
- 4
No real bot asks for your login code. Telegram codes are never needed by a bot, and a bot can never message you first.
Bot added but not working?
Tap what you see to get the cause and the fix.
Privacy mode is doing its job
A member bot only receives commands, replies to its messages and posts sent through it. Make it an admin, or ask the developer to turn off Group Privacy in @BotFather, if it must read every message.
Group info › Administrators › Add Admin › the bot
How do you remove or stop a bot?
Climb only as far as you need. Each step goes further than the one before it.
- 1
Mute it
In a private chat with a bot, tap its name and turn off notifications. It keeps working, you just stop hearing it.
- 2
Take back its rights
Group info › Administrators › the bot › Dismiss admin. It stays in the group as a member with privacy mode on.
- 3
Remove it from the group
Android: long-press the bot in Members › Remove. iPhone: swipe left on it › Remove. Desktop: right-click › Remove from group. Its old messages stay unless you delete them.
- 4
Ban it so nobody re-adds it
Choose Ban instead of Remove, or add it to Removed users in the group’s permission settings. Members then cannot bring it back.
- 5
Stop and block it
For a private chat: open the bot, tap its name or menu and choose Stop bot or Block, then delete the chat. It can no longer send you anything.
Does your group have enough people for the bot to help?
A welcome bot is only as useful as the newcomers it greets. If your public group or channel is quiet, start with members who stay. Real members cost $4 per 1,000, and you can test the service with 50 free members first.
Works with public channels and groups. We never ask for admin rights or your login.
Questions people ask about adding bots
Can I add a bot to a Telegram channel without making it an admin?
No. Channels accept bots only as administrators, because subscribers cannot post. Add it through Channel info › Administrators › Add Admin, or through the bot’s Add to Group or Channel button, and give it at least Post messages if it should publish.
Why does my bot only respond to commands in a group?
Privacy mode is on by default. A member bot receives commands, replies to its own messages, messages sent through it and service messages. Make the bot an admin, or have its developer disable Group Privacy in @BotFather and then remove and re-add the bot.
Do I need to be an admin to add a bot to a group?
You need permission to add members, which every member has unless the admins turned it off. To make the bot an admin, or to add it to a channel, you need the Add new admins right. The owner always has it.
Can a bot read my other chats or private messages?
No. A bot only receives messages from chats it is in. In a private chat it sees what you send it, and in a group it sees what its privacy mode or admin status allows. It cannot open your other chats or contacts.
How do I add a bot with a link?
Open t.me/botusername?startgroup to pick a group, or t.me/botusername?startchannel&admin=post_messages to pick a channel. Adding &admin= with rights joined by + asks Telegram to add the bot as an admin with those rights. You still confirm every step.
Can two bots talk to each other in a group?
Not by default. Bots do not receive messages from other bots, even as admins, to prevent endless loops. Developers can enable Bot-to-Bot Communication Mode in @BotFather, after which a bot can react when another bot mentions it or replies to it.
Does removing a bot delete the messages it sent?
No. Its messages stay in the chat until an admin deletes them. On mobile, banning a member can offer to delete all of their messages at the same time.
Is it safe to add a bot I found in a directory?
Only with care. Check the exact @username, look for a verification badge, add it as a member first and give admin rights one at a time. Never share login codes or passwords with a bot, and remove any bot that asks for them.
Where do you go from here?
- What a Telegram bot isHow bots differ from normal accountsbasics
- Create your own botFrom @BotFather to your first commandbuild
- Telegram’s anti-spam filterModeration without a botgroups
- Transfer group ownershipWhat admins can and cannot hand overadmins
- All Telegram guidesEvery how-to, sorted by topiclibrary
How we checked this guide. On 24 October 2026 we went through Telegram’s own developer documentation: bot features (privacy mode, deep links, bot-to-bot mode), the Bots FAQ (what a bot receives in groups, 20 messages a minute in groups), the deep link reference (startgroup, startchannel and admin rights) and the third-party verification page. Menu names were cross-checked with a current third-party setup guide and may differ slightly between app versions. Written by the AddTelegramMember team, a Telegram growth service since 2019.