Folders & filters
Group chats, channels, and bots into custom folders. Filter by unread, mentions, or personal contacts to keep your inbox tidy.
Feature tour
Complete tour of Telegram features
Telegram is more than a chat window. Cloud sync, secret chats, channels, supergroups, bots, mini apps, calls, and stories all live inside one lightweight app. Here is what makes each capability tick.
Cloud chat
One account, endless devices
Every regular chat is stored in Telegram's distributed cloud. Sign in on a new laptop or phone and the entire history - text, media, stickers, pinned messages - appears within seconds. There is no manual backup step, and no risk of losing your history when a device breaks.
- Up to 10 concurrent sessions across desktop, mobile, and web
- Cross-device drafts pick up right where you left off
- Server-side search returns messages from years ago instantly
Secret chats
End-to-end encryption when you need it most
Secret chats are protected by device-to-device end-to-end encryption. They live on the two devices involved and never touch Telegram's servers, making them ideal for the most sensitive conversations. Self-destruct timers, screenshot alerts, and forbidden forwarding make the mode even stricter.
- MTProto 2.0 with Diffie-Hellman key exchange
- Self-destruct timers from one second to one week
- No forwarding, no cloud, no additional devices
Channels
Broadcast to millions with granular controls
Channels can reach unlimited subscribers with a clean, ad-free reading experience. Add scheduled posts, reactions, comments, and stories to keep your audience engaged. Discussion groups link seamlessly so readers can chat while you publish.
- Public or private channels with vanity links
- Signed posts, scheduled deliveries, and reactions
- Subscription and paid channels via Telegram Premium
Supergroups
Communities up to 200,000 members
Supergroups let you organise massive communities with topics, slow mode, admin roles, and reputation checks. Anti-spam heuristics keep things civil, while local search and jump-to-date make it easy to navigate a busy conversation.
- Topic threads for parallel conversations
- Anti-spam bot integrations and rank-based moderation
- Voice chats up to 200,000 listeners with speaker queues
Bots & mini apps
Automate workflows without leaving Telegram
The Telegram Bot API is free, open, and stable. Combine it with the Web App platform to launch interactive mini apps for e-commerce, ticketing, dashboards, and games - all rendered inside the messenger. Payments can settle through Stripe, YooMoney, and more.
- Rich messages, inline keyboards, and payment sheets
- TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust and Java libraries
- Web Apps with full JS runtime and native theming
Voice & video
Crystal-clear calls and streaming
One-to-one calls are peer-to-peer where possible. Group video calls scale up to 1,000 viewers with adaptive bitrate, background blur, and screen sharing. Voice chats keep the conversation going hands-free for gaming and study groups.
- AV1 video with adaptive quality on Wi-Fi and cellular
- Background blur, virtual backgrounds, and noise suppression
- Screen sharing with audio for meetings and lectures
Extra capabilities worth knowing
Telegram ships hundreds of small features that add up to a very different experience. Here are a few favourites among our editors.
Stickers & animated emoji
Send high-resolution animated stickers, custom emoji, and reactions. Creators can publish sticker packs directly from the app.
Stories & video messages
Post 24-hour stories with music, GIFs, and polls, or send round video messages to add face-to-face context to any chat.
Telegram Premium perks
Doubled limits on folders, pinned chats, and account count, faster downloads, exclusive stickers, and channel boosts.
Ready to see it in action?
Install Telegram on your favourite device or open Telegram Web from the browser to try every capability listed above.
