Telegram Groups: How to Create, Configure and Manage

4 years ago
Telegram groups

In modern instant messengers, it is possible to create chats (groups) with a large number of participants, combining them according to specific interests. 

Telegram is no exception and it also has such an opportunity. It's just that in Telegram chats of this format are called "groups". In this article, you will learn how to create and administer Telegram groups.

What is a Telegram Group

A Telegram group is a chat (or conversation) in which you can simultaneously correspond with a large number of participants. This chat format will allow you to participate in a general discussion of a particular topic and not miss hot news or participation in a heated discussion.

It is also a very convenient opportunity that will allow you to quickly convey important information to a large number of people in Telegram, whether it be your relatives, friends or colleagues. In addition, a group is a great way to unite users by narrow interests. 

☝️
Group (chat) can be a great tool for building a brand / project community and improving end-user experience.

You can read below how to create a group in Telegram and what useful functions this option has.

How to Create a Group in Telegram

  1. Open the settings menu in the Telegram application.
  2. In the menu that opens, select the "Create group" option.
  3. Add the first group members from your contacts.
  4. Enter the group name and add an avatar.
  5. The group has been created.

So, let's look at how to create a Telegram group on different platforms in more detail with screenshots.

iOS

To create a group in Telegram on devices with the iOS operating system, you need to follow these instructions:

  • Open Telegram on your iPhone or iPad.
IPhone Home Screen
  • Tap the paper and pencil icon. It's in the upper right corner of the app.
Icon for creating a new chat
  • Click on the "New Group" option.
"Create New Group" option on iPhone
  • Select contacts to add to the group in Telegram. Select contacts to add to the group in Telegram. Click on the circle next to each contact you want to add to the group. You must add at least one contact to create a group. You can always add other members later.
Selecting a contact to add to a new group
  • Tap the Next button. It is located in the upper right corner of the screen.
Next button to create a group
  • Enter the name of the group in Telegram.
Entering a group name
  • Tap the camera icon to choose an avatar for the group. You don't have to do this now (you can always do it later). If you've decided to set an avatar, tap the image you want to use and then tap the checkmark. 
Selecting an avatar for a new group
  • Tap the "Create" button. It is located in the upper right corner of the screen. Done. Your Telegram group is active.
“Create” button

Android

To create a group in Telegram on Anrdoid, you need to follow these steps:

  • Enter Telegram, swipe the screen to the right, or click on the icon in the form of three horizontal lines to bring up the application settings menu.
Menu
  • In the menu that opens, select the "Create group" option. 
Option "Create group" in Telegram on Android
  • Next, in the list of contacts that appears, select the desired contact. To create a group in Telegram, you first need to add at least one contact. 
Adding a contact when creating a group in Telegram on Android
  • Then click the arrow icon.
Arrow ico
  • Enter the name of your group in Telegram.
Entering a group name on Android
  • Set an avatar for the group by clicking on the icon with the image of the camera. In the gallery that opens, select the desired image.
Uploading an image for an avatar
  • After installing the avatar, click on the checkmark icon.
Check mark icon
  • Done. A Telegram group has been created.
New group in Telegram on Android

PC

How to create a group in the desktop version

In the desktop version of the application, creating a group in Telegram is quite simple.

  • Click on the icon with three horizontal stripes to bring up the Telegram menu.
Icon "Menu" in the desktop version
  • Select the "Create Group" option.
"Create group" option in the desktop version
  • Enter the name of the group in Telegram, then click on the icon with the image of the camera and select the image for the group's avatar. Then click "Next".
Entering a name and choosing an avatar for a group in the desktop version
  • In the list with contacts that appears, select the contacts (people) you want to add to the group and click "Create".
Adding participants
  • The group is ready. Now you can manage it and invite new members.
Created group in the desktop version of Telegram

Group Management in Telegram

When the group has already been created, it's time to move on to managing it. Let's take a closer look at what customization features are available to the group creator. For example, I will use the desktop version of Telegram. 

To get into the group settings, you need to click on the icon in the form of three vertical dots in the upper right corner.

Group settings menu icon

In the context menu, select the "Group Management" option.

Group Management Option

In the group management settings menu that opens, you will see that here you can change the description of the group, set the group type and restrictions on the visibility of the chat history for new members, as well as add new members and assign administrators. Below we will take a closer look at how to do this.

Group settings in the desktop version

Group Type

In order to define the type of group in Teleram, you need to click on the "Group type" option and select the desired type. 

There are two types in total - public (this group can be easily found through a search and join it, and the chat history will be available to everyone) and private (you can join the group only by the administrator's invitation or an invitation link). 

If you select the public type of group, then in the "Link" option that appears, you will need to manually enter the group name. For example, if your group is called "Automobile Club", then the link might look like "t.me/automobile_club".

Any Telegram user can use this link to enter your group.

Public Type of Group

If you choose the private type of group in Telegram, instead of the usual link, there will be an invitation link. To create such a link, you need to use the "Create an invitation link" option.

Private group type and create invite link

If you choose the private type of group in Telegram, instead of the usual link, there will be an invitation link. To create such a link, you need to use the "Create an invitation link" option.

Generated Private Group Invite Link

Also in the private group there is such an option as "Chat history for new members". In it, you can configure the visibility of the message history in the chat for new participants. If you choose the "Visible" option, then new members will see the complete history of the message in your group. With the "Hidden" option, new members will only see the last 100 messages.

Setting the visibility of chat history for new members

Group Member Permissions

In the "Permissions" option, you can configure the capabilities of the group members in Telegram. That is, you can expand or limit their actions / rights in the group.

☝️
You can prevent members from sending stickers and adding new members.

You can also adjust the time participants send messages. For example, with intensive communication in a group with a large number of participants, you can set a time limit — one participant can send no more than one message per minute. 

Setting Permissions in Groups

Besides, you can use the "Black List" options and add malicious violators of the rules to it, that is, getting into this list, the guilty users will not be able to re-add using this invitation link to your Telegram group. 

Group Exception

Group Admins

The Administrators option allows selected members to grant administrator privileges.

Option "Administrators"

Then select a suitable candidate from the list of participants.

After you select a member, you can configure their rights in the group. For example, you can allow him to block members and delete messages, but at the same time prohibit him from changing the group profile (avatar, name, etc.). 

In the "Position" tab, you can specify the position that will be displayed in the signature of the administrator.

Setting up administrator rights

By the way, recently there was an innovation in the mobile version of Telegram and now the administrator can send messages anonymously. This means that his posts will be published on behalf of the group, not on behalf of the user.

Hide the administrator from the list of participants

Adding New Members

To add new members, you will need to use the "Members" option in the Telegram group settings menu.

Add Members Option

Use the search bar to find and select the members you want and click Add.

Adding new members

View Recent Activities in a Group

If the group is large and there are several administrators in it, the option to view recent activities of the group administrators will be very useful. To do this, select the "Recent actions" option in the group settings menu.

You will be taken to a chat, where the history of administrator actions will be displayed. The display of actions can be adjusted using the "Filter" option.

View administrator actions

In the menu that opens, it is enough to check or uncheck certain actions.

Filter the settings for the "Recent Activity" option

As you can see, managing a group in Telegram is quite easy, as the developers have made the group settings functionality as convenient as possible.

Group Capabilities

Other group options

In addition to the convenient functionality of control settings, groups have other options.

Pinned Messages

When you need to make an important announcement and don't want it to get lost in the endless flood of group messages, you can use the pinned messages feature. 

To do this, it is enough to publish a message with important information, select it with the right mouse button (or tap, if from a phone) and select "Pin" in the context menu. After that, the pinned message will always appear at the top of the group chat. And each participant will have the opportunity to see it at any time.

Pin a message to a group

Rules

As with any community on the Internet, rules of conduct are important in group chat. Especially when there are hundreds and thousands of participants in the Telegram group. Rules of conduct in the group can be prescribed in a separate message and attach it to the top of the chat using the option fixing posts. Or you can copy the link to the message with the rules and specify it in the group profile in the "Group description" tab.

You can also publish a post with the rules on the telegra.ph website and indicate a link to this post in the group profile.

Polls and Quizzes

In Telegram groups, you can also create standard polls and quizzes. A standard poll helps you get feedback from group chat participants.Thanks to polls, you can solve controversial issues, find out more information about the participants themselves, as well as conduct various polls. 

The quiz, in turn, involves a poll with finding the correct answer. And unlike a standard survey, a quiz can only have one answer. In addition, polls can be both anonymous and visible. That is, with a visible poll, it will be known which of the participants chose this or that option.

You can read more about creating polls in our article "How to create a poll in Telegram"

Sample poll

Chat Bots

Chat Bots

Many group chat owners use chatbots. Bots can be used to greet new members of the chat, notify them of group rules and identify spammers.

Also, chatbots can be of great help to administrators in moderating a Telegram group. For example, chat bots can use a text filter to prevent group members from using obscene language. and at the same time, the chatbot can automatically ban the malicious violators. They can also be used to organize a survey of participants and conduct analytics of the activity of users in the group. In fact, the functionality of chatbots can be expanded. It all depends on how well you are at configuring chatbots. You can create bots yourself, but this requires some knowledge. 

Alternatively, you can take the easy route and use existing chatbots, such as ChatKeeperBot.

ChatKeeperBot bot

The Difference Between a Group and a Channel

Finally, we would like to mention how groups differ from channels, since some Telegram users may not know some of the differences. 

The channel serves to publish articles, announcements, media files, and only the administrator can publish in it, and users subscribed to this channel are subscribers. They can only read published content and participate in polls.

Telegram groups are just created for communication between users and they are members of the group, not subscribers. By the way, many channel owners create group chats and attach them to channels so that channel subscribers can discuss the published content in groups.This is usually the case for news channels.

Button to go directly to the chat

When you click the "Discuss" button on a channel, the user is taken to a group chat attached to the channel. In addition, quite recently, comments appeared on Telegram for each post. Now the user can not only go under the publication directly on the channel, but also go to the comments under a specific post.

Go to comments below the post

Another group in Telegram differs from the channel in that it has a limit on the number of participants: no more than 200,000 subscribers. The number of subscribers in the channel is unlimited.

Third, the channel can be monetized. Therefore, you can see a lot of ads in channels, but not always in group chats. The presence of advertising in group chats depends on the direction of the Telegram group itself.

How to make money on Telegram channels

As you can see, group chats can be used not only to communicate between friends, colleagues and relatives, but also to unite Telegram users by interests.And at the same time, it is not difficult to manage groups, since the messenger functionality is very convenient. For which we love it. 

How to Create a Telegram Channel and Make It Successful

Search Telegram Channels. How to Find a Channel

Telegram Online: How to Enter Your Account Through a Browser