How to Find and Join Telegram Groups and Channels

Telegram has been enjoying the limelight for the past few weeks, ever since Facebook decided to change WhatsApp’s privacy policy for better or worse. Telegram is a privacy-focused messaging app that works a little differently than its peers. For example, apart from groups, it also features channels. And unlike WhatsApp, there is a search feature for hunting these groups and channels.

Telegram Groups and Channels sound confusing, but they serve a different purpose. How do you find these Telegram groups and channels and how do you join them? That’s what we are going to find out today.

Let’s begin.

How to Find Telegram Groups

There are two types of groups. There are private groups that you can’t find or join unless you have been invited and added. That is the sole discretion of the creator or admin of the group. By default, groups are private because they were designed for friends and family members. This can be changed in the group settings.

Private groups have long complex URLs that you can share to invite new members. Public groups can have custom URLs which makes them easy to remember and share.

You can search for public Telegram groups but only if you know the exact name or username of the group. Otherwise, request the creator/admin of the group to send an invite or add you to the group.

Tap on the search icon at the top-right corner of the screen and type the public group name. You should view it at the top of the search results.

How to Join Telegram Groups

We saw there are two types of groups. We also saw how to find them, in the case of public groups. Private groups are not meant to be found, obviously.

Joining a public group is easy. Just tap on the group name in the search results and select the Join button at the bottom of the screen.

Everyone who is part of the group will view a message notifying them of the newest member of the group. A notification is also displayed when someone leaves the group which is also easy enough.

For those who have been invited via a link, clicking on the same will open the Telegram group automatically. Again, just tap the Join button.

How to Find Telegram Channels

Channels are not very different than groups in Telegram. This is why the basic mechanism remains the same and some of the steps overlap. For example, channels can be private or public too, just like groups. And the steps to find these channels are also the same.

You can’t find them in the search results if they are private. You can search for them if you know the channel name using the search feature.

How to Join Telegram Channels

Unlike groups, no announcements will be made when you join or leave a channel. Only the creator or admin of the channel can send messages notifying subscribers of any developments. For discussions, there are groups that can be assigned to channels.

Once you have found a public channel, open it from the search results and tap the Join button at the bottom of the screen to subscribe.

Clicking on the channel link will launch the Telegram app with the channel in question ready to join. Just tap the button.

How to Send Invites to Groups and Channels

The invite system works the same for both groups and channels. Open the group or channel that you want to share with others, tap on the group or channel name and you should view the name under the Info heading.

Tap on the name of the group, whatever that may be, and you will notice the familiar Android Share menu pop-up from the bottom of the screen. Select a contact or app where you want to share the Telegram group or channel and follow on-screen instructions.

Send a Telegram

Telegram is more secure and private and offers a host of features like disappearing messages missing in most other messaging apps. The ability to create large groups and channels with hundreds of thousands of members and subscribers was previously unheard of. This is another reason why so many users prefer Telegram over WhatsApp. It was designed to be scalable. You can then assign different admin roles to other members to help you manage large groups and channels. Finally, the bots can be programmed to carry out specific tasks, automating daily and mundane management activities.

This short guide should have answered your basic queries regarding Telegram groups and channels, how to find them, share them with others, and how to join these groups/channels. The process is really simple and Telegram offers enough control over privacy and security. You can always check out Telegram’s FAQ page to figure out official response of the options.