Telegram for Business
Is Telegram safe? Follow this easy security checklist to protect chats, enable secret chats, privacy settings, and stay safe from scams!
Damian Ledesma
March 15, 2025
•
4 minutes
Learn how to use Telegram! Stup, chats, channels, bots, and Premium. Start chatting now!
Telegram is a free messaging app that lets you chat, call, and share files easily. It works on phones, computers, and even web browsers. Many people use Telegram around the world – do you how many people use Telegram? Over a billion!
This guide will show you how to use Telegram for beginners. We will cover setting up Telegram, sending messages, using Telegram channels, exploring bots, and even how to use Telegram without phone number (with some tips). By the end, you’ll be ready to chat like a pro on Telegram!
You can use Telegram on almost any device. The first step is to install it or open it in your web browser. Here’s how to get Telegram:
Telegram is cross-platform. You can have it on multiple devices at the same time. All your chats will appear on each device because Telegram syncs through the cloud. For example, you can send a message on your phone and then see it on your laptop.
Note: If you use Telegram on a public computer (like in a library or café), remember to log out when you finish.
Once you have Telegram on your device, it’s time to create your account.
Telegram accounts are tied to your phone number. Here are the basic steps to sign up:
Not exactly. You need a phone number (even a temporary one) to receive the login code. If you don’t want to use your personal number, you can use a virtual phone number service or a secondary SIM to sign up. After you join, you can hide your phone number from strangers in Telegram’s privacy settings. Check out this article for a detailed privacy guide.
Now that your account is ready, let’s learn how to send messages and communicate. Using Telegram is very straightforward.
When you open Telegram, you see a list of chats. If you are brand new, this list will have a welcome message from Telegram.
To send a message, you need to start a chat with someone. Tap the “New Message” icon (it looks like a pencil or compose icon). Select a contact from your phone or search for a user by their username. If a friend gave you their Telegram username, type it in the search bar to find them.
Once you have a chat open, type your text in the message box and hit the Send button (the paper airplane icon). Your message will appear in the chat window. You can send emojis 😀, stickers, or GIFs to express yourself. Telegram has a large sticker library — tap the sticker icon while in a chat to see and send stickers. You can also share photos and videos by tapping the paperclip (attach) icon.
Telegram allows free voice calls and video calls. To call someone on Telegram, open your chat with them. Then tap the phone icon (for a voice call) or the camera icon (for a video call). The other person will need to accept the call for you to talk. Telegram calls use the internet, so make sure you have a stable connection for the best quality.
Telegram lets you chat with many people at once in group chats. You can create a group by tapping “New Group” and selecting multiple contacts. In a group, everyone can send messages that all members see.
For private talks, Telegram also offers Secret Chats. A Secret Chat is a special conversation that uses end-to-end encryption. Messages in a Secret Chat can be set to self-destruct (disappear) after a certain time. Secret Chats do not sync between devices (they stay only on the phone where you started them), so they are useful for sensitive or private conversations. For everyday chatting, regular chats are fine — they are cloud-based so you can view them on any of your devices.
In a group chat, everyone can talk. A Telegram channel is different: only the channel owner (admin) can post messages and all subscribers can read them. Channels are often used for one-way communication like news updates or announcements.
To join a channel, you can search for it by name or link (which usually looks like t.me/channelname if the channel is public). Once you join, the channel will appear in your chat list. Whenever the channel owner posts a new message, it shows up for all subscribers. You cannot reply in the channel chat (because only admins can post), but you will receive all updates silently.
If you don’t want to follow a channel anymore, you can leave it anytime. Open the channel, tap its name on top, and choose “Leave Channel.” Channels are a great way to get news or content on Telegram without the chatter of a group.
Telegram isn’t only for chatting with people — you can also use Telegram bots. Bots are special accounts run by software instead of a person. They can do tasks and provide information right inside your chats.
To use a Telegram bot, first find one you like. You can search for bots in the app (bot usernames often end in “bot”). Once you find a bot, open the chat and tap Start. The bot will usually send you a greeting or a menu. Then, follow the prompts or type commands. For example, a weather bot might ask for your city and then give you the forecast. A game bot might show you a menu of games to play. Using a bot feels like chatting, except the “person” replying is the bot program.
Creating Telegram bots may requiring coding skills or technical knowledge, unless you use a code-less bot builder like SUCH. This bot builder allows you to create feedback or support bots in Telegram for free. You can even enable AI for automating customers interactions. This bots look and act as a human agent, and you can instruct them to do what you want.
You can stop a bot at any time by deleting its chat. Bots cannot see your other messages or act outside their own chat, so they are safe to try. Just be careful not to share private information with bots you don’t trust.
One popular bot is the Telegram Wallet bot. If you’re curious how to use Telegram wallet, it’s simple: find the @wallet bot and start it. This official bot will guide you to set up a digital wallet for cryptocurrency. After setup, you can check your balance or send coins to friends within Telegram. (This feature is mainly for users interested in crypto. If you’re not, you can ignore the wallet bot.)
There are bots for almost everything on Telegram, from games and quizzes to news and language learning. Feel free to explore them and have fun!
Telegram’s free version provides all the functionality most people need. There is also Telegram Premium for users who want extra features.
Telegram Premium costs about $4.99 per month (in the US; the price can vary by region). This subscription is optional. You can use Telegram fully without paying, but Premium gives some additional perks:
These are a few benefits. Most users are fine with the free version; you can always upgrade later if you find the extra features useful. For more details on features, see our blog post on Telegram Premium.
You're now ready to start using Telegram confidently! Whether you're chatting with friends, joining channels, or exploring powerful bots, Telegram has something for everyone.
Remember, there's always more to discover—keep exploring features like Telegram Premium, bots, and secret chats to get the most from this versatile messaging app.
Is Telegram safe? Follow this easy security checklist to protect chats, enable secret chats, privacy settings, and stay safe from scams!
Easily create smart Telegram AI chatbots without coding. Learn how to instantly improve customer support for free with the SUCH bot builder!