How to Create a Telegram Channel

Download the Telegram app

Go to telegram.org and download Telegram for your device. Telegram is available on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and as a web app — so you can use it on virtually any device.

What you'll see: The Telegram website with download buttons for each platform. Tap the one that matches your device. On mobile, you'll be taken to the App Store or Google Play.

Open Telegram and enter your phone number

Launch Telegram after installing it. The app will ask you to select your country and enter your phone number. Make sure you have access to this phone — Telegram will send a one-time verification code via SMS.

What you'll see: A "Your Phone Number" screen with a country code dropdown and a field for your number. Enter your number and tap the arrow or "Next" to continue.

Enter the verification code

Check your SMS messages for the code from Telegram. Enter it in the app. If you already have Telegram installed on another device, the code may arrive as an in-app message instead of SMS.

What you'll see: A code entry screen with 5 blank boxes. The code usually arrives within a few seconds. If it doesn't arrive, tap "Resend code" after the timer expires.

Set your name

Enter your first name (required) and optionally your last name. For a business account, you can use your personal name or your business name — this is your Telegram profile name, not your channel name (we'll set that next).

What you'll see: A "Your Name" screen with first name and last name fields, plus an option to add a profile photo. You can always change these later in Settings.

Your Telegram account is ready!

Now let's create your Channel — this is where you'll broadcast content to your subscribers. And once your channel is live, SocialBotify can publish to it alongside your other platforms — all automatically. Start your free 7-day trial.

Create a new Channel

Tap the pencil / compose icon (bottom right on mobile, or the menu icon on desktop) and select "New Channel". Telegram will show a brief explanation of what channels are — tap "Create Channel" to continue.

What you'll see: On mobile, the compose button is the blue circle at the bottom-right corner of the chat list. On desktop, click the hamburger menu (three lines) at the top left, then "New Channel."

Enter your channel name and description

Type your channel name — this is the title that appears at the top and in search results. Then write a description explaining what your channel is about and why people should subscribe. Keep it clear and specific.

Good example: Name: "Acme Marketing Tips" / Description: "Daily marketing strategies, industry news, and growth tactics for small business owners. New posts every weekday."

Choose your channel type

Telegram will ask you to pick between two types:

For business content publishing, choose Public. This makes your channel discoverable and shareable.

Choose your channel username

Your username creates your permanent public link: t.me/YourUsername. This is what people will use to find and share your channel. Keep it short, professional, and memorable. Usernames can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores, with a minimum of 5 characters.

Tips: Match your brand name if possible. Avoid long strings of numbers. This can be changed later, but your old link will stop working — so pick something you're happy with.

Add a channel photo

Tap the camera icon on the channel creation screen (or in your channel settings afterward) and upload your logo or a branded image. This appears as the circular avatar next to your channel name everywhere in Telegram.

What you'll see: A circular crop tool to select the area of your image. Use a square image (at least 512x512 pixels) for the best result. Simple logos with readable text work best at small sizes.

Start posting!

Your channel is live. Your first message could be a welcome post introducing your channel and telling subscribers what kind of content to expect and how often. You can also add members by sharing your t.me/YourUsername link on your website, other social media, or email newsletter.

What you'll see: Your brand-new channel with a message input bar at the bottom. Type your first message and hit send — it goes out to all subscribers instantly.

Near-100% delivery rates

Telegram channels have near-100% delivery rates — unlike social media feeds where algorithms filter your content, every subscriber sees every post. SocialBotify publishes your content to Telegram alongside all your other platforms, ensuring your most dedicated audience never misses an update. Try it free for 7 days.

Yes, Telegram is completely free to use. Creating an account, making channels, and posting content costs nothing. Telegram offers an optional Telegram Premium subscription with extra features like larger file uploads (4GB instead of 2GB), faster downloads, and exclusive stickers — but it is not required for running a channel. Your channel can have unlimited subscribers at no cost.

A Channel is a one-way broadcast tool — only admins can post, and subscribers read the content. Think of it like a newsletter or a blog. A Group is a two-way discussion where all members can send messages, more like a chat room or forum. For business content publishing (announcements, updates, articles), you want a Channel. You can link a discussion Group to your Channel so subscribers can comment on posts without cluttering the main feed.

Yes. You can add multiple admins to your Telegram channel and customize each admin's permissions individually. Available permissions include posting messages, editing other admins' content, deleting messages, adding new subscribers, and managing channel settings. Go to your channel info, tap Administrators, and add existing Telegram users as admins with the permission level you choose.

No. Telegram channels have no subscriber limit. Your channel can grow to any size at no cost. Some of the largest Telegram channels have tens of millions of subscribers. This makes Telegram one of the most scalable platforms for content distribution — you'll never hit a ceiling or need to upgrade for more reach.

By default, only admins can post in a channel — subscribers can only view the content. However, you have two options to add interactivity. First, you can enable reactions so subscribers can react to posts with emoji. Second, you can link a discussion Group to your channel — when you do, each channel post automatically gets a comments section in the linked group where subscribers can discuss it. This gives you the best of both worlds: a clean broadcast channel with opt-in conversation.