Telegram group moderation: how to cut down on spam
Group rules alone do not stop forbidden posts. The group's settings have to back the rules up. The owner should set the group up before sharing its link.
How to set group rules
Telegram already forbids spam for every user. A group's own rules cover the rest: its topic, whether ads and links to other groups are allowed, and what happens after a breach. If a rule bans something Permissions can block, such as stickers or GIFs, block it there as well, so the rule does not depend on an admin noticing.
Pin the rules. A pinned message stays at the top of the chat, and members who join later see it too. When pinning, you can choose to notify all members. To update rules posted by another admin, ask the author to edit them or pin a new message.
Since August 2026 a group can also greet each newcomer with a welcome message that only that person sees. Put the rules in it too, so a newcomer gets them on joining. To add one, open the group info and choose Edit > Welcome Message; it can hold several messages and media.
What members may post and how often
Permissions apply to every member without admin rights. The exception is members who have given the group enough boosts: the group can let them skip these limits. The Permissions screen in the group info has a switch for each kind of message: text, media, stickers and GIFs, polls and link previews (Embed links). Switch off what the group does not use.
Slow mode limits how often each member writes. Its switch is on the same screen: the admin picks an interval, and each member can then send one message per interval, with a timer showing the wait. The boost exception covers slow mode too. The apps' default intervals in October 2026 run from 5 seconds to 1 hour. Turn it on if messages come faster than members can read them. Keep it on for good if the chat is always that busy, or only for busy hours such as a product launch or a live event.
Who gets in: join approval and screening bots
In a public group, turn on Approve new members in the group type settings; on desktop, only the owner can open them. Each invite link has its own Approve new members switch, so check the existing links too. In a private group, turn it on in each invite link. A link with approval can expire, but it cannot also have a limit on the number of joins. Admins see the waiting requests and approve or dismiss them one by one or all at once. A link that has leaked to spammers can be revoked, and it stops working at once.
Approval covers people who ask to join. Members who may add people bring them in directly, without a request, so switch off Add members in Permissions unless members should add others themselves. Add only people who want to be added: someone added without asking can report you for spam.
Join requests can go to a bot. Such bots come from third-party developers, and a bot screens newcomers only as a group admin. Some of them can show each applicant their own check, such as a captcha. Any bot admin can also message an applicant who never wrote to it, for example to have them accept the group rules or pass a test.
When you add any bot as an admin, it can suggest a set of rights, and you can change them before confirming.
Admin rights: what each moderator needs
Rights are given to each admin one by one, so a moderator does not need the owner's full set. But only the owner or an admin with the right that covers a setting can change it. On a phone, open the group info, tap Edit (the pencil on Android), then Administrators; on desktop, use Manage group > Administrators. These admin rights are separate from the member Permissions, even where the names are alike.
| Right | What it allows | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Delete messages | Deleting other members' messages | Every moderator |
| Ban users | Restricting, banning and unbanning members, and changing the group's Permissions and slow mode | Moderators who deal with spammers, a bot that removes them |
| Add members (Add Users or Invite Users via Link on Android) | Inviting people; a bot with this right can also approve or decline join requests | Admins who invite people, bots that approve join requests |
| Process join requests | Bots only: the bot gets each new request and checks the applicant on its own screen, such as a captcha | A screening bot built for it |
| Pin messages | Pinning messages, including the rules | Whoever keeps the rules current |
| Manage Welcome Messages (desktop app) | Setting up the welcome message | Whoever keeps the rules current |
| Change group info | Editing the group info: name, photo and other details | The owner or one deputy |
| Add new admins | Appointing other admins | The owner or one deputy |
Telegram anti-spam: what Aggressive Anti-Spam does
Aggressive Anti-Spam makes Telegram's automatic spam filters work harder in your group. Once an admin turns it on, Telegram deletes spam through its official Antispam bot. This bot appears in the list of admins on its own. The switch is in the Administrators section and becomes available once the group has enough members: as of 23 October 2026, that is 200 by default, and Telegram can change the number. On Android, turning it on also requires the right to delete other members' messages.
In this mode the filter may occasionally delete an ordinary message. Everything it deletes appears in Recent Actions, in the group info, where an admin can report a wrongly deleted message with Report False Positive; Telegram's moderators review such reports. Telegram gives no figure for how much spam the filter catches, so do not rely on it alone: keep join approval and your Permissions limits in place.
When spam gets through: what admins can do
A member who posted spam can be restricted instead of banned. They stay in the group with fewer permissions, such as read-only mode or no media, for a set period or for good. A ban removes them, and a banned user cannot come back through an invite link while the ban remains in effect. Admins can also report the sender to Telegram, and its moderators check each report.
Recent Actions is visible to admins only. It shows what members, admins and bots did over the last 48 hours, including messages deleted in that period and edited messages as they were before the edit. So for 48 hours you can still find spam that its sender deleted, and the sender with it. Older records disappear.
Questions and answers
Does slow mode limit admins too?
No. Admins do not wait between messages, so they can post announcements or reply to several people in a row.
Can a moderation bot read all messages in the group?
Yes, a bot that is an admin receives every message. A bot without admin rights by default receives relevant commands and replies, messages sent via the bot, and service messages. The member list then shows "has no access to messages" next to such a bot. In a group with sensitive information, avoid bots you do not fully trust.
Can I hide the member list from spammers?
Yes, once the group has enough members: as of 23 October 2026, that is 100 by default, and Telegram can change the number. Turn on Hide Members in the group info; on Android, this requires the right to ban users. Members without admin rights then see only admins and bots in the list, while admins still see everyone.
What to do first
- Write the rules as one short message, pin it and add the same text as the welcome message.
- In Permissions, switch off the kinds of messages the group does not use. If only admins should add people, switch off Add members there too.
- If messages come faster than members can read them, turn on slow mode, for good or for busy hours.
- In a public group, turn on Approve new members in the group type settings and check that existing invite links require approval too; in a private group, turn it on in each invite link.
- Give each admin only the rights their job needs, and keep Add new admins with the owner or one deputy.
- When you make a screening bot an admin, check the rights it asks for before confirming and switch off the ones its job does not need.
- As soon as Aggressive Anti-Spam becomes available in Administrators, turn it on and mark its mistakes with Report False Positive.
- Look through Recent Actions at least every two days, and unban anyone a third-party moderation bot removed by mistake.
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