Telegram username for business: how to choose and keep it
A channel's username is part of its public address and of the public links to its posts. Telegram does not say what happens to those links after a username change. Telegram can also take back the basic username of an unused channel.
What a username does for a channel
The username works as the channel's address: in t.me/username and username.t.me links and in links to each post, such as t.me/username/123. It also appears in QR codes, in hashtags of the #hashtag@username kind and in posts embedded on websites.
How to choose a username
Personal and bot usernames are 5 to 32 characters long, made of Latin letters, digits and underscores. Case does not matter for uniqueness, so YourShop and yourshop are one name, but Telegram keeps the capitalization you chose. Telegram gives no separate rule for channels, so check the name in the app before you print it anywhere.
Basic usernames, the ones set in a channel's profile, go to whoever registers a free name first, while collectible ones are bought on Fragment. One person can own only a limited number of public channels, with a higher limit for Premium subscribers. Avoid names that copy another brand. Telegram may reject ads for such a channel: it does not accept ads that lead to destinations using other brands' names to mislead people.
If the basic username you want is taken, Telegram can help you get it, provided you hold the same name on at least two of Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram. Requests go to @Username_bot. Telegram describes no separate procedure for trademark owners.
What changing the username affects
The owner can change the basic username or remove it. Removing it makes the channel private only if no other usernames remain: a channel is public while it has at least one. Each change is recorded in the channel's admin log with the old and the new name.
Telegram does not say whether the old t.me link stops working or leads somewhere. Nor does it say whether someone else can register the old name, or whether invite links of the t.me/+ kind keep working. Plan as if the old address stops working, along with every post link, QR code, hashtag and @username mention in old ads that contains it.
A verified channel cannot change its name or its t.me link while it is verified. The owner first removes the verification through @VerifyBot and applies again after the change.
When Telegram can take a username back
Telegram reserves the right to recall basic usernames of unused bots and channels, as well as openly squatted names. It gives no period of inactivity and describes no way to appeal a recall, so the safe course is to keep posting in a business channel.
Collectible usernames: what they give and what they don't
Collectible usernames are bought and sold on Fragment for Gram, the cryptocurrency Telegram uses, and work like basic ones. A purchased name is first assigned to the channel on Fragment and then switched on in the channel's settings. The number of usernames a channel can have switched on at once is limited.
If the keys to the wallet used for the purchase are lost, nobody can restore them, and the name is lost with them. Fragment deducts 5% from each sale, plus a one-time 5 Gram fee when a basic name is first sold and becomes a collectible. Blockchain fees of about 1 Gram come on top. All purchases are final, and only the owner can decide to sell a collectible username.
Fragment may limit the countries where its services work, so check access from your country before you plan a purchase.
| Basic username | Collectible username | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Registered on a first-come, first-served basis | Bought on Fragment |
| How many a channel can have | One | Any number can be assigned; the number switched on at once is limited |
| Where the name is held | Assigned to the channel in Telegram | On the TON blockchain, in the buyer's wallet |
| Can it be taken back | Telegram can recall basic usernames of unused channels and openly squatted names | Ownership cannot be revoked, but it is lost with the wallet keys, and Telegram's support is not guaranteed forever |
| Links and search | t.me link and a place in search | The same as a basic username |
How to check ad links after a username change in Adstat
In Telegram Ads the title, text and URL of a running ad can be edited at any time. In Adstat, which works inside an agency or reseller ad account, an edited ad goes back to moderation.
After a username change, open each ad in our service and look for the old name in the button link and in the ad text. A link in the text must lead to the same place as the button. Replace the old username wherever it remains.
Questions and answers
Will the old t.me link take people to the new address?
There is no guarantee that it will. Replace old links wherever you control them: in posts, on the website, in bios and in ads.
Can someone else take our old username?
Assume they can: basic names go to whoever registers them first, and Telegram names no period during which an old name stays reserved. If the old name matters, do not change it.
Will a collectible username help the channel in search or verification?
Telegram documents no such advantage. A collectible name works in search like a basic one. Telegram verifies channels by their verified accounts on other platforms and by press articles, and usernames are not among its criteria.
What to do first
- Choose a channel username that copies no other brand, and confirm that Telegram accepts it in the app before you print it.
- List every place that carries the address, so you can update it after a change: post links, QR codes, hashtags, @username mentions, ad links and texts, your website and bios.
- Keep posting in the channel, because Telegram can take back the basic usernames of unused channels.
- Before you change the main channel's username, test on a spare channel whether its t.me/+ invite links keep working afterwards, so you know whether to replace them too. The owner of a verified channel has to remove its verification first.
- If you change the username during a campaign, check each ad for the old name, replace it and expect each edited ad to go through moderation again.