How to Find and Join Telegram Channels (2024)

As far as messaging apps go, Telegram is quite unique (especially compared to Signal). You get access to third-party clients, bots, drop-in audio chats, and more. Telegram's public broadcasting channels are one such feature. Here's how to find and join Telegram channels.

What Are Telegram Channels?

Telegram channels are different from Telegram groups, though they do appear to be similar. For instance, Telegram groups can have up to 200,000 users, and they can be open to the public.

Channels, on the other hand, are specifically designed for broadcasting messages to a large audience. Unlike groups, they are not designed for conversations. You can have an unlimited number of subscribers to a public or private channel. Public channels get their own "www.t.me/username" URL.

Only the channel owner or the admin can post to the channel. Each message has a view count and details of who shared the message, and channels can include rich media like video, audio, polls, and more.

Find Telegram Channels Online

You'll find Telegram channels for anything and everything, from news organizations to sports updates, to books and movies.

While you can search for a keyword directly in Telegram, there's a better way to find Telegram channels. And that's by using organized online repositories.

The Telegram Channels website is an online repository of channels that are organized based on topics and interests. You'll find a list of channels for movies, books, technology, and more.

From the site, you can explore multiple channels, see their latest posts, and view the number of subscribers.

When you're ready, simply tap the "Subscribe" button to open the channel in the Telegram app.

From the Telegram app, just tap the "Join" button to join the channel.

Search and Join Telegram Channels

If you know the name of the Telegram channel that you want to join, you can do so directly from the Telegram app. The process is slightly different for the iPhone and Android app.

On your Android smartphone, open the Telegram app and tap the search button from the top-right corner.

Now, type in the name of the Telegram channel that you want to join and select it from the search results.

This will open the Telegram channel. You can browse around to see the latest updates. When you're ready to join the channel, just tap the "Join" button.

If you're using an iPhone, open the Telegram app and go to the "Chats" tab. Here, tap the search bar from the top of the screen. Scroll down if you don't see it.

Here, type in the name of the Telegram channel that you want to join. Then, select it from the search results.

To join the channel, simply tap the "Join" button.

You are now subscribed to the channel. You'll find the channel in the "Chats" tab, along with all your other conversations. When a channel shares an update, you'll be notified about it.

Mute Telegram Channels

Telegram channels are a great source of the latest information on any topic. But if you have too many channels, your notifications can go haywire. Muting channels can help. And if it gets to be too much, you can always leave a Telegram channel.

The process of muting and unmuting a channel is the same on both the Android and iPhone apps. From the Telegram app, open the Telegram channel in question, and from the bottom, tap the "Mute" button to mute the channel. You can come back and unmute it from the same place.

Leave Telegram Channels

The steps for leaving a Telegram channel are different depending on your device. On your Android smartphone, open the Telegram channel that you want to leave, then tap the channel's name from the top.

Here, tap the three-dot menu icon from the top-right corner and choose the "Leave Channel" option.

From the pop-up message, tap the "Leave Channel" option to confirm.

On your iPhone, go to the Telegram channel that you want to leave and tap its name, which is found at the top of the screen.

Tap the "Leave" button.

From the pop-up message, choose the "Leave" option.

Instantly, the channel will disappear from the Telegram app.

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