Telegram Tips

Gift Premium With Stars. You can use your Stars to gift Telegram Premium to friends – unlocking exclusive features like faster downloads, millions of custom emoji and more.

To gift someone Telegram Premium, go to Settings > Send a Gift and select them from the list, or open their Profile and tap ➕/➕> Send a Gift.

Contact Confirmation. When someone messages you for the first time, you'll see a detailed info page to help you spot scams and verify who they are.

The info page shows the country of their phone number, any shared groups you have, the date they joined Telegram and whether the account is verified or not.

⭐️ Star Messages. Premium subscribers can set a fee for incoming messages from users outside their contacts – to reduce spam or monetize their inbox.

By default, your contacts and people you've contacted first can message you freely. Star messages support granular exceptions for other users or entire groups.

Star messages can also be enabled in group chats and channel discussions.

To enable Star messages for your private chats, go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Messages. For groups, enable 'Charge Stars for Messages' in the Permissions section.

Similar Bots. Like with channels, bot profiles display a list of similar bots – where you can find popular services, utilities and games.

React with Stars as a Channel. Users can react with Stars to help support their favorite channels and content creators.

Star reactions can also be sent on behalf of your channel – giving you the ability to promote your channel in the leaderboard.

To react as one of your channels, tap your profile picture in the panel and choose a channel from the list.

Video Covers in Channels. When posting a video in a channel, you can choose a frame to use as a cover – or upload a custom thumbnail from your gallery.

To select a video cover, tap the three-dot icon ➕/➕ in the video editor and select 'Edit Cover'.

Saved Progress for Videos. Videos you watch automatically save your progress – so you can return exactly where you left off.

Timestamp Links. You can include the current timestamp when sharing a link to a video on Telegram.

When someone taps the link, it will open the video to that exact moment.

Inside Telegram you can also reply to videos or YouTube links with timecodes like 1:46 – which creates timestamps that others can tap to skip to specific scenes.

Share Gifts. Collectible gifts on your profile can be posted to your story with an elegant animated preview that shows off your rare artwork and lucky numbers.

To post a gift to your story, go to Settings > My Profile > Gifts, tap one of your gifts and select Share > Repost to Story.

Give Gifts to Channels. To celebrate holidays and achievements, subscribers can send gifts to channels, which are displayed on the channel's profile.

Channel owners can transfer their gifts to other users and channels or auction them on the blockchain.

Move Gifts to the Blockchain. Like collectible usernames and numbers, gifts can be transferred or auctioned via the TON blockchain.

The blockchain gives owners permanent control – even if they lose access to or delete their Telegram account.

To move a gift to the blockchain, go to Settings > My Profile > Gifts, tap a gift and select Transfer > Send via Blockchain.

Wear Collectible Gifts. Gifts that you upgrade to collectibles can be used as a unique emoji status.

Using a gift as your status gives it a glittering star effect and changes the appearance of your profile to match the backdrop and symbol from your collectible.

To wear one of your gifts, go to My Profile > Gifts, tap a gift and select 'Wear'.

QR Code Scanner. The in-app camera recognizes QR codes by default, opening links in your preferred browser without switching apps.

To quickly open the in-app camera, swipe right from the chat list on iOS or tap the 📷 camera icon on Android.

⭐️ Custom Emoji in Folders. Every Telegram user can create custom chat folders to organize their conversations.

Chat folders support emoji in their titles – and Premium users can include any custom emoji to make their folders extra expressive or more minimalist.

Verification from Third Parties. Telegram allows public figures and organizations to become verified, so users can quickly identify official sources.

Third-party services are able to assign extra verification icons to user accounts and chats – which helps prevent scams and reduce misinformation.

When a chat or account receives third-party verification, a small logo appears before its name. If you open their profile, you'll see a detailed explanation of the status and what it means.

Message Search Filters. Search results in the 'Chats' tab have extra filters that let you refine the list to show items only from private chats, group chats or channels.

To add an extra filter, tap 'From All Chats' in the Messages section of your search results.

Reactions for Service Messages. When someone sends you a gift or joins a group, a special service message appears in the conversation.

These messages support reactions – so you can say thanks or welcome new members in two taps.

Service messages also appear when someone calls you, applies a new chat background, starts a giveaway and more.

Collectible Gifts. Gifts you receive can be upgraded to collectible versions, unlocking new appearances from dozens of custom variations made by Telegram artists.

When buying a gift for another user, you can send it already upgraded – and watch as they open it in the chat.

Collectible gifts can be transferred to other users or resold via the marketplace. Upgrading a gift costs a small amount of Telegram Stars, used to cover blockchain fees.

Collages In Stories. The story interface lets you combine up to 6 photos and videos in customizable layouts.

You can add media to collages from your gallery or with the in-app camera. To rearrange tiles, hold and drag them into place. To remove a tile or retake a photo or video, simply tap.

After adding your media, you can adjust your videos and music on a timeline to change their length or volume.

AI-Powered Sticker Search. The sticker panel supports complex searches with multiple keywords like cat drinking coffee – in dozens of languages.

This is available for Telegram Premium users in the emoji panel as well – instantly returning results from millions of user-created stickers.

You can also quickly get sticker suggestions right from the message bar and use shortcuts to quickly input emoji.