How to Approve Join Requests in a Telegram Channel or Group

To approve join requests, first make people ask: create an invite link with admin approval switched on, or turn on join requests in a public group. Requests then collect in a bar at the top of the chat. An admin with permission to add members opens the list, looks at each person, and taps approve or dismiss.

This guide covers how to set it up on each device, how to decide who to let in, how bots can handle requests for you, and what to do when requests do not show up.

What a join request is

A join request is a request to enter a chat that waits for an admin's decision. The person does not become a member until someone approves them.

What the person asking sees

When someone opens a link that needs approval, they see the chat's name and picture with a button to request to join, instead of a join button. After they tap it, Telegram tells them the request was sent and the admins will review it. They do not see the chat's messages yet.

If you approve them, they become a member and the chat appears in their list. If you dismiss them, they are not let in. Telegram does not post a public message about either decision.

What admins see

Admins see a bar at the top of the chat with the number of pending requests. Tapping it opens a list. Each entry shows the person's name, profile picture and, where they have one visible, their bio. Telegram designed the screen so you can review someone before letting them in.

Why use it at all

Join requests sit between a fully open chat and an invite-only one. You can share a link widely and still keep the final say. Common reasons:

• Keeping spam and bot accounts out of a group before they post.
• Running a private channel for paying customers, students or staff, where only known people should get in.
• Asking applicants a question first, such as which course they bought or which city they live in.
• Slowing down a sudden wave of joins after a link is shared somewhere unexpected.

Where join requests are available

How you turn them on depends on the type of chat.

Private channels and private groups

A private chat has no public @username, so the only way in is an invite link. You can create extra invite links with admin approval required. Anyone using such a link sends a request instead of joining.

Your primary invite link, the one created with the chat, works as a normal link unless you change how you use it. Many admins keep the primary link to themselves and share only approval links.

Public groups

A public group has an @username, and anyone can normally join through search or its t.me link. Telegram lets public groups switch on join requests, so people who find the group must be approved before they can write. Look for the option among the group's settings for who can join or send messages. The exact wording varies between apps.

Public channels

A public channel's @username lets anyone subscribe directly, and that cannot be routed through approval. You can still create invite links with approval for a public channel. But anyone who finds the channel by its username can simply join, so approval links only control the people who use those specific links.

If you need every subscriber screened, the channel has to be private. Our guide on making a channel private or public explains what changes when you switch.

Join requests compared with other ways to control entry

Approval is one tool among several. Picking the right one avoids a queue you do not need.

• An open invite link lets anyone with the link in. Fine for a channel where you want as many readers as possible and spam is not a problem.
• An expiring link stops working after a date. Good for an event or a time-limited offer, but anyone with the link before then gets in without review.
• A link with a member limit stops after a set number of joins. Good for a small closed cohort when you trust the people you send it to.
• An approval link lets you see every person first. Best when the link may travel further than you intended, or entry depends on who the person is.
• A Stars subscription link asks for a recurring payment in Telegram Stars before the person joins a channel. Telegram added this so creators can sell access without a separate checkout. Check the current options in your channel's invite link settings.
• Restrictions after joining such as slow mode or limits on what new members can send. These do not stop people entering, but they limit damage. See slow mode and member restrictions.

Many chats combine two: approval links for entry and restrictions for the first days after it.

Before you start

Check these first. Most "it doesn't work" reports come from one of them.

• You need the right admin permission. Approving requests and creating invite links fall under the admin right to add or invite members. The owner always has it. Other admins need it granted. See how to add admins to a Telegram channel.
• Decide who reviews. If nobody checks the list, people wait for days and give up. Name the admins who will check it, and how often.
• Decide your rules. Write down what earns approval, so two admins do not judge the same person differently.
• Decide what new group members can see. In groups, you can choose whether new members see earlier messages. That matters if you approve people into an existing conversation.

How to turn on approval with an invite link

The steps are similar across apps. Button names change between versions, so follow the meaning rather than the exact words.

On Android

1. Open the channel or group and tap its name at the top.
2. Open the edit or settings screen, then the section for invite links.
3. Choose to create a new link.
4. Switch on the option for admin approval, often described as requesting admin approval.
5. Give the link a name, such as "Website" or "Instagram bio", so you can tell sources apart.
6. Optionally set an expiry date.
7. Save, then copy or share the link.

On iPhone and iPad

1. Open the chat and tap its name or picture at the top.
2. Tap Edit, then find invite links.
3. Create a new link.
4. Turn on the admin approval switch.
5. Add a name and, if you want, an expiry date.
6. Create the link and share it.

On Telegram Desktop and the web versions

1. Open the chat and open its info panel from the header.
2. Go to the management or edit area and find invite links.
3. Create a new link and tick the approval option.
4. Name it, set an expiry if needed, and save.

The web apps follow the same pattern, though some options can appear only in the mobile or desktop apps. If you cannot find the approval switch on one device, try another. For a wider look at link types, read our Telegram invite links guide.

One limit worth knowing

A link that needs approval cannot also have a cap on how many people may use it. Telegram's Bot API documentation says the two cannot be combined, and the apps follow the same rule. If you want to limit numbers, do it by how many requests you approve.

How to turn on join requests in a public group

1. Open the group and tap its name.
2. Open the group's settings or edit screen.
3. Find the area that controls who can join or who can send messages.
4. Turn on the option that makes new members wait for admin approval.
5. Save.

From then on, people who find the group by its username send a request. Existing members are not affected.

How to review and approve requests

Once requests arrive, the routine is the same on every device.

1. Open the chat. A bar near the top shows how many people are waiting.
2. Tap the bar to open the list of requests.
3. Tap a person's name or picture to see their profile in more detail.
4. Choose to add them, which approves the request, or to dismiss it.
5. Repeat for the rest, or use the option to approve or dismiss all if you have reviewed the list and every entry deserves the same answer.

You can also open the list from the chat's member or invite link settings. Each approval link shows the requests that came through it. That is useful when one link was shared somewhere risky.

Approving in bulk safely

Bulk approval saves time but skips judgement. Scroll the whole list before using it. Look for a cluster of similar names, empty profiles, or pictures that look generated. If you see them, dismiss those first, then approve the rest.

How to decide who to approve

You only have a name, a picture and maybe a bio to judge. That is enough to catch most bad accounts.

Signs of a genuine person

• A name that looks like a person or a real business, not random letters.
• A profile picture that is not a stock image of a celebrity or a crypto logo.
• A bio, if present, that fits your chat's topic.
• They came through a link you shared in a place where your audience actually is.

Signs of a spam or bot account

• Names in an unrelated script or language from your audience, arriving in a burst.
• No picture, no username, and a name made of emojis or numbers.
• Many requests within seconds of each other through the same link.
• Profile pictures with offers, links or contact handles printed on them.
• A bio advertising investments, "signals" or adult content.

None of these is proof on its own. Real people have empty profiles too. When in doubt, ask a question first, as described below, or approve and watch the person's first messages.

Asking a question before approving

Telegram does not offer a built-in application form. You have two practical ways to ask:

• Message the person yourself. Their privacy settings decide whether you can. Many people allow messages only from contacts.
• Use a bot. A bot that receives join requests can message the applicant, ask a question and approve or decline based on the answer. See the next section.

What you can and cannot see about an applicant

You see what the person's own privacy settings allow. That usually means their name, profile picture and bio. Their phone number is hidden unless they chose to show it. You cannot see which other chats they are in, and Telegram does not give admins a history of their account.

Keep your questions proportionate. Asking which course someone bought is reasonable. Asking for ID documents, a selfie or their phone number in a chat is not, and it trains your members to hand personal data to strangers. Never ask for a login code. Telegram will never need one from an admin, and anyone asking for one is trying to take the account. Our guide on never sharing your Telegram login code explains why.

Checking payment for paid access

If entry depends on a purchase, match the request to your sales records by something you already hold, such as the username the buyer gave at checkout. Be careful with payment screenshots sent in chat. They are easy to fake. Confirm the payment in your own payment dashboard before approving.

A review routine for teams

A queue that several admins share needs a simple routine, or everyone assumes someone else is handling it.

1. Agree set times to check the list, such as morning and evening in your main time zone.
2. Split the work by link if you have several. One admin owns the website link, another the partner links.
3. Write your approval rules in a pinned message in an admin-only group, so new admins judge the same way.
4. Decide what to do with unclear cases. A simple rule is: if unsure, leave the request for a second admin rather than dismissing it.
5. Once a week, look at which links produced dismissed requests and revoke any that are being abused.

If you run a channel with a team, our guide on running a Telegram channel as a team covers permissions and handovers.

Using a bot to handle join requests

For a busy chat, a bot can do the first pass. You stay in control because you choose the bot and its rules.

How it works, conceptually

Telegram's Bot API lets a bot receive an event each time someone requests to join a chat where the bot is an admin. The event includes who asked and which invite link they used. The bot can then call one method to approve the request or another to decline it.

To work, the bot must be an admin in the chat with the right to invite users. Without that right, the approve and decline calls fail.

The documentation also describes a short window after a request in which the bot can send the applicant a private message, even if the person has never started the bot. That is how question-and-answer screening works.

Telegram has also announced that AI-powered bots can act as admins that process join requests. Treat this as an option to test carefully, not a reason to stop checking the list yourself.

What a screening bot typically does

1. Receives the request.
2. Sends the applicant a short message: a question, a simple check that they are human, or a link to the rules.
3. Waits for an answer.
4. Approves the person if the answer fits, or declines or leaves the request for a human if not.

Choosing a bot safely

A bot with admin rights can see and do a lot in your chat. Before adding one:

• Give it only the rights it needs. For join requests, that is inviting users. It does not need to delete messages or change info unless it also moderates.
• Prefer bots from developers you can identify, or build your own with @BotFather.
• Remove bots you no longer use.

Testing a screening bot before it goes live

1. Create a separate test group with the same settings as your real one.
2. Add the bot there as an admin with only the invite permission.
3. Create an approval link and ask a friend, or a second account of your own, to request to join.
4. Check that the question arrives, that a right answer gets approved, and that silence or a wrong answer is declined or left for you.
5. Only then add the bot to the real chat, and keep watching the request list for the first few days.

Our guides on adding a bot to a channel or group and whether Telegram bots are safe go into more detail.

Switching an existing chat from open links to approval

If your chat already has open links in circulation, adding an approval link is not enough. The old links still work.

1. Create one or more approval links, named by where you will share them.
2. Replace the old link everywhere you control it: your bio, website, pinned posts, partner channels and printed material.
3. Revoke the old open links in the invite link settings. Revoking a link does not remove anyone who already joined through it.
4. If the chat is private, consider resetting the primary link too, since it may have been shared in the past.
5. Watch the request list for a few days. People who saved the old link will now see an error and may ask you for a new one.

Keeping approval from costing you real members

Every extra step loses some people. A request that waits too long looks like a rejection. You can keep the benefit and reduce the cost:

• Say that approval is needed where you share the link, and roughly how soon you review. People wait more patiently when they know.
• Review quickly at first. The first hours after a post or a promotion bring the most requests.
• Keep any question short. One question that a real member can answer instantly is enough to stop most bots.
• Do not dismiss empty profiles automatically. Many genuine readers never add a picture or bio. Ask, or approve and watch.

If growth matters to you, pair these with the ideas in how to grow a Telegram channel.

When to turn join requests off

Approval is not always worth it. Consider going back to open links when:

• Nobody has time to review, and requests sit for days.
• Your chat is a public broadcast channel where the content is meant for anyone.
• Spam is now handled well by restrictions and moderation bots after people join.

You can always turn it back on for a specific link when a promotion or a spam wave makes it useful again.

Tracking where requests come from

Named approval links double as a simple source tracker. Create one link per place you share it: your website, a partner channel, a printed flyer, a video description.

Each link's details show how many people joined through it. The requests list also shows which link a request came from. Over a few weeks, you learn which sources bring real members and which bring spam. You can revoke a bad link without affecting the others.

Example: a local hiking group shares three approval links, one on a community board, one on a club website and one in a partner group. The partner group link brings a burst of empty profiles one evening. The admins revoke that link, dismiss its pending requests, and keep the other two running.

Worked scenarios

A private channel for course students

Anna sells an online course and runs a private channel for students. She creates one approval link and puts it on the course's welcome page. Each day she compares requests against her list of buyers and approves matching names. When names do not match, she messages the person through the course platform before deciding.

For selling access more broadly, see paid Telegram channels explained.

A city group under spam pressure

A neighbourhood group starts getting spam posts right after people join. The admins turn on join requests for the public group. They add a screening bot that asks applicants which part of the city they live in. Real neighbours answer in seconds. Spam accounts never reply, and their requests are declined. Combined with the steps in how to stop spam bots in Telegram groups, the spam stops.

A company announcements channel

An employer uses a private channel for staff announcements. It shares an approval link on its internal site. HR approves only names on the staff list. When someone leaves the company, an admin removes them from the channel. Approval controls who gets in. It does not remove anyone later, so offboarding stays a separate step.

Troubleshooting

No requests appear even though people say they applied

Check that you are looking at the right chat and that you are an admin with the invite right. Admins without that right do not see the bar. Also check that the link people used really requires approval. A primary link or an older link without the switch lets people straight in.

People say there is no request button

They are probably using a link without approval, or they are joining a public channel by its username, which never needs approval. Send them the approval link itself.

Approved members cannot see older messages

In groups, the setting for history visibility decides whether new members see messages from before they joined. Change it in the group's settings if you want them to read back.

The list is huge and growing

Pause the source. Revoke or edit the link that is being abused, then work through the backlog. Use bulk dismiss for clearly fake entries, then review the rest. A screening bot prevents a repeat.

A request disappeared before I reviewed it

The person may have cancelled it, deleted their account, or another admin may have handled it. Admin actions are recorded in a group's recent actions log, which can help you see who approved or dismissed someone.

I approved someone by mistake

Remove them from the member or subscriber list. If you do not want them to try again, remove them with the option to ban, which adds them to the chat's removed users. You can lift that later from the same list if it was a misunderstanding. Our guide on handling conflicts and bans in groups covers fair ways to do this in a community.

The approval option is missing in my app

Update the app, then try another device. Some options reach mobile apps before desktop or web versions.

Common mistakes

• Sharing the primary link instead of the approval link. The primary link lets people in directly.
• Expecting approval links to protect a public channel. Anyone can still join by username.
• Bulk-approving without scrolling. One click lets in every spam account in the list.
• Leaving nobody in charge of the queue. Real people give up after waiting.
• Giving a screening bot full admin rights. It needs only the invite permission for this job.
• Using one link everywhere. You lose the ability to tell good sources from bad ones.
• Forgetting that approval is one-way. It controls entry only. Removing people later is a separate task.

What to do next

• Write a short welcome so approved members know the rules from their first minute; our welcome guide for new members and group rules template help.
• If your group is large, read how to moderate a large Telegram group.
• If you want your channel found by new people, submit it to our directory. Every listing is reviewed by a person before it appears.

FAQ

Can I require approval for everyone who joins a public channel?

No. People who join by the channel's username skip approval. To screen everyone, make the channel private and share only approval links.

Does the person know if I dismiss their request?

They are not added to the chat. Telegram does not post a public message about it, and the person does not see the chat's content.

Which admins can approve join requests?

The owner, and admins who have the permission to add or invite members. Other admins do not see the request list.

Can I set a limit on how many people an approval link admits?

No. A link that requires approval cannot also have a member limit. Control numbers by how many requests you approve.

Can a bot approve requests automatically?

Yes, if it is an admin with the right to invite users. Telegram's Bot API provides methods to approve or decline requests, and a bot can message applicants for a short time after they apply.

Do approved people see the chat history?

In channels, members can read past posts. In groups, it depends on the history setting for new members.

Summary

Join requests let you share a link widely and still decide who gets in. Use approval invite links for private channels and groups, or switch on join requests for a public group. Review the list from the bar at the top of the chat, look for spam signs before bulk actions, and use named links to see where requests come from. For busy chats, a bot with only the invite permission can ask a question first and approve real people for you.