How to block or unblock a Telegram group or channel member

Available with a paid pricing plan, as well as during the 7-day free trial

With Telegram chatbots, you can block or unblock group or channel members. For example, you can block group members who did not pay for an ordered product or service.

You can block or unblock a member only in those groups and channels where your chatbot is an admin. You cannot block or unblock the owner of a group or channel.

Learn more: How to add a bot to your channel.

Telegram group and channel types

In Telegram, you can create a group and a channel that can both be private or public. Additionally, you can enable chat history in private groups so that new users can read the entire message history.

Blocking and unblocking works in different ways depending on the group or channel type.

In the table, we will analyze the main differences between Telegram groups and channels.

Feature	Private group with disabled chat history	Private group with enabled chat history	Public group	Private channel	Public channel
Sending messages	all members can send messages that are labeled with the name of the group member			only an administrator can send messages that are labeled with the channel name or a custom admin title
Access to other members’ profiles	members can see each other's profiles			members cannot see each other's profiles
Notifications of new members joining	displayed to all members			displayed only to the admin
Chat history	not visible	access to all messages sent from the moment the group or channel was created
Link types	an invite link of the `https://t.me/+a12bcEd3F45gH67i` type: permanent, limited by time period or number of uses		a share link of the `t.me/group_name` type or an invite link of the `https://t.me/+a12bcEd3F45gH67i` type: limited by time period or number of uses	an invite link of the `https://t.me/+a12bcEd3F45gH67i` type: permanent, limited by time period or number of uses	a share link of the `t.me/channel_name` type or an invite link of the `https://t.me/+a12bcEd3F45gH67i` type: limited by time period or number of uses
Search	not available	not available	available	not available	available

How to change a Telegram group and channel type

To change the Telegram group type, go to your group settings. In the mobile app, click on the icon in the upper right corner, and select Edit. In the desktop version of the application, click on the three dots in the upper right corner, and select Manage group.

Select Group Type. You will see an invite link to your private group that you can send to users. To change it to the Public type, enter a share link that users can follow, or find the group using Telegram search.

To enable chat history for a private group, click Chat History in your group settings, and select Visible.

To change the Telegram channel type, click Edit in your channel settings, and select Channel Type. You'll see an invite link to your private group that you can send to users. To change it to the Public type, enter a share link that users can follow, or find the channel using Telegram search.

How to block a Telegram group or channel member

Drag the Action element from the left panel. Connect it to the element after which you want to block the subscriber. In our example, it is Filter.

Select the Block in a group or channel action and a group or channel from the list.

How blocking works in Telegram groups and channels

Private group

Blocked members of a private group won't be removed from it, but they won't see new messages from other members and won't be able to send messages in the group anymore or find the group using Telegram search. They will be able to join such a group via an invite link.

Private group with enabled chat history

Blocked members of a private group with enabled chat history will be removed from it and will not be able to access it via the invite link or find the group using Telegram search.

Public Group

Blocked members of a public group will be removed from it and will not be able to access it via the share link or invite link. They will be able to find the group using Telegram search but will not be able to join it.

Private channel

Blocked members of a private channel will be removed from the channel and will not be able to access it via the invite link or find the channel using Telegram search.

Public channel

Blocked members of a public channel will be removed from it and will not be able to access it via the share link or invite link. They will be able to find the channel using Telegram search but will not be able to join to it.

How to unblock a Telegram group or channel member

To unblock a member, select the Unblock in a group or channel action and a group or channel from the list.

It is recommended to add the Message element with a share link or invite link after the Unblock in a group or channel action so that the user can join your group or channel after unblocking.