How to add and use a Telegram bot

Found a bot and just want to use it? No app to install, no code to write — here's the whole thing in five plain-English steps.

Step 1 — Find the bot

Every Telegram bot has a username ending in bot, like @examplebot. There are two ways in:

• Search it: tap the search bar at the top of Telegram and type the bot's @username. The verified result appears as you type.
• Open its link: tap a t.me/examplebot link from the bot's website or channel — Telegram opens the chat directly.

Type the username carefully — impostor bots copy popular names with one extra letter. Only use a @username you got from a source you trust. If you need to check a username or look up an ID first, our username checker and Telegram ID lookup can help.

Step 2 — Start it with /start

Open the chat and tap the big blue Start button. Under the hood this sends the /start command, which is the one message Telegram requires before a bot is allowed to message you back. The bot will reply with a welcome message and usually a menu or a list of commands. This is the core of how to use a bot in Telegram: you talk to it like any other chat, it just answers automatically.

Step 3 — Add a bot to a group (and make it admin)

Many bots are most useful in a group — welcome messages, moderation, polls, reminders, music in a voice chat. Here's how to add a bot in Telegram groups:

1. Open the group and tap its name at the top.
2. Tap Add Members (or Manage Group → Members → Add Members).
3. Search the bot's @username and add it like any other member.
4. If the bot needs to do real work — delete spam, post, run polls — make it an admin: Manage Group → Administrators → Add Admin, pick the bot, and turn on only the permissions it actually needs.

By default a bot in a group only sees messages aimed at it (commands and replies), which is exactly why granting admin rights is a deliberate, reviewable step. Give it the least it needs.

Step 4 — Use commands, buttons and inline mode

There are three normal ways to use a bot once it's added:

• Slash commands: type / and a keyword, like /help or /menu. Telegram shows a list of the bot's commands when you type the slash.
• Buttons: tap the buttons the bot shows beneath its messages — that's often the whole interface, no typing needed.
• Inline mode: some bots work inside any chat without being added. In the message box, type the bot's @username, a space, then your query — e.g. @examplebot weather — and pick from the pop-up. If nothing appears, that bot doesn't support inline mode.

That covers how to use Telegram bots day to day. A good example of a useful bot category is search — see our channel search bot guide, or try the live channel finder tool right here.

Step 5 — Manage or remove a bot

To stop a private bot messaging you, open the chat, tap its name and choose Block Bot (or Delete Chat). To remove it from a group, open the member list, tap the bot, and remove it like any member — that revokes its access instantly. You can always re-add it later with the same Start step.

Bots run inside Telegram's rules

Bots built on the official Bot API are fully within Telegram's Terms of Service. They can't read your other chats, can only message you after you tap Start, and in groups only see what's directed at them unless you grant admin rights. That's why adding and using one is safe and reversible. New here? Start with what a Telegram bot is, then browse the best Telegram bots.

Curious how it's actually made? Read how to build a Telegram bot and how to get a bot token, or jump straight to our bot development service. Common builds: a payment bot, a subscription bot, or an AI bot.