> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.publishbuddy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect a Telegram channel

> Add the PublishBuddy bot to your Telegram channel, confirm your Telegram account, then pick the channel.

You can connect a Telegram channel on any plan. Each channel counts as one of your plan's social accounts. See [Which social accounts can I connect?](/help/connect-accounts)

Telegram has no login window. PublishBuddy posts through a bot, **@publishbuddy\_bot**, that you add to your channel. You also confirm your own Telegram account once, so PublishBuddy can check that you run the channel.

## What you need first

* A Telegram channel where you're an admin who can post.
* Telegram on your phone or computer, logged in to that admin account.

## Connect your channel

Click **Accounts** in the sidebar, then **Add Social Accounts**. Click the **Telegram** tile. The **Connect Telegram** window opens with three steps.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add the bot to your channel">
    Click **Add the bot in Telegram**. Telegram opens and asks which channel to add **@publishbuddy\_bot** to. Pick your channel.

    The bot joins as an admin with the rights it needs already ticked: post messages, manage the channel, add subscribers and ban users. Keep them ticked and confirm.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm your Telegram account">
    Back in PublishBuddy, click **Confirm with Telegram**. In Telegram, press **Start**, then **Link my account**.

    The PublishBuddy window updates by itself. It shows "Confirmed as" with your Telegram name. You only do this once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your channel">
    Your channels show up in a list. Click the one you want.

    If it isn't in the list, type its username in the box instead. The username is the part after `t.me/` in the channel's link. For `t.me/mychannel`, that's `mychannel`. You can paste the whole link too. For a private channel, paste its invite link.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add">
    The **Add** button works once your account is confirmed and a channel is picked.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What you'll see

PublishBuddy takes you back to where you started, usually **Accounts**. Your channel shows up under Telegram.

A channel that's already in PublishBuddy shows **Already connected** in the list, and you can't pick it again.

## Common problems

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="This link has expired or was already used.">
    The confirm link only works for a short time, and only once. In PublishBuddy, click **Confirm with Telegram** again to get a new one.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Confirm your Telegram account first, so we can check that you manage this channel.">
    You skipped step 2. Click **Confirm with Telegram**, then press **Start** and **Link my account** in Telegram.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="We couldn't confirm that you manage this channel.">
    Two things have to be true. **@publishbuddy\_bot** is an admin of the channel. And the Telegram account you confirmed is an admin too, with the right to post. Fix whichever is missing in the channel's admin settings, then click **Add** again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Confirmed as the wrong Telegram account">
    Click **Use a different account** next to "Confirmed as", then confirm again from the right Telegram account.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Posts stopped going out after someone removed the bot">
    If the bot leaves the channel, PublishBuddy can't post there and the channel needs reconnecting. Add **@publishbuddy\_bot** back as an admin, then [reconnect the channel](/help/connect/reconnect). Reconnecting a Telegram channel doesn't open a login. PublishBuddy just checks the bot again.

    Still see "Make sure that Telegram bot is added as the admin, and that the username or link is valid."? The bot isn't an admin of the channel yet, or the channel's username changed.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Reconnect a social account](/help/connect/reconnect)
* [I can't add more social accounts](/help/troubleshooting/account-limit)
* [Post types for each network](/help/limits/post-types-by-network)


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