Generally, it’s complex to search private Telegram channels if you do not have the invite link. Telegram designs the channels to only be accessed through an invite link shared by the administrator. But that’s not to say that you can’t join private channels without being invited. Besides, some public channels provide platforms where private groups post their invite link for others to use.
Unlike a private channel, a public channel is accessible to all users irrespective of whether they have subscribed or not. Public channels are also displayed in search results with a short address or link.
What are Telegram channels?
Telegram channels are not groups. Groups are typically smaller and invite-only with a participant limit of 200,000 people (as mentioned in Telegram FAQs). If you need a platform for sharing media and stuff with your contacts or collaboration, you need a Telegram group. Groups also allow you to pin important messages at the top of the screen for members to see them, including new participants that joined or have been added.
Telegram channels are designed for those who need to broadcast messages to large audiences. With a Telegram channel, you can have an unlimited number of subscribers. Channels also feature signed messages using the name and photo of the channel.
Every message made in a channel uses a view counter that is updated once members view the message, including all the copies that have been forwarded.
How to search private Telegram channels
Even with the limitations, you can still join Telegram channels if you’ve not been invited. Below are ways to join or search Telegram private channel:
1. Look for Telegram channels online
The internet is your friend, so your best bet to joining a private Telegram channel is to search them online on relevant platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook groups, etc. Even some websites publish invite links to certain Telegram private channels you can join.
The good thing about this method is that you can join the Telegram channel without informing the admin.
So, just search one of the websites or forums for the Telegram channel hidden from the public. Meanwhile, websites such as telegram-group.com and channels.me have various categories for different Channels you can join on Telegram.
You can also type “private Telegram channel finder” into your browser to find a host of other websites where various private Telegram channel invite links have been posted. You can then ask one of the channel members to invite you.
2. Dork web search query
The World Wide Web features a lot—you can search websites and archives with files in them using dork search. For this method, you use search engines that support dorks. Examples of the dorks are:
- site:t.me/joinchat
- intext:t.me/joinchat
- site:t.me/joinchat inurl:<anything>
- site:t.me
- site:t.me intext: 2 members
- intext:t.me/
You just have to enter the terms above into your search engine. Search engines with dork search support are:
- Yandex
- Pastebin
- Ahmia
- DuckDuckGo
- VK.com
With this, you can search private Telegram channels and join them.
3. Unique invites from contacts
You can ask your contacts for their invite links and use the invite links to join the private channel to see other members.
A private Telegram channel is unique, you can’t see the content without joining it, compared to a public channel that lets you see the content as a non-member.
4. Ask the admin
Try asking the admin to invite you if you already know the group, as well as the admin. Some admins will post the invite link for a select few users whom you can ask to share the link with you.
Note that the admin will know when you join the private Telegram channel (other Channel subscribers will not know). So, if you’ve been previously removed for whatever reason, and then try rejoining by someone inviting you, they can still kick you out.
5. Use bots
There are bots online that you can use to invite yourself to private channels on Telegram. You just have to develop the bot and use it to search private Telegram channels.
How can I join a private channel on Telegram?
Somehow, you can join a private channel on Telegram. However, private Telegram channels are only open to limited people and not the public. As such, you can’t even find a private channel when searching via the app.
Private Tele channels are designed such that you get the invite links from the channel creator or an admin. The private Telegram invite links usually begin with t.me.
Telegram bot join private channel
As mentioned above, it’s somehow possible to use a bot to extract the link of a private channel. Let me try helping you out on how to search private Telegram channels.
First, copy the link via your browser. Just open Telegram in your browser. Now, go to the Telegram channel and copy the link the browser provides. Sometimes, this may not work without permission.
If you have no luck, use Gabriel Rocha Ferreira’s Extended version by the network engineer @ https://github.com/GabrielRF/telegram-id#web-channel-id which covers IDs for channels, as well as chats, groups, and SuperGroups.
So, this method is just a backdoor with Telegram’s own API. It is perfectly legit and works if you do it right. This is designed from “superTelegramCoreBotAPIlog” which can be completed in about 5 minutes.
The advantage is also that you don’t require any coding. I’ve not really seen a disadvantage, except you may struggle with the final step.
Step 1:
- Add @BotFather and send /newbot. Name the bot and @ID.
- Copy the superapi superaccess supertoken given to you by BotFather.
Step 2:
- Add @Manybot and send /addbot.
- Click on the form-button “I’ve copied the API”.
- Send the copied token from BotFather.
At this point, you have created a responsive bot.
Step 3:
Try debugging it by sending a message and wait for a response.
Step 4:
- Add your bot to the channel you want the ID from and send a quick message with the @BotID.
Step 5:
- Paste the superapi superaccess supertoken you received from BotFather.
- Paste the token in the following links (include the “bot”): https://api.telegram.org/botsuper^bot^api^access^token/getUpdates and https://api.telegram.org/botsuper^bot^api^access^token/setWebhook?url=
Step 6:
- Open the customized URL saying getUpdates at the end. Note that you could receive the error message below:
{“ok”:false,”error_code”:409,”description”:”Conflict: can’t use getUpdates method while webhook is active”}
This happens when your bot is occupied by a webhook. While entering your token to @Manybot, you activated (or hooked up on) the Core API. That means your bot hooked up with @Manybot.
Step 7:
- Open the customized second-link that says “setWebhook?url=” It should say:
{“ok”:true,”result”:true,”description”:”Webhook was deleted”}
Step 8:
- Repeat Step 6. You should get something like:
{“ok”:true,”result”:[{“update_id”:910904595, “message”:{“message_id”:14,”from”:
“id”:500952266,”is_bot”:false,”first_name”:”Terry”,”last_name”:”Vow”,”language_code”:”en-EN”},”chat”:{“id”:500952266,”first_name”:”Terry”,”last_name”:”Vow”,”type”:”private”},”date”:1518606820,”text”:”Hey man, feels weird talking to a bot, but this guy told me to do so. So here it is, “Hi!”.”}}]}
Simplified translation: ID = “id”:super500952266,” is your group (almost). All (Super)Group IDs are always negative! (See the first link on top under “Extended solution”).
The real group ID in this case is -500952266.
For a private SuperGroup, the ID will be something like:
{“id”:500952266_8164997625569996687,”
A SuperGroupId usually starts with the number 100 and contains 13 characters. In this case, the SuperGroupID is -100500952266
Note that these same steps work for channels. However, Telegram channels only send messages, so you can’t chat on a Telegram channel. That means that the admin needs to mention your @bot_id for it to work.
Now that you have the ID, how do you get the complete Telegram private channel link? The answer is to drop the ID in the search field.
How to see members in Telegram private channel
So, how can I see private channels in telegram without link? You have to search and join the private Telegram channel first before you can see the members and content.
Ultimately, it’s possible to search private Telegram channels. Just follow the methods mentioned in this post to help you out.
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