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What is the difference between a Telegram group and a supergroup? How to turn a group into a supergroup?

When creating a new group in Telegram, the system will create a basic group by default. Basic Telegram groups have limited interaction functions. And they lack many key functions compared to supergroups. Therefore, it is recommended that you upgrade the group to a supergroup. A Telegram supergroup can accommodate up to 200,000 group members. The owner of a supergroup can assign administrator privileges to other members. Supergroup administrators can specify Bots to manage the supergroup, Telegram supergroup can set a username for the group for public Groups, and anybody can join by searching for that username.

Differences between a Telegram basic group and a supergroup

FeaturesTelegram GroupTelegram Supergroup
Number of membersUp to 200 membersUp to 200,000 members
Public accessNot public accessCan be switched to public access
Community ManagementOnly the group owner can manage the groupThe group owner can assign administrators to manage the community collaboratively
Bot automatic managementLimited supportFull-featured Bots can be used to automatically manage the community
Availability to Telegram global searchNot avaliableCan be searched when switching to public access

How to check if a Telegram group is a basic group or a supergroup

Information of the type of group is hidden in both mobile and desktop Telegram apps. To check whether a group is a basic group or a supergroup, please add TeleMe Bot to your group. Then open your TeleMe dashboard, you can see the type of group in your dashboard.

Display group type in TeleMe dashboard

How to upgrade a Telegram group to a supergroup

Use one of the following methods to upgrade a Telegram group to a supergroup:

Upgrade to supergroup by invite group members

When the number of members in a Telegram group is approaching 200, Telegram will automatically upgrade that group to a supergroup.

Upgrade to supergroup by setting a Telegram group public access

All Telegram basic groups are private. When you set a private group as a public group, Telegram will automatically upgrade this group to a supergroup.

The following are the steps to set public access for a group:

  1. The owner of the group opens Telegram APP, and go to the group management screen.
  2. Select "Edit Group"
  3. Select "Group Type" Edit group type
  4. Set a public username for the group Set group public username
  5. Save your changes and that group will be automatically upgraded to a supergroup by Telegram

If you want to keep that group private. Then after upgrading to a supergroup, you can repeat the above steps to set that group back to the private. That group will remain as a supergroup, and will no longer be accessible to all Telegram users, only invited users can join that group.