# Telegram chat ID finder

Canonical page: https://www.fwrdsms.com/tools/telegram-chat-id

Paste a Telegram bot token on the page to see every chat that messaged the bot, with each chat ID ready to copy. It runs in your browser. Your token goes straight to Telegram (api.telegram.org) and nowhere else: this site never sees it, and nothing is saved.

## Three steps

1. Make a bot: in Telegram, message @BotFather, send /newbot, and copy the token it gives you.
2. Start a chat with it: open your bot, tap Start and send it any message. For a group, add the bot and send /start@your_bot there. For a channel, add the bot as an admin and post something.
3. Paste the token here and press Find chat IDs.

To read it by hand instead, open https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/getUpdates in a browser, with your token after the word bot, and copy the number after "chat":{"id":.

## Reading the numbers

- A private chat’s ID is a positive number.
- A group’s ID is negative, and the minus sign is part of it.
- A supergroup’s or a channel’s ID starts with -100. Turning a group into a supergroup gives it a new ID.
- Telegram keeps a bot’s messages for 24 hours, so send a fresh one if the list comes up empty.

## If your chat isn’t there

- The list is empty: Telegram only lists chats that messaged the bot in the last 24 hours. Open the bot, send it a message, and press Find chat IDs again.
- My group isn’t listed: In groups, bots only see commands. Send /start@your_bot in the group (with your bot’s name), then look again.
- It says the token isn’t recognized: Copy the token again from BotFather in one go. If you replaced the token, only the newest one works.
- It mentions a webhook: Another service has set a webhook on this bot, and Telegram won’t list its messages while it’s on. A separate bot just for your forwarded texts avoids touching it.

## Sending your iPhone’s texts to this chat

Fwrd is an iPhone app that forwards the texts you choose to Telegram, such as sign-in codes or alerts. Paste the token and the chat ID into Fwrd’s Telegram destination. Setup guide: https://www.fwrdsms.com/guides/telegram