How to Set Up Moderation and Anti-Spam in a Telegram Group

An active Telegram group attracts spam fast: ad messages, fake accounts, and DMs to your members. The good news is that almost all of it can be stopped without constant manual policing. Below is how to set up moderation and anti-spam step by step — first with Telegram's built-in tools, then with bots.

Step 1. Admin rights and basic settings

Start with what's already built into Telegram — it's free and handles a large share of the problem.

• Appoint trusted admins and give each one only the rights they need (ban members, delete messages, pin). The fewer rights an account has, the less damage if it gets hacked.
• In the group settings, open Permissions and decide what members can do: send media, links, polls. Restricting links and forwards cuts spam noticeably.
• Turn on Slow Mode — a delay between messages from the same member. It smothers flooding during a rush.
• For groups of 200+ members, enable the built-in Aggressive Anti-Spam in the group settings — Telegram will remove some spam on its own.

Step 2. Vet newcomers with a captcha

Most spam comes from bots that join and immediately post ads. A captcha at the door stops them: the newcomer has to tap a button or solve a simple task within a time limit, or they get removed. The easiest way to add one is Shieldy or GroupHelp — both are added to the group as admins and ask the newcomer to confirm they're human.

Step 3. A moderation and anti-spam bot

A single moderation bot covers almost everything: captcha, filters, warnings, and automatic spam removal. Here are proven options.

• Shieldy — captcha for newcomers, removal of those who fail it, integration with the CAS spammer database, and an "under attack" mode that temporarily kicks all newcomers.
• Rose — a powerful moderator: warnings with auto-ban, word filters, anti-flood, notes, rules, and greetings.
• GroupHelp — configured through a convenient menu, no commands: anti-flood, anti-spam, captcha, content filters, and scheduled messages.
• Combot — CAS-based anti-spam plus detailed community analytics, triggers, and auto-replies.
• ChatKeeper — anti-spam, moderation, captcha, and greetings together with member activity statistics.
• Telegram Anti-Spam — a simple automatic filter that removes spam, links, and messages from bots.

Step 4. Practices that actually work

• Write short rules and pin them in the group — moderation feels fairer when there's something to point to.
• Use warnings instead of an instant ban: 2–3 warns before a ban give people a chance to fix things and reduce wrongful bans.
• Auto-delete links and forwarded messages from new members for the first few hours after they join.
• Turn on Slow Mode during peak hours or a spam attack.
• Don't hand out admin rights to everyone — that's the biggest hole in a group's security.
• Review statistics and logs once a week: it shows which filters are firing and which ones to tweak.

Start with a captcha and one moderation bot — that's enough for most groups. Add the rest as the community grows. More tools are in the Group & Channel Management category.