In this article
Send ten photos one at a time and the person on the other end gets ten notifications, ten bubbles and a chat they have to scroll past for a week. Send them as an album and they get one notification, one tidy collage and one caption.
Telegram groups them by default, so most people meet this feature without noticing it. The part worth knowing is the switch that turns it off, and when to use it.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Send up to ten photos and videos as a single grouped message with one caption.
- check_circle Turn grouping off when the files are not one thing.
- check_circle Predict the layout you will get from the number of items.
- check_circle Know what happens when you delete, forward or reply to one item inside an album.
The Group Items toggle is in the send tray, next to the caption field — the one control on this screen that changes what the recipient sees.
collections One message, several pictures
An album is not a new kind of file. It is several ordinary media messages that carry a marker saying they belong together, and every client that receives them draws them as one block.
The consequences follow from that. One notification, because the client groups them before alerting. One caption, because it belongs to the group rather than to any file. And a collage whose shape is worked out from the number of items and their proportions, so mixed portrait and landscape shots still tile without gaps.
Tapping any tile opens the full-screen viewer on that item, and swiping moves through the rest of the album at full quality. The collage is a summary; the files behind it are whole.
Group them, or send them separately
The toggle is easy to find and nobody uses it, because the question it answers is never stated. Here it is: do these files need to be answered together or one at a time?
image Twenty photos from the same afternoon
description A holiday photo and a scanned receipt
feed Publishing to a channel
checklist Five drafts someone has to comment on
The test: group them when they are one thing, separate them when each needs its own answer.
grid_view What the collage will look like
The layout is decided from the number of items and their proportions, so you cannot choose it directly — but it is predictable enough to arrange for.
| Items | Shape you get | What to put first |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Split down the middle, equal halves | Either; they are the same size |
| 3 | One large, two smaller beside or below it | The strongest image — it takes the large slot |
| 4 | An even grid | Anything; all four are equal |
| 5 to 10 | Rows of two and three, fitted to the shapes | Landscape shots early; they set the row heights |
Order follows the order you selected the files in Mixing photos and videos in one album is fine
settings Sending one
- Open the attachment menu The paperclip in the chat.
- Select several items Tap the circle on each. The number you tapped them in is the order they will appear in.
- Write one caption It belongs to the whole group, so write it as a description of the set rather than of the first picture.
- Decide about grouping Group Items is on by default. Turn it off here if the files are not one thing.
- Send The collage is assembled on the recipient's side, so it looks right on a phone and on a desktop alike.
This page is how ten files become one message. The curriculum step is what happens underneath when those files are large: how an upload is broken into chunks, what resumes after a dropped connection, and where the size limits actually sit.
At a glance
- 1Send as an album
Up to ten photos and videos in one message with one caption.
- 2Turn grouping off
Send separately when the items are not one thing.
- 3Editing an album
Deleting one item rearranges the rest; replies attach to the whole album.
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