In this article
Folders put tabs above your chat list. Each one is a filter rather than a place, so a chat can appear in several and nothing is moved anywhere — the list simply shows less of itself.
The part worth learning is the rules. A folder defined by hand needs maintaining forever; a folder defined by a rule looks after itself.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Build folders that fill themselves as new chats arrive.
- check_circle Use exclusions, which are more powerful than inclusions and less used.
- check_circle Pin different chats in different folders.
- check_circle Share a whole set of chats as one link.
The tabs sit above the list and the chats never move — each tab is a view, not a container.
folder Rules, not filing
A folder is built from two lists: what to include and what to exclude. Both accept individual chats and whole categories — all groups, all channels, all bots, everyone in your contacts, everyone who is not.
A folder made only of named chats is a list you have to keep updating. A folder made of categories is a rule, and new chats fall into it automatically: subscribe to a channel and it appears in the channels folder without you doing anything.
Exclusions are the underused half. All chats, excluding muted is a folder containing everything that might actually need you, and it needs no maintenance at all.
Four folders worth having
All four are rules rather than lists, which is why they still work in six months.
checklist Everything unmuted and unread
group Humans, not broadcasts
work A context rather than a category
Prefer rules to lists: a folder you have to update is one you will stop updating.
settings Building one
- Open folder settings Settings, then Folders or Chat Folders.
- Create a folder and name it short The name becomes a tab, and long names crowd the row.
- Add included types first Contacts, groups, channels, bots — the categories rather than individual chats wherever possible.
- Then exclusions Muted, read, archived. This is where most of the usefulness comes from.
- Reorder the tabs The one you use most should be next to All Chats.
- Share it if it is a set The folder's own settings offer an invite link to the public chats in it.
This page is building folders for yourself. The curriculum step covers the shared kind: bundling a community's chats into one link, what a new member sees when they open it, and how a set of channels is kept coherent as it grows.
At a glance
- 1Rule-based folders
Folders built from chat types fill themselves.
- 2Exclusions
Exclude muted, read or archived chats to keep it short.
- 3Share a folder
Send a set of chats as one link.
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