How to Stop or Block a Bot on Telegram

Where the block option is

Every bot chat has the same three choices: silence it, report it, or block it. They sit in slightly different places on each device.

Start inside the bot chat. On iPhone, tap the bot's name at the top first. On Telegram Desktop the three-dot menu in the chat does not itself contain a block option; it is at the bottom of the bot's profile. Blocking stops the bot from sending you anything more. If you change your mind, open the bot again and choose Restart Bot.

Pick the option that matches the problem

A bot cannot message you first

Telegram's bot documentation says bots cannot start conversations with users: a person has to start the bot or add it to a group first. So when a "bot" writes to you out of nowhere, there are only two explanations. Either you started it at some point, even long ago, or it is not a bot at all but a person's account dressed up to look like one, often pretending to be support. The second is common in scams; see checking a stranger's first message.

Spam bots in a group you run

1. Remove it. Admins can open the member list, tap the bot and remove it from the group.
2. Close the door it came through. In the group's member permissions, limit who can add members, so ordinary members cannot bring bots in; see limiting what members can send.
3. Check what it could see. A bot made an admin can read the whole conversation; see what a bot in your group can read.