Introduction

Links on Telegram aren't always compact. An invite to a private chat often looks like https://t.me/+AbCdEf123456789xyz, while a link to a specific message in a channel looks like https://t.me/channelname/1234. That kind of link is awkward to paste into other social media, read out loud, or print on a business card.

In this article, we'll cover why you'd want to shorten Telegram links — whether it's a channel, chat, bot, or invite — how to do it in seconds with Lix.li, and how to set up a link so it opens the Telegram app directly on a user's phone.

Compactness and convenience

A short link like lix.li/my-channel fits into any message, is easy to say out loud in a podcast or video, and doesn't look suspicious the way a long invite code after t.me/+ can.

Click analytics

Telegram doesn't give you detailed statistics on who clicks your channel link and from where, outside the platform itself. When you shorten a link through Lix.li, you get separate analytics for every click: the number of clicks, the user's country, device, and traffic source. This is especially useful if you're promoting your channel across different platforms — Instagram, YouTube, email — and want to understand which one drives the most subscribers.

Your own branding

If you regularly share links to your Telegram channel or bot, a short link on your own domain (for example, go.yourbrand.com/telegram) looks far more polished than a standard Telegram link and builds more trust with your audience.

Convenient for printed materials and QR codes

A short channel link is easy to turn into a QR code and place on packaging, a business card, a banner, or in printed ads — unlike a long link, which is impossible to remember or fit neatly onto a small format.

  1. Open the channel, chat, bot, or message on Telegram you want a link for, and copy its link (via the "⋯" menu → "Copy Link", or from channel/chat settings).
  2. Open the Lix.li link shortening service and paste the copied link into the input field.
  3. If you'd like, set a custom alias (for example, lix.li/my-bot) — this makes the link easier to remember and say out loud.
  4. Click the shorten button — the service instantly creates a short link, ready to use.
  5. Copy the finished link and place it wherever you need it: in your bio, a post, an email newsletter, or on printed materials.

If you're already registered with Lix.li, the link is automatically saved to your dashboard, where click statistics are available, along with additional settings — such as a custom domain, a link expiration date, or a password for access.

Shortening a Telegram link through the Lix.li dashboard

One of the most common frustrations: a user clicks a Telegram link on their phone, and instead of the app they already have installed, the web version opens in a browser — with limited functionality and no notifications. The deep link technology solves exactly this problem.

A deep link is a short link that, when clicked, automatically opens the right app (Telegram, in this case) if it's installed on the user's device — and if it isn't, it simply opens the regular web version in a browser. The user doesn't have to choose anything manually: the link figures out on its own what's more convenient for them and takes them there instantly.

This is especially useful for Telegram links: the user lands right in the intended channel, chat, or bot directly inside the app — with the familiar interface and all its features.

  1. When creating or editing a short link in Lix.li, paste the Telegram channel, chat, bot, or invite address into the URL field.
  2. The service automatically recognizes that the link points to Telegram and offers to enable opening in the app.
  3. Turn on that setting — from then on, the link will automatically open the Telegram app on devices where it's installed, and the regular web version on a computer or where the app isn't installed.

For more on how this technology works across different devices and which other apps are supported, check out our article What Is a Deep Link and How Does It Work.

Conclusion

Shortening a Telegram link is a simple way to make it more convenient for your audience and get useful click analytics that the platform itself doesn't provide. With Lix.li, you can shorten a link to a channel, chat, bot, or invite in seconds, and set it up to automatically open the Telegram app on a user's phone — with no extra steps on their end and no loss of convenience.