Telegram Groups Scraper > 📊 Powerful Apify Actor for extracting message history from public Telegram groups (including private invite links). Telegram Groups Scraper automatically downloads complete or incremental message history from the groups you specify. --- ## 1. Why you will love it * 🏎 Fast — fetches thousands of messages per minute thanks to full async processing. * 🛡 Reliable — retries API calls, respects rate limits and survives network hiccups. * 🔎 Flexible — scrape any number of groups and use historyFrom to limit the time range. * ☁️ Scalable — run dozens of parallel actors on Apify without dealing with servers. --- ## 2. Input configuration json { "groups": [ "@mygroup", "https://t.me/+abcdef1234567" ], "historyFrom": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z", "telegramSession": "${{ TELEGRAM_SESSION }}", "telegram2faPassword": "${{ TELEGRAM_2FA_PASSWORD }}" ,"limit": 3000 } Parameters explained: * groups (array, required) — group identifiers accepted in any of the following forms: * @group * https://t.me/group (public) * https://t.me/+<hash> or https://t.me/joinchat/<hash> (invite link) * historyFrom (string, optional) — ISO-8601 timestamp. Messages older than this value are skipped. * telegramSession (string, optional) — pass a session string directly instead of using the secret. * telegram2faPassword (string, optional) — account password if two-factor authentication is enabled. * limit (integer, optional, default 3000) — maximum number of messages to retrieve per group. --- ## 3. Running the Actor 1. Open Telegram Groups Scraper on Apify. 2. Click Run and open the Logs tab. 3. If you didn’t provide a session string, a QR code will appear. In the Telegram app open Settings → Devices → Link Desktop Device and scan the QR code. 4. If Telegram prompts for a password after scanning the QR (two-factor authentication), stop the run, open the input section and fill Telegram 2FA password (or set the secret TELEGRAM_2FA_PASSWORD) and start the Actor again. 5. (Optional) Copy the session string shown in the logs and store it as TELEGRAM_SESSION for future runs. --- ## 4. Output dataset Each message is stored in the default dataset. Sample record: json { "type": "message", "group": "mygroup", "id": 12345, "date": "2024-05-21T15:32:10+00:00", "sender_id": 67890, "sender_username": "username", "text": "Hello, Apify!", "media_type": null } Download results in JSON, CSV, Parquet and more via Apify API or UI. --- ## 5. FAQ Q: I see FloodWaitError in logs — did the run fail? A: No. The actor automatically waits the required time and resumes. You will only see a warning. Q: Can I scrape a private group? A: Yes! Provide a valid invite link (e.g., https://t.me/+abcdef1234567) and the actor will automatically join and fetch its history (your account must have permission to join). Q: How do I save only media messages? A: After the run finishes, filter the dataset by media_type. Q: Is it safe to provide telegramSession and telegram2faPassword? A: Both values are stored in Apify Secrets; they never appear in logs and cannot be read by other actors. A session string only grants access to act as your account, and the 2FA password is used once during the sign-in flow. Recommended practices: • keep both values exclusively in Secrets; • regenerate / update the session string whenever you change your Telegram password; • you can revoke access at any moment in Telegram settings by logging out the linked device. Q: I noticed a new device called “apifytg” logged into my Telegram from an unfamiliar location. What is it? A: When the actor authenticates, Telethon registers a device for the session (the default device model is “ApifyTG”). The IP you see is the data-centre where the actor is running (Apify Cloud or your local machine). This is expected and safe. If you want to revoke access, simply log this device out in Settings → Devices and remove the saved telegramSession / secret. --- ## 6. Support & contributions Found a bug or have a feature request? Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request. We’re happy to discuss ideas like additional fields, filters or export formats. --- ⭐️ Launch Telegram Groups Scraper today and turn Telegram content into valuable data for analytics, brand monitoring and research!