What files Telegram channels share: PDFs, Android apps and VPN configs
17% of active public Telegram channels shared a file in their last 100 posts. PDFs lead, shared by 11% of channels; 7.3% of Persian-language channels share Android apps, and Persian channels share more VPN config files than channels in any other language
17.3% of active public Telegram channels (30,759 of 178,199) shared at least one file in their last 100 posts, and 1.65% of all posts carry a file. By type, PDF leads (11.2% of channels), followed by images sent as files (2.3%) and Android apps (APK) (2.3%). Persian-language channels share Android apps most often (7.3% of channels) and also lead on VPN config files. The data covers 24,465,971 posts read between October 26, 2026 and November 1, 2026.
What files do Telegram channels share?
We counted attachments shown as documents, 609,344 files in 44,117 channels, and sorted them by file extension. The most common extensions are .pdf (183,772), .apk (76,105), .jpg (61,935), .png (55,999), .zip (32,727), .txt (18,688).
| File type | Files | Share of active channels | Median size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 183,772 | 11.2% | 1.3 MB | |
| Image file | 125,156 | 2.3% | 838 KB |
| Android app (APK) | 76,475 | 2.3% | 45.9 MB |
| Archive | 52,252 | 1.6% | 12.8 MB |
| Video file | 30,396 | 1% | 36 MB |
| Word document | 19,428 | 1% | 50 KB |
| Spreadsheet | 5,018 | 0.5% | 43 KB |
| Text file | 18,688 | 0.3% | 16 KB |
| Presentation | 6,116 | 0.3% | 4.9 MB |
| Code and data | 5,356 | 0.3% | 52 KB |
| Audio file | 3,410 | 0.3% | 13.5 MB |
| VPN or proxy config | 27,603 | 0.3% | 11 KB |
| Windows program | 3,444 | 0.3% | 64.2 MB |
| E-book | 1,201 | 0.1% | 1.5 MB |
| iPhone app (IPA) | 2,042 | 0.1% | 106.1 MB |
How big are files on Telegram?
Telegram allows files up to 2 GB, or 4 GB with Premium. The median file in our data is 1.7 MB. 0.67% of files are 1 GB or larger, and 0.19% are over 2 GB, which only Premium users can upload. The largest file was 3.9 GB.
| Limit | Free | Telegram Premium |
|---|---|---|
| File size | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Video message length | 1 minute | 1 minute |
| Photos or videos in an album | 10 | 10 |
Which languages share the most files?
Hindi channels share PDFs most often: 47.6% of them shared at least one. Chinese channels lead on archives (8%) and also on Windows programs (1.8%). Values are the share of that language's active channels.
| Language | Active channels | Android apps | Archives | VPN configs | Windows programs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | 48,692 | 6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0% | 0.1% |
| English | 18,205 | 12.8% | 3.6% | 2.7% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| Persian | 15,344 | 17.5% | 7.3% | 2.8% | 1.5% | 0.5% |
| Arabic | 14,778 | 24.1% | 2.6% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Uzbek | 6,802 | 17.3% | 3.1% | 1.3% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| Chinese | 5,683 | 1.4% | 4.7% | 8% | 0% | 1.8% |
| Spanish | 2,736 | 8.6% | 1.7% | 0.7% | 0% | 0.1% |
| Ukrainian | 2,441 | 3.2% | 0% | 0.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Burmese | 1,400 | 2.3% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0% |
| Italian | 1,138 | 10.1% | 0% | 0.1% | 0% | 0% |
| French | 1,075 | 9.6% | 4.7% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 0% |
| Amharic | 1,008 | 21.2% | 5% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 0% |
| German | 947 | 13.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Portuguese | 851 | 6.6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0% | 0.1% |
| Hindi | 611 | 47.6% | 0.5% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Indonesian | 596 | 6.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0% | 0% |
| Turkish | 561 | 4.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0% | 0% |
| Vietnamese | 357 | 0.3% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0% | 0.3% |
| Hebrew | 329 | 4.9% | 0.9% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Kurdish | 300 | 19.7% | 4% | 1% | 0% | 0% |
Android apps (APK) on Telegram
2.3% of active channels shared an Android app, 76,475 files with a median size of 45.9 MB. Persian-language channels share them most often (7.3% of channels). By file name, betting apps (13,334 files), vpn and proxy apps (5,567 files), games and game mods (4,870 files) are the most common kinds we could identify; 45,244 files could not be classified. Apps from channels skip the checks of an app store. Modified versions of messengers and social apps and betting apps are common in our data. Install apps only from sources you trust.
| Language | Active channels | Channels sharing an APK |
|---|---|---|
| Persian | 15,344 | 7.3% |
| Amharic | 1,008 | 5% |
| French | 1,075 | 4.7% |
| Chinese | 5,683 | 4.7% |
| Kurdish | 300 | 4% |
| English | 18,205 | 3.6% |
| Uzbek | 6,802 | 3.1% |
| Arabic | 14,778 | 2.6% |
| Kind of app | Files | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Betting apps | 13,334 | 1,698 |
| VPN and proxy apps | 5,567 | 994 |
| Games and game mods | 4,870 | 905 |
| Telegram clients | 2,694 | 532 |
| WhatsApp mods | 2,442 | 153 |
| YouTube clients | 1,084 | 279 |
| Instagram mods | 654 | 195 |
| Music apps | 586 | 213 |
| Other | 45,244 | 4,500 |
VPN and proxy configs
Config files for VPN and proxy apps (.npvt, .hc, .ovpn, .ehi and similar) are 4.5% of files. Persian-language channels share the most: 7,309 files in 306 channels, 27% of all config files we saw. That matches the long history of filtering in Iran. Our pages on Telegram proxies are Iran proxies and the Telegram proxy guide.
| Language | Channels | Files |
|---|---|---|
| Persian | 306 | 7,309 |
| Not labelled | 181 | 6,683 |
| English | 129 | 5,632 |
| Arabic | 49 | 2,618 |
| Amharic | 15 | 1,863 |
| Russian | 23 | 1,163 |
| Other (tk) | 7 | 941 |
| Uzbek | 28 | 600 |
| Sinhala | 1 | 246 |
| Turkmen | 2 | 139 |
| Bengali | 2 | 127 |
| French | 8 | 117 |
| Other (uz | fa | en (ISO 639-1 code)) | 1 | 26 |
| Chinese | 2 | 17 |
| Turkish | 1 | 3 |
Videos, voice messages and stickers
The median video lasts 26 seconds, and 90% are 144 seconds or shorter. Round video messages, which Telegram caps at one minute, have a median of 28 seconds and a 90th percentile of 59. The median voice message lasts 60 seconds. Among 269,438 stickers, static ones are the most common (80.2%). For the share of posts with each format, see Telegram post statistics.
| Type | Items | Channels | Median duration (s) | 90th percentile (s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Videos | 4,899,402 | 185,752 | 26 | 144 |
| Video messages | 316,499 | 31,936 | 28 | 59 |
| Stickers | 269,438 | 27,256 | — | — |
| Music | 163,969 | 23,685 | — | — |
| Voice messages | 137,140 | 23,788 | 60 | 500 |
| Sticker kind | Stickers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Static | 215,966 | 80.2% |
| Video | 27,568 | 10.2% |
| Animated | 25,904 | 9.6% |
What this does not measure
We see file names and sizes as the web version shows them, not the content, and we scan nothing. Files in private channels and chats are invisible. The "Other" group holds types we could not classify, and a file posted twice counts twice.
Questions and answers
What is the file size limit on Telegram?
A file can be up to 2 GB, or 4 GB with Telegram Premium. In our data 0.19% of files are larger than 2 GB, which only Premium users can upload; the largest was 3.9 GB.
What kind of files are shared most on Telegram channels?
PDF files lead: 11.2% of active channels shared at least one. Next come images sent as files (2.3%) and Android apps (APK) (2.3%).
Is it safe to download APK files from Telegram channels?
Be careful: apps from channels skip the checks of an app store. 2.3% of active channels shared an APK, and the most common kinds by file name were betting apps, vpn and proxy apps, games and game mods. Install only from sources you trust.
How long can a Telegram video message be?
One minute. The median video message in our data lasts 28 seconds and 90% are 59 seconds or shorter.
How long are videos on Telegram channels?
The median video lasts 26 seconds, and 90% are 144 seconds or shorter.
Why do Telegram channels share VPN config files?
Config files for VPN and proxy apps are shared mostly in Persian-language channels (306 channels, 7,309 files), where access to blocked sites is a daily concern. They make up 4.5% of the files we saw.
Method
Posts. The last 100 posts (up to 119, whole pages) of 256,822 public channels from the TGScope index, read from the public web version of each channel between October 26, 2026 and November 1, 2026. The channels are the largest public channels in the index by subscribers; channels without a public web page are not included.
Active channels: latest post at most 30 days before collection: 178,199 channels. The median active channel's 100 posts cover 75 days.
Languages and topics: TGScope channel labels, available for 169,749 of the 256,822 channels; groups with fewer than 300 active channels are not shown.
Files are attachments shown as documents (name and size as displayed); the type comes from the file extension, and sizes are parsed from labels such as "29.3 MB". Photos, videos, music and voice messages are separate attachment types and are not counted as files.
Data and citation
The aggregates behind this article are in one file: telegram-files-statistics.json. It holds counts and shares only.
To cite this study: