# Groups

End-to-end encrypted groups with several admins, per-member permissions, member tags, shared pins and a group privacy switch.

## Create a group

Pick people you are connected with, name the group and, if you like, add a photo, banner and description. You become its admin. Groups are end-to-end encrypted like DMs, and a group belongs to its members, not to a workspace.

- Only people who accepted a connection with you can be added. Someone in privacy mode cannot be added at all.
- Someone added sees messages from the moment they joined, not the history before it.
- When someone joins or leaves, the group's key changes, so a person who left cannot read what comes after.

## Admins and members

- A group can have several admins. Admins configure permissions, change roles, remove members and delete the group.
- Being the creator gives no extra power: a creator who is made a member is an ordinary member.
- An admin has to be made a member before they can be removed.
- When the last admin leaves, the longest-standing member becomes admin.

## Member permissions

Admins set what members may do, for the whole group (Group → Permissions) and, as exceptions, for one person (that member → Permissions). Admins can always do everything.

| Permission | Covers |
| --- | --- |
| Send messages | Text, reactions, threads, typing. Off means read-only, and turns every media permission off too. |
| Photos, Videos, Files, Music and voice | Each kind of attachment on its own. |
| Add members | Inviting people. |
| Pin messages | Pinning for everyone. |
| Change group info | Name, photo, banner, description. |
| Start calls | Starting a group call. Joining a running call is always allowed. |
| Forward | Forwarding messages out of the group. |
| Edit own tag | Setting your own member tag. |

> Permissions are set in the Android app. The web follows them and shows the result.

## Member tags and group pins

- A tag is a short label beside a member's name (up to 16 characters), such as “Design” or “Host”. Admins set anyone's; members set their own if allowed. The web shows tags too.
- Pinned messages are shared with the whole group (up to 50) and listed on the chat's Pins page, next to your own personal pins.

## Group privacy

An admin switch that changes the group for everyone in it:

- Nobody can forward messages or save photos and files, admins included.
- Members other than admins see only the admins and themselves in the member list.
- On Android, screenshots are blocked on the chat, its details and its media.

> Copying text still works, and nothing stops a second camera or a modified app. Screenshot blocking is Android only.

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Source: https://chat.ababilx.com/docs/groups
Last updated: 2026-10-19