Should a Forwarded Telegram Message Show Where It Came From?

The switch and its default

Open the rule editor, go to the Advanced tab, then Forwarding Options. The switch is called Show "Forwarded From" and is described as "Show source channel attribution". It is off by default.

Switch it on and a second one appears: Make the source a clickable link, on by default. Its helper text explains the other position: "Off: the source name is shown as plain text."

Off: a fresh post with no attribution

With the switch off — the default — the copy arrives with no attribution at all. In the destination it looks like a fresh post, with nothing pointing back to the source. For a relay meant to read as your own publication, this is the right position.

On, and the message is relayed untouched

If the rule transforms nothing — no replacements, no header or footer, no formatting change, no link rules, no text cleanup, no translation, Ghost Mode off, and a destination that is not a forum topic — the message is relayed in its native form, and Telegram draws its own "Forwarded from" tag above it. That is the tag every Telegram user knows from forwarding a message by hand.

On that native tag the clickable-link switch has no effect: the tag behaves the way Telegram builds it, and it links where Telegram decides.

On, and the message is rebuilt

If any transformation is on — replacements, a header or footer, formatting, link rules, text cleanup, translation, and so on — or Ghost Mode is on, the message is rebuilt, and the source appears as a first line above the text: "Forwarded from <source name>", followed by a blank line.

Here the second switch matters. With Make the source a clickable link on, the name in that line links to the exact original post. With it off, the source name is shown as plain text.

Where the link actually opens

For a public channel or group, the link opens for anyone who taps it. For a private one, it opens only for people who are already members of the source; anyone else is turned away. Said plainly: a link is not an invitation. It points at the original post; it does not grant entry to the source.

Ghost Mode, plans, and the custom alternative

With Ghost Mode on, the message is always rebuilt, so the attribution is always the text line, never Telegram's native tag.

The setting is available on every plan.

If what you want is your own wording — a fixed label, your channel name, something that is not the actual source — the header or footer is the tool for that. This switch is the automatic one: it follows the real source of each message, whatever it is.