Do you hardly use Telegram? Do you feel your privacy is better off without it? Whatever your reason, it is easy to delete Telegram! Just follow these steps!
- Open your browser and go to the Telegram deactivation page.
- Fill in your phone number with your country code.
- Type in the code sent to your Telegram app.
- On the next page, click on “Delete My Account.”
- Confirm your decision by clicking, “Yes, delete my account.”
Deleting your Telegram account is permanent, and you’ll lose all your messages and media. We recommend creating a backup of your data before you go through with it.
Continue reading for step-by-step instructions on how to back up your data and delete your Telegram account.
Telegram is one of the top messaging apps today, with over 700 million monthly users. Despite its popularity and its privacy-first reputation, the app has had its fair share of privacy controversies.
Whether you want to delete Telegram for privacy reasons or simply because you no longer use the app, this article will show you how to delete your Telegram account permanently.
Do you just want to take a break from the app? You can uninstall Telegram rather than delete your account. Your data will remain on Telegram’s cloud, and your account will remain dormant until you re-install and use the app again.
How to Delete a Telegram Account
Make a backup!
If you delete your Telegram account, you will lose all of your conversations and data. We recommend making a backup of your Telegram data before you delete your account.
There are two ways to delete your Telegram account: doing so manually or using the app’s auto-delete feature. We’ll discuss both Telegram delete options below.
Note there are slight differences between the layout and features of Telegram’s desktop and smartphone apps. However, don’t let this throw you off; the steps are the same.
Delete Telegram manually
If you don’t want to wait for your Telegram account to be deleted automatically, you can choose to delete it manually. There are two ways to do so: within the app and using Telegram’s browser version. We’ll discuss both.
Delete Telegram permanently from within the app
Below, you’ll find a video on how to set Telegram to delete itself after 1 month if you don’t use it. Underneath the video you will find the steps written down with screenshots.
- Go to your Telegram “Settings” by clicking on the little gear in the bottom-right corner.
- Select “Privacy and Security.”
- Scroll down to “Automatically delete my account.”
- Now, click on “If away for.”
- Tap “Delete Account Now.”
- Scroll down till you see “Delete My Account” and select it.
- Tap “Continue.”
Delete Telegram permanently from your browser
Below, you’ll find a video on how to delete Telegram manually using your browser. Underneath the video you will find the steps written down with screenshots.
- Go to the Telegram deactivation page and enter your phone number along with your country code. If you’re unsure about your country code, you can easily Google it.
- Fill in the confirmation code sent to your Telegram app.
- You’ll get to a page explaining the consequences of deleting your account. We recommend reading this information carefully. You can provide a reason for deleting your Telegram account if you want to. When you’re done, click on the blue “Delete My Account” button.
- You must confirm you want to delete your Telegram account by clicking “Yes, delete my account.” This is the final step. Once you click on this button, your account will be deleted permanently.
- You have now deleted your Telegram account permanently. If you want to sign up for another account with the same phone number, you’ll have to wait a few days before you can do so.
Telegram can't be deactivated temporarily
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to delete Telegram temporarily. You can only delete your Telegram account or uninstall the app.
Make a Backup of Your Telegram Account
Before you delete your Telegram account and lose all your data, we recommend making a backup of your Telegram account. After all, deleting your account is permanent, and, as Telegram puts it, “all your messages and contacts will be deleted beyond retrieval.”
Follow the video below to make a backup of your account. Underneath the video you will find the steps in writing.
Note: You can only do this from Telegram’s desktop app.
- Click on the three lines in the top left corner of the app. Now, click on “Settings” and then “Advanced.”
- Click on “Export Telegram data.”
- You’ll need to select what messages and media to export. You can also set a storage limit for the export. Finally, you need to decide where to save the exported data on your device and in which format—either HTML (readable by humans) or JSON (readable by machines).
- Click on “Export,” and you’re all set to check out your Telegram data offline whenever you want.
How to delete Telegram using auto-delete
Telegram allows you to specify a period of inactivity, after which your account will be deleted automatically. This is useful if, for instance, you’re not in a hurry to delete your account.
The standard time period is six months, but you can change this by following the steps below:
- Click on the little gear in the bottom-right corner to go to “Settings.”
- Tap “Privacy and Security.”
- Scroll down till you see “Automatically delete my account.”
- Tap “If away for.”
- Select the duration after which your account should get removed (if inactive). You can set this to one month, three months, six months, or a year.
1 Year Max:
Telegram doesn’t keep accounts around indefinitely if they are not used. The maximum amount of time you can go without using your account before it gets deleted is one year. In this case, you’ll have to select the maximum time limit using the guide above.
Why Delete Telegram?
Telegram was launched in 2013, but its popularity has skyrocketed in the past few years as millions of people seek alternatives to WhatsApp and Facebook. There are many reasons to choose Telegram over WhatsApp, but there are also reasons to stop using Telegram. Here are the main ones.
No end-to-end encryption by default
While it has some good privacy features, Telegram doesn’t provide end-to-end encryption by default. You need to activate “Secret Chat” before you get this level of encryption, whereas other messaging apps, like WhatsApp, offer standard end-to-end encryption on all chats.
There’s also the fact that Telegram uses its own, relatively unknown encryption protocol — MTProto — rather than a well-established one.
Data collection practices
To provide its service and further its “legitimate interests,” Telegram may collect and store metadata from users’ devices for up to a year. Collected data includes your name, username, phone number, email address, contact list, and location data.
Telegram also stores users’ chat messages, photos, videos, and shared documents. Even though this data is “stored heavily encrypted,” it’s a bit worrying.
Telegram claims it has never had to release user information to Government authorities. However, in June 2022, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that Telegram had presented user data to the German police as part of a criminal investigation into terrorism and child abuse.
Extremism and conspiracy theorists
Due to its lax approach to content moderation, Telegram has become a meeting place for right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists.
At the height of the COVID pandemic, while social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram took measures to stop the spread of misinformation, Telegram didn’t.
A study published in 2021 by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue revealed that far-right groups spread COVID-19 conspiracy theories on Telegram as a way to radicalize and recruit new members. The study also encountered extreme misogyny, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
Why Use a VPN to Protect Your Identity
If you’re concerned about your privacy, deleting your Telegram account is not your only option. You can hang on to your Telegram account and secure your data by using a VPN.
A VPN encrypts your internet traffic to make it illegible to third parties. This way, you won’t have to depend on Telegram’s somewhat obscure encryption protocol that isn’t turned on by default. A VPN also masks your real IP address to further improve your privacy.
NordVPN is your best bet if you’re looking for a good VPN for Telegram. It has a huge server network, excellent 256-bit encryption, elite IP-masking capabilities, and a strict no-logs policy regarding user data.
Conclusion: Delete Other Socials
Have you just deleted Telegram? Are you looking for a great, privacy-oriented messaging app to replace it? Check out our article on the best encrypted messaging apps.
If you’re interested in deleting your other social media accounts, check out these articles:
- How to Delete Your Facebook Account Permanently (Any Device)
- How to Delete Your Twitter Account or Temporarily Deactivate It
- How to Deactivate Your Instagram Account or Delete Instagram
- How to Delete Your Reddit Account Completely
- How to Delete Your LinkedIn Account or Temporarily Deactivate It
Do you have a specific question about deleting Telegram? Check out our FAQ down below to see if we’ve answered your question. If you can’t find your question below, read the full article above or leave us a comment, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
You can delete Telegram automatically using the time-elapse option, or manually. To delete your account manually, go to the Telegram deactivation page, fill in your full phone number (with your country code) and follow the steps. If you’re just looking for more privacy, you can also consider using Telegram in conjunction with a VPN, rather than getting rid of it.
Deleting your Telegram account is permanent and irreversible. You will lose all of your chat messages and media if you haven’t saved them elsewhere. That’s why we strongly recommend making a backup of your data beforehand.
Deleting your Telegram account from your iPhone is easy. You’ve got two options: using the app’s auto-delete feature, or deleting your account manually. Looking for a new and secure messaging up after getting rid of Telegram? Check out the best encrypted messaging apps.
I bought a new phone number yesterday. Now I can't use my telegram with this number because someone used this number before me. So I want to use telegram with my new number. But am not able to have confirmation code for deleting the previous telegram account. How can I delete the telegram account like this situation?
Hello! That sounds inconvenient, but should be relatively easy to solve. If the Telegram account is no longer being used by the previous owner of the phone number, you should be able to log in to Telegram using that number. A code will be sent to your device, which you can use to log in. Then, from there, you should be able to follow the tips mentioned in this article to delete the account. Hope this helps!