Telegram Help
Fanny Lococo
Since Telegram groups can have up to 200,000 members, we support replies, mentions and hashtags that help maintain order and keep communication in large communities efficient. You can appoint admins with advanced tools to help these communities prosper in peace. Public groups can be joined by anyone and are powerful platforms for discussions and collecting feedback.
In case you're more into pictures, Telegram has animated gif search, a state of the art photo editor, and an open sticker platform (find some cool stickers here or here). What's more, there is no need to worry about disk space on your device. With Telegram's cloud support and cache management options, Telegram can take up nearly zero space on your phone.
Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is a cloud-based messenger with seamless sync. As a result, you can access your messages from several devices at once, including tablets and computers, and share an unlimited number of photos, videos and files (doc, zip, mp3, etc.) of up to 2 GB each.
Telegram's API and code is open, and developers are welcome to create their own Telegram apps. We also have a Bot API, a platform for developers that allows anyone to easily build specialized tools for Telegram, integrate any services, and even accept payments from users around the world.
Telegram for iOS was launched on August 14, 2013. The alpha version of Telegram for Android officially launched on October 20, 2013. More and more Telegram clients appear, built by independent developers using Telegram's open platform.
You can use Telegram on smartphones, tablets, and even computers. We have apps for iOS (11.0 and above), Android (6.0 and up), a native macOS app and a universal desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Telegram Web can also help to quickly do something on the go.
Telegram is supported by Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai. Pavel supports Telegram financially and ideologically while Nikolai's input is technological. To make Telegram possible, Nikolai developed a unique custom data protocol, which is open, secure and optimized for work with multiple data-centers. As a result, Telegram combines security, reliability and speed on any network.
The Regulation (EU) 2021/784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021 on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online (Terrorist Content Online Regulation, or TCO Regulation) allows authorities in EU countries to send removal requests for terrorist content, if it is discovered on Telegram's public platform. We have also designated a third party, European Digital Services Representative (EDSR), to assist us with TCO-related communications.
All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them. But sticker sets, channels, and bots on Telegram are publicly available.
Our mission is to provide a secure means of communication that works everywhere on the planet. To do this in the places where it is most needed (and to continue distributing Telegram through the App Store and Google Play), we have to process legitimate requests to take down illegal public content (e.g., sticker sets, bots, and channels) within the app. For example, we can take down sticker sets that violate intellectual property rights or porn bots.
User-uploaded stickers sets, channels, and bots by third-party developers are not part of the core Telegram UI. Whenever we receive a complaint at ab...@telegram.org or dm...@telegram.org regarding the legality of public content, we perform the necessary legal checks and take it down when deemed appropriate.
Please note that this does not apply to local restrictions on freedom of speech. For example, if criticizing the government is illegal in some country, Telegram won't be a part of such politically motivated censorship. This goes against our founders' principles. While we do block terrorist (e.g. ISIS-related) bots and channels, we will not block anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions.
To protect the data that is not covered by end-to-end encryption, Telegram uses a distributed infrastructure. Cloud chat data is stored in multiple data centers around the globe that are controlled by different legal entities spread across different jurisdictions. The relevant decryption keys are split into parts and are never kept in the same place as the data they protect. As a result, several court orders from different jurisdictions are required to force us to give up any data.
Thanks to this structure, we can ensure that no single government or block of like-minded countries can intrude on people's privacy and freedom of expression. Telegram can be forced to give up data only if an issue is grave and universal enough to pass the scrutiny of several different legal systems around the world.
Remember that you won't see Last Seen timestamps for people with whom you don't share your own. You will, however, see an approximate last seen value. This keeps stalkers away but makes it possible to understand whether a person is reachable over Telegram. There are four possible approximate values:
People Nearby is an optional feature that allows Telegram users to explore local groups, find friends to chat with in their area, or quickly exchange contacts with people who are close.
You can also choose to permanently add your profile to the list of nearby people by tapping Make Myself Visible. After becoming visible, you can remove your profile from the list at any time by tapping Stop Showing Me.
To protect user privacy, 'People Nearby' always shows distances to approximate locations within an area that spans up to 800 meters in diameter. (This is affected by latitude, so if you're broadcasting your location from the Arctic Circle, it may be closer to 300 meters.)
Yes. You can always delete any messages you sent or received for both sides in any one-on-one conversation (in groups, it's still your own messages only). You can also clear the entire chat history on both ends. On Telegram, deleted messages do not leave a mark in the chat.
Together with privacy settings for forwarded messages, this makes exchanging Telegram messages similar to talking face to face (without a tape recorder). As a result, users no longer need to worry about the data accumulating in their chats over the years. Both parties in a conversation have full control over what does and what doesn't belong to their online identity.
If you want more participants, try starting a Voice Chat in one of the groups you created. Voice Chats add a live layer of ephemeral talk to the group. They can be used as virtual office spaces for teams or informal lounges for any community. While Voice Chats are not group calls, they can achieve similar goals.
Telegram groups are ideal for sharing stuff with friends and family or collaboration in small teams. But groups can also grow very large and support communities of up to 200,000 members. You can make any group public, toggle persistent history to control whether or not new members have access to earlier messages and appoint administrators with granular privileges. You can also pin important messages to the top of the screen so that all members can see them, including those who have just joined.
Channels are a tool for broadcasting messages to large audiences. In fact, a channel can have an unlimited number of subscribers. When you post in a channel, the message is signed with the channel's name and photo and not your own. Each message in a channel has a view counter that gets updated when the message is viewed, including its forwarded copies.
iOS: Start a new message (tap the icon in the top right corner in Chats) > 'New Group'.
Android: Tap the circular pencil icon in the chat list > 'New Group'.
Telegram Desktop: Click the menu button in the top left corner > 'New Group'.
They can be bought and sold through third-party platforms like Fragment, giving a simple and secure way to acquire and exchange valuable Telegram domains. Acquiring a collectible username gives permanent ownership, verified by the TON blockchain. Owners of collectible usernames can freely assign them to chats, sell them to others, or keep them for later use.
Once you've set a username, you can give people a t.me/username or a username.t.me link. Opening either of those links on their phone will automatically fire up their Telegram app and open a chat with you. You can share username links with friends, write them on business cards or put them up on your website.
You don't have to get one. Remember that Telegram usernames are public and choosing a username on Telegram makes it possible for people to find you in global search and send you messages even if they don't have your number. If you are not comfortable with this, we advise against setting up a username.
We understand that certain usernames are part of an online identity for some of us. If your desired username is already taken and it is not registered as a collectible, we can help you acquire it for your account or channel, provided that you have that same username on at least two of these services: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
Due to the fact that one account can register multiple bot and channel usernames, we reserve the right to recall usernames assigned to unused bots and channels, as well as openly squatted usernames.
To request a username, contact @Username_bot.
Collectible Usernames
If you want a collectible username but it is taken, you should check if it is available for sale. We cannot assign collectible usernames, they can only be managed by their respective owners.