- Username settings to hide your personal phone number.
- Advanced management of profile visibility, connection status, and IP address.
- Mass deletion of messages by date and deletion of photo history.
- Methods to read chats and audios without activating the read receipt.
Since its emergence on the tech scene back in 2013, Telegram has established itself as the preferred alternative for those seeking more than just a simple messaging app. It's not only the lifeline we turn to when WhatsApp decides to take a nap and the service goes down, but it has also integrated advanced privacy features that put Meta's app to shame.
If you like to keep your private life under wraps, Telegram is the perfect place. It's not just about sending texts, but about managing your digital identity so that no one knows more about you than you choose to share. In the following lines, we'll take an in-depth look at how to protect your account , from tricks to prevent others from seeing that you've read a message to ways to erase all traces of entire conversations.
How to manage your identity and hide your phone number
Many people think that using Telegram requires exposing your mobile number to everyone, but nothing could be further from the truth. While your phone number is required for initial registration, you can create a custom username . This way, anyone can find you and message you without ever seeing your real number.
To set this up, go to the app's Settings. If you're using Android, you'll see the username option right below your phone number; if you're on an iPhone, you'll first need to tap the Edit button in the top right corner. Remember that the username must be at least five characters long , and you can use letters, numbers, underscores, or hyphens to make it unique.
Full control over your privacy and security
Once you have your user account, the next step is to restrict the sharing of your personal information in the Privacy and Security section. Here you have complete control over who sees what:
- Número de telefono: You can choose whether everyone can see it, only your contacts, or absolutely no one. The good thing is that you can create exceptions for those four friends you do want to give your phone number to.
- Connection status: You can hide your last login time and whether you are currently online, preventing anyone from monitoring your schedule.
- Profile picture: You have the option to limit it to your contacts. If you want total anonymity, the easiest thing to do is delete the photo completely.
- Calls and IP: In addition to choosing who can call you, you can enable calls to be routed through Telegram's servers. hide your IP address.
- Message forwarding: If someone forwards one of your texts, you can configure it so that a direct link to your profile doesn't appear, preventing strangers from accessing your account.
- Groups and channels: You can restrict who can add you to groups, limiting it to only your contacts to avoid spam.
Cleaning up traces: Photos and messages
Telegram keeps a history of your profile pictures, which means someone could browse through your old images. To prevent this, simply tap your current photo, swipe right to see previous ones, and use the trash can icon (on iOS) or the three-dot menu (on Android) to permanently delete them.
Regarding messages, Telegram is ahead of the curve, allowing users to delete any content without leaving the typical "message deleted" notification. Its most powerful feature is the ability to delete messages in bulk by date within individual chats. If you regret something you said on a particular Tuesday, you can go to the chat calendar, select that day (or a date range), and choose the option to clear the chat for those days , checking the box to also delete it from the recipient's device.
Tricks to read messages without leaving the double check mark
If you want to see what someone has written to you but don't want them to know you've read it, there are several ways to "spy." The most effective is to press and hold the conversation on your home screen. On iPhones, a fairly large pop-up window opens, while on Android it's more limited, but in both cases, the message isn't marked as read.
For audio messages, it's more complicated, since the "unplayed" indicator disappears when you play them. The trick here is to forward the audio to Saved Messages ; this way you can listen to it in your own chat without the original chat's indicator changing. You can also try reading the notification on the lock screen, asking Siri or Google Assistant to read the message, or using airplane mode , although the latter only works until you reconnect to the internet.
The self-destruction of the account
For those who go long periods without using the app, Telegram includes an automatic deletion feature. You can set your account to be completely deleted if you don't log in for 1, 3, 6, or 12 months. Be careful, because this permanently erases all your data and chats . To prevent this, simply open the app even for a second before the period expires.
Managing privacy on Telegram is a simple process that allows for everything from complete anonymity using aliases to the precise deletion of messages by date. By combining the use of usernames, IP address visibility restrictions, and invisible read receipts, it's possible to maintain secure and discreet communication without leaving any trace on the platform.
Passionate writer about the world of bytes and technology in general. I love sharing my knowledge through writing, and that's what I'll do on this blog, show you all the most interesting things about gadgets, software, hardware, tech trends, and more. My goal is to help you navigate the digital world in a simple and entertaining way.