10 Hacks Every Telegram User Should Know

Telegram is one of the most popular WhatsApp alternatives. Telegram supports one-on-one and group messaging, but it also offers social media-style channels where you can post to thousands of followers simultaneously. In this article I will focus more on Telegram as a messenger, since that is how I use it the most. In my decade of using the app, I’ve learned a lot from it and I’m here to share the best Telegram hacks you should know.

You must manually enable end-to-end encryption

Unlike Signal or WhatsApp, Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted by default. End-to-end encryption ensures that your messages cannot be read by anyone without accessing your or the recipient’s device. At this point, it has become a standard security protocol for messaging applications. You can enable end-to-end encryption in Telegram, but it requires a few extra steps and even then the implementation is not very user-friendly. Secret Chat is Telegram’s name for end-to-end encrypted messages, and to access it, follow these steps:

1. Open Telegram and start a chat with a contact.

2. In the chat window, tap the contact name at the top.

3. On the next page, tap moreand select Start a secret chat.

4. Now you need to wait for the recipient to connect and accept your request to start a secret conversation. When they do, that conversation will be end-to-end encrypted.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to repeat this process with each of your contacts, which leaves you with two different chats per contact (one secret chat and one normal chat). The other limitation is that you cannot access secret chats on multiple devices. They are limited to your phone and the recipient’s phone, and will not appear on the Telegram desktop app. This is great for security, but not as good for convenience.

Don’t forget to delete your old profile photos

When you add a new profile photo to your Telegram account, it does not automatically delete the previous photo. This means that your contacts can still access your profile and see your old profile photos. To fix this issue, open the Telegram app and go to Settings page (found in the bottom bar on iOS and hidden under the three-line menu on other platforms). Tap your profile picture, select it To modify and delete the photos you don’t want to keep.

Turn off unwanted notifications

Credit: Pranay Parab

Telegram tends to be a bit spammy with its notifications. By default, you will receive an alert every time one of your contacts joins Telegram, which gets tiring very quickly. You can disable these unwanted notifications by going to Telegram Settings > Notifications & Sounds and deactivation New contacts. While you are on this page, you can take a moment to turn off any other types of notifications that you may not want to see, including group chats, stories, channels, reactions, etc.

Change when Telegram automatically deletes your account

Telegram is a bit aggressive about deleting inactive accounts. Your account will be automatically deleted if you don’t use the app for six months. This won’t bother regular users, but it’s a good idea to customize this duration to suit your needs. Telegram allows you to set the auto-delete timer for a duration between 1 month and 24 months, so you can choose the option that suits you best. Go to Telegram settings > Privacy and security > When absent for to make the change.

You can block Telegram calls

Telegram supports voice and video calls, which is pretty standard for messaging apps. Unlike most of its competitors, Telegram lets you block voice and video calls entirely. Just go to Telegram Settings > Privacy & Security > Calls and select Person.

Improve the security of your Telegram account

It’s never a bad idea to add a few extra layers of security to your Telegram account. The app supports two-step verification and passwords, and you can enable both by going to Telegram Settings > Privacy & Security. Both options are at the top of this page.

Reduce your data consumption

One of Telegram’s best features is the granular controls over its various settings, including how much data the app uses. This is ideal for people with limited internet connections. You can access these options under Telegram Settings > Data & Storage. Go to Use cell phone And Use WiFi to customize the amount of data used by the application. If you set data usage to WeakTelegram will compress media to preserve bandwidth. On the same page, you can also disable all automatic downloads of photos, stories, videos and files. Or, if you tap one of these options, you can turn off automatic downloads individually based on chat type. For example, Telegram lets you disable automatic downloads of photos, videos, files, and stories only from group chats or only channels. This way it will always automatically download media sent in private chats, but not in group chats.

You can also go to the Data & Storage Settings page and enable Use less data for calls. This will compress the audio a bit, but can be useful for staying under data limits.

Automate the built-in power saving mode

Telegram has a built-in power saving mode that conserves battery by reducing animations or disabling autoplay of videos and other intensive processes. Configure it by going to Telegram Settings > Power Saving. The slider at the top lets you set a battery percentage, and power saving will automatically turn on if your phone drops below it. I set it at 30%, but you can choose a different number if you want. On the same page, you can also manually disable resource-intensive processes, which I used to completely disable autoplay of videos and gifs.

Telegram groups have useful granular controls

Credit: Pranay Parab

Group messaging is an area where Telegram allows you to do much more than its competitors. After creating a group, tap on the group name, select Group Settingsand you will see a multitude of options. Below Permissionsyou will be able to decide if group members can send messages, voice notes, photos, videos, music, links, add members, pin messages, etc. On the same page, you can also activate slow mode, which imposes a minimum delay between two messages from the same member. If you set this duration to 1 minute, members will have to wait one minute before sending their second message.

I’d like to see other apps implement a version of slow mode as well, as it prevents people from spamming the group with multiple short messages in a row. Additional settings include topic enablement, which allows you to create different “channels” within a group to prevent discussions from wandering off (separate from the social media “channels” mentioned at the beginning of this guide). You can think of them as separate channels in Slack or IRC. So in larger groups you can have separate topics to discuss sports or politics. This helps keep the main feed free of unnecessary posts and assign dedicated slots to different topics.

Telegram Premium adds features you probably don’t need

Telegram offers a subscription service ($5/month) that lets you access features like unlimited cloud storage (with a maximum of 4 GB per document), chat transcription, automatic translation of incoming messages, support for in-app checklists, the ability to see when someone was last seen online (bypassing their privacy settings), and more. These features are great for people who have highly followed channels, but for most people, none of these features are essential. Besides generous cloud storage, you can get all these features in other apps for free. And even cloud storage has solid alternatives, including smaller providers like Proton or larger ones like Google and Apple.