Whether you’re tired of spam, want to reduce your digital footprint, or you’re done with Telegram, you can easily hide yourself from others or delete your Telegram account instantly. We’re going to show you exactly how to do this in this step-by-step guide.
Please note that Telegram doesn’t have an option to temporarily deactivate an account. However, you can significantly limit your visibility and interactions on the platform, making your account appear almost inactive to other users.
What happens when you delete your Telegram account?
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This is what Telegram does to your account when you hit the delete button:
- All your chats, contacts, and media associated with your Telegram account are removed from Telegram servers.
- All your groups and channels will remain functional, but other admin will retain their rights. If you were the sole admin of the group/channel, Telegram will randomly promote an active member as the new admin.
- Your profile will appear as a “Deleted Account” in others’ chat lists. People won’t see your profile picture and username, and they won’t be able to message you.
- The messages or files you’ve sent to people do not get deleted from their Telegram account unless they manually do it.
- Once you delete your Telegram account, you can’t undo it. If you sign up again (after a short waiting period), you will appear as a new user.
Also read: Telegram vs Telegram X: speed, features, and security compared
How to export/backup your Telegram data?
Before you delete your Telegram account, ensure that you’ve exported your Telegram data. This feature is only available to the Telegram desktop app, though.
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Open the Telegram app on your PC.
Step 2: Go to Telegram Settings and choose Advanced.
Step 3: Tap the Export Telegram data option.
Step 4: Choose what to export and click Export.
Exporting your Telegram data may take a few minutes. Once it’s done, click Show My Data to view the file.
How to delete your Telegram account?
There are two ways to delete your Telegram account: auto-deletion after a chosen period of inactivity or manual deletion of a Telegram account (instant deletion).
Method 1: Auto-delete your Telegram account
Telegram lets you auto-delete your account when it remains inactive for a specific period. If your account remains inactive for a chosen period, Telegram will automatically delete it from its servers.
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Open the Telegram app.
Step 2: Tap on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) on the upper-left side and select Settings.
Step 3: Go to Privacy and Security and choose the inactive period for auto-deletion under Delete my account. (available options are 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months).
After following the steps, your account will be permanently deleted if you don’t use Telegram for the chosen time frame. If you sign up again after that, you’ll start with a fresh account.
Method 2: Instantly delete your Telegram account
The above method requires you to be inactive on the platform for at least a month to auto-delete your account, but you can do it instantly using the steps below. Ensure that you’ve saved important messages and files elsewhere.
Steps to instantly delete your Telegram account:
Step 1: Open the Telegram Deletion page in a browser.
Step 2: Enter your phone number along with the country code and tap Next.
Step 3: Enter the confirmation code received on the Telegram app and tap Sign In.
Step 4: Click Delete account.
Step 5: On the next page, you’ll be asked to enter the reason for deleting your Telegram account (optional).
Step 6: Tap Delete My Account and select Yes to confirm your action.
That’s how you can instantly delete your Telegram account.
I hope this guide has been helpful to you. If you face any issues during the process, don’t hesitate to write your query in the comments below. We’ll try to respond at the earliest possible.
More Telegram guides:
1. 5 methods to use Telegram without phone number
2. How to Hide Online Status and Last Seen on Telegram
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