Deleting your Telegram account can be a little bit more complicated than you may realize. You would be forgiven to think you can easily delete your Telegram account within its app, one that houses a galore of features, no kidding! — but sadly, that’s not the case.
You need to use your web browser too in order to delete your Telegram account. Here’s everything you need to know about deleting the telegram account and also gain insights into what happens when you do it and how does it all work.
Can you delete a Telegram account?
Yes, you can delete your Telegram account. There are two ways of deleting your Telegram account:
- Automatically using the ‘If Away For’ option
- Manually using the Telegram web portal
With the Telegram app on both your mobile devices and PC, the ‘If Away For’ option available in the settings can be used to initiate an automated account deleting mechanism. However, this automated mechanism takes at least 1 month to delete your account, with added caveats.
The only way to permanently delete your Telegram account instantaneously is by visiting the Telegram Web Portal from a web browser. You can visit this website from both your PC and mobile device.
In this guide, we will cover these 2 methods in detail. We will also talk about a quick and easy way of backing up your chat histories before you begin deleting your Telegram account.
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What happens when I delete my Telegram account?
Deleting your Telegram account will erase all your messages and contacts on Telegram beyond retrieval. All the broadcast group channels created by you will no longer have you as a creator. However, other admins will still retain their rights.
Export your Telegram chat history first: Step-by-step guide
Before you proceed, it’s important to know that if in case you wish to save a chat before pulling the plug on your Telegram account, you can do so by using Telegram’s export chat service.
Telegram’s export chart is a really useful way of saving a complete chat on your PC. Along with text messages, this exported file can also include elements like videos, photos, GIFs, stickers, files, etc.
However, since this chat is exported either as an HTML or a JSON file, the export chat feature is available only in Telegram’s PC app. It’s also worth noting that only HTML files can be read by normal users, while JSON is a machine-readable file.
Let’s see how to export chat from Telegram in the HTML format so you revisit it anytime you want.
Open the Telegram app from your PC and click on the chat you want to export.
Click on the 3-dot icon at the top right corner of the Telegram app.
Click on ‘Export chat history’.
You will see a pop-up indicating Chat export settings. From here, you can choose additional items you want to export like Videos, Voice messages, etc. You can also change the size limit of your file by dragging the seek bar.
Click on the Path (blue-colored exporting address).
Navigate to the location where you want to export the chat history. Click on ‘Select Folder’.
Click on ‘EXPORT’.
The chat history has now been exported. Click on ‘SHOW MY DATA’ to open the export location.
Double left-click on the ‘messages’ file to open it.
Your chat history will be opened in your default web browser.
Related: How To Send Disappearing Messages on Telegram
How to delete a Telegram account: 2 Ways explained
There are two ways to delete your telegram account. You can delete it either right away, or set it to delete if left unused after a certain period of time (from one month to one year). We have got the detailed step-by-step guide with screenshots for both the methods right below for Android, iOS and PC.
Method 1: Delete the Telegram account instantly (permanently)
For some users, it might not be realistic to wait a month or even longer to delete their Telegram account. In that case, Telegram also allows you to instantly erase your account and its data along with it. This can be done using the Telegram Web Portal.
You can use visit this website from both your phone and PC, with both devices having identical procedures. Let’s see how you can delete your Telegram account instantly using your mobile device and from your PC.
1.1 – On Android
Open Google Chrome or any other web browser from your Android device.
Visit the Telegram Web Portal at: https://my.telegram.org/auth.
Enter your phone number in the international format.
International format is: +(country code)(city or carrier code)(your number)
Tap on ‘Next’. This will send a confirmation code to your Telegram app.
Open the Telegram app from your phone and tap on the ‘Telegram’ chat.
Tap and hold your finger on the login code until the blue selection marker appears.
Tap on the login code to select it. Then tap on ‘copy’ to copy this code.
Go back to your web browser.
Tap and hold your finger on the typing area marked by the text ‘Confirmation code’ until you see the ‘Paste’ option.
Tap on ‘Paste’.
Tap on ‘Sign In’.
Tap on ‘Delete account’.
Tap on ‘Delete My Account’.
Note: The ‘Why are you leaving?’ text box is optional and can be ignored.
In the pop-up, tap on ‘Yes, delete my account’.
Your Telegram account has now been deleted.
1.2 – On iPhone
Open Google Chrome or any other web browser from your iOS device.
Visit the Telegram Web Portal at: https://my.telegram.org/auth.
Enter your phone number in the international format.
International format is: +(country code)(city or carrier code)(your number)
Tap on ‘Next’. This will send a confirmation code to your Telegram app.
Open the Telegram app from your phone and tap on the ‘Telegram’ chat.
Tap and hold your finger on the message containing the login code until you see an additional set of options appear around the message.
Tap and hold your finger on the login code until the blue selection marker appears.
Select the login code and tap on ‘copy’.
Go back to your web browser.
Tap and hold your finger on the typing area marked by the text ‘Confirmation code’ until you see the ‘Paste’ option.
Tap Paste.
Tap on ‘Sign In’.
Tap on ‘Delete account’.
Tap on ‘Delete My Account’.
Note: The ‘Why are you leaving?’ text box is optional and can be ignored.
In the pop-up, tap on ‘Yes, delete my account’.
Your Telegram account has now been deleted.
1.3 – On PC
Open Google Chrome or any other web browser from your desktop device.
Visit the Telegram Web Portal at: https://my.telegram.org/auth.
Enter your phone number in the international format.
International format is: +(country code)(city or carrier code)(your number)
Tap on ‘Next’. This will send a login code to your Telegram Desktop app.
Open the Telegram Desktop app from your PC and tap on the ‘Telegram’ chat.
Find the message containing the login code. Then, double-click on the log-in code to highlight it.
Right-click on the highlighted code and select the ‘Copy Selected Text’ option.
Now, back to your web browser, click on the ‘Confirmation code’ field, and press CTRL + V from your keyboard to paste the code.
Click on ‘Sign In’.
Click on ‘Delete account’.
Click on ‘Delete My Account’.
Note: The ‘Why are you leaving?’ text box is optional and can be ignored.
In the pop-up, tap on ‘Yes, delete my account’.
Your Telegram account has now been deleted.
Method 2: Delete Telegram account automatically after some time (permanently)
By default, Telegram is set to delete your account in case you don’t come online for six months. This will occur automatically. It means that starting from now if you do not come online on Telegram at least once in a 6-month period, then your account will be deleted along with all your messages and contacts.
Let’s see how you can access this setting on various devices and change the set time according to your preference.
2.1 – On Android
Open the Telegram app from your Android device.
In the Telegram app, tap on the ‘hamburger’ icon located in the upper-left corner.
Tap on the ‘Settings’ options.
In Settings, tap on ‘Privacy and Security’.
Tap on the ‘If away for’ option.
Choose the period of inactivity after which you want Telegram to delete your account and tap on it. For this guide, we will choose the ‘1 month’ option.
The ‘If away for’ setting has been set to 1 month.
2.2 – On iPhone
Open the Telegram app from your iOS device.
Tap the ‘Settings’ icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.
Scroll down and tap on ‘Privacy and Security’.
Tap on the ‘If Away For’ option.
Choose the period of inactivity after which you want Telegram to delete your account and tap on it. For this guide, we will choose the ‘1 month’ option.
The ‘If Away For’ setting has been set to 1 Month.
2.3 – On PC
Press the Windows key on your keyboard to open the start menu.
In the start menu, search for ‘Telegram Desktop’ and click on the same.
In the Telegram Desktop app, click on the ‘hamburger’ icon located in the upper-left corner.
Click on ‘Settings’.
In Settings, click on the ‘Privacy and Security’ option.
Scroll down and click on the ‘If away for’ option located under the ‘Delete my account’ section.
Choose the period of inactivity after which you want Telegram to delete your account and click on it. For this guide, we will choose the ‘1 month’ option.
Finally, click on ‘Save’ to apply the changes.
The If Away For setting has been set to 1 Month.
FAQs
If I simply uninstall the Telegram app, will that delete my account?
Yes, indeed. As explained in Method 2 above, if you do not use Telegram for a period of 6 months (default period, unless changed), your account will get deleted automatically. So, if you simply uninstall the Telegram app (on all your devices, btw) and do not use Telegram with that account on any device for a period of 6 months (once again, default period), then your account will get deleted automatically.
Will logging out delete Telegram chats?
No, logging out of Telegram will not delete your normal chats. However, all Secret Chats will be deactivated.
When can you sign up for a Telegram account again?
You can sign up for Telegram again after deleting your account almost immediately. However, Telegram will give you the following warning while deleting your account:
We found that you can sign up for Telegram again as soon as you delete your account for the 1st time. However, if you have deleted your account multiple times, you will be required to wait a few days before you can sign up again. So, do proceed with caution.
What happens to secret chats when you delete your Telegram account?
When you delete your Telegram account, not only secret chats but all your normal chats and broadcast channels will be erased beyond retrieval. These chats will not be restored even if you decide to sign up for Telegram again.
How many times can you change ‘If Away for’ in Telegram?
The ‘If Away For’ setting can be changed as many times as you wish. You can change this setting from both the Telegram mobile app and the Telegram Desktop app. In fact, changing this setting from one app will reflect in the other app as well.
We hope that by the end of this article you were able to delete your Telegram account and clarify queries regarding the same. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to us using the comments section below.
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- How To Get And Start A Video Call On Telegram With PIP
- How to Move WhatsApp Chat History to Telegram
- How To Get Started With Telegram
- How to Join Telegram
- How To Use Voice Chat on Telegram
- How To Edit Sent Messages in Telegram
