Following the confusion surrounding the WhatsApp privacy policy fiasco, people flocked to Telegram and Signal in big numbers in a bid to keep their data secure. Now, Telegram is introducing a host of new features, including expiring invites, home widgets, and auto-delete messages, and more.

In a recent blog post, Telegram revealed that users will be able to keep their messages completely private with the newly added auto-delete feature. Telegram is riding the wave of popularity amidst growing privacy concerns surrounding instant-messaging services and is understandably buffing the features that brought users to its platform. 

Let’s take a look at this auto-delete feature and find out how you can enable it regardless of the platform that you are on.  

Enable Auto Delete on Telegram

Telegram already had an auto-delete feature for messages but it was restricted only to Secret Chats. But now, users will be able to make messages disappear in all of their chats. When enabled, they will have the option to delete their messages after a set period of time – 24 hours or 7 days. So far, these are the only two options available which, although may see some more options come into the mix, are good enough for starters. 

There are many other chat applications that already have such a feature, the likes of which include Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Signal. But for those who’ve chosen Telegram as their messaging app of choice, there’s much to be thankful for. 

All messages sent after the feature is enabled will be auto-deleted. However, messages that were sent before activating this feature will still be present in the chat. Now, with that out of the way, let us see how the newly introduced auto-delete feature can be enabled.  

On Android

First of all, make sure that the Telegram app on your phone is up to date. This can be done by visiting the Play Store, searching for Telegram, and clicking on “Update” if the option is available. If it isn’t, then your Telegram is already updated. 

Open Telegram and tap on a chat where your want the messages to auto-delete. 

Tap on the three-dot menu at the top right corner.

Tap on Clear History.

At the bottom, you’ll see the “Auto-delete messages in this chat” option. Under it, drag the slider to either 24 hours or 7 days – the two available time periods after which your messages will be set to disappear automatically. Then tap on Enable Auto-Delete.

The feature is now enabled. You can check how much time is left before a message disappears by single tapping on a message. This will open up a small menu and the auto-delete timer will be displayed at the bottom. 

On iOS

Open Telegram and tap on the chat where you want to set the auto-delete feature. 

Tap and hold on a message, then tap Select.

Tap Clear Chat at the top left corner.

Tap on Enable Auto-Delete.

As before, set the time period after which the messages will automatically delete. Then tap on Done.

All the messages sent after enabling this feature will be automatically deleted. To find out exactly how much longer before a message gets deleted, tap and hold a message. The auto-deletion countdown will be given at the bottom. 

On PC

If you’re wont to use instant messenger service apps on your PC for the convenience that it affords, you will be able to enable Telegram’s auto-delete feature here as well. This is how to go about it. 

Open Telegram and click on the chat (left pane) where you want this feature turned on. 

Then, on the right, click on the three-dot menu at the top right corner of the chat. 

Click on Clear history.

Then click on Enable Auto-Delete. 

Set your auto-delete-messages timer. Then click Save.

And just like that, the auto-delete messages feature is enabled on Telegram. To find out how much longer before a message gets deleted, just right-click on a message. The auto-delete timer will be at the bottom. 

As mentioned before, there are a few other features that are bundled in this new update. Some of them, like the Home Widget option, are geared towards improving accessibility. But the rest of them lean heavily towards bolstering data and chat privacy, with the auto-delete feature being the most important addition.