How to Delete Your Telegram Account Permanently

Deleting your Telegram account is permanent and irreversible. All messages, groups, channels, and contacts will be lost. Make sure you understand the consequences and have backed up anything important before proceeding.

Before You Delete: Save Your Data

Export your data first:

1. Use Telegram Desktop to export your chat history
2. Download any important files or media
3. Save contact information you need
4. Transfer channel/group ownership if applicable

What Gets Permanently Deleted

• All your messages in all chats (private, groups, channels)
• All groups and channels you created (if you are the only admin)
• Your contacts list on Telegram
• Your username and phone number association
• All saved media, files, and cloud data
• Linked bots and sessions
• Telegram Premium subscription (no refund)

How to Delete Your Account

1. Go to my.telegram.org/auth
2. Enter your phone number (with country code)
3. Enter the confirmation code sent to your Telegram app
4. Click "Delete Account"
5. Select a reason (optional)
6. Confirm deletion

Important: This cannot be done from within the Telegram app. You must use the web interface.

Self-Destruct Timer (Alternative)

Instead of manual deletion, you can set your account to auto-delete after inactivity:

1. Open Telegram → Settings → Privacy and Security
2. Scroll to "Delete My Account"
3. Choose a period: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year

Your account will automatically delete if you do not log in within that period.

Alternatives to Deletion

Consider these options before permanent deletion:

• Log out everywhere: Settings → Devices → Terminate All Other Sessions
• Disable notifications: Mute all chats instead
• Delete individual chats: Remove specific conversations without deleting your account
• Change phone number: Transfer your account to a new number
• Go invisible: Set "Last Seen" to Nobody and remove profile photo

After Deletion

• Your messages in group chats remain visible to others (as "Deleted Account")
• Your username becomes available for others to claim
• You can create a new account with the same phone number immediately
• The new account will have no connection to your old one
• People who had you as a contact will see "Deleted Account"

Waiting Period

After deletion, you can re-register with the same phone number. However, your old data, chats, and contacts will not be restored. It will be a completely fresh account with a new User ID.

Before deleting, note your User ID for records: @userid_checkbot.

Frequently Asked Questions