Telegram is a reliable messenger that can encrypt messages and has a rich functionality. Then why delete your account? Although it has many useful functions, there may be more than one reason for this. Here are just a few of them.
You don't trust Telegram. Telegram doesn't encrypt chats by default, which is why the service's security model is regularly criticized. Competing messengers WhatsApp and Signal, for example, don't have such problems. Both instant messaging services encrypt automatically and without user intervention.
Perhaps your friends or family members have decided to switch from Telegram to another messenger. Then you have no choice but to follow them to stay in touch. Telegram is no longer satisfactory for you. Given the large number of alternatives, it may well turn out that another service suits you better and you are planning to switch to it.
How to deactivate an account
In Telegram, a profile is automatically deleted if it is inactive for six months. However, you can change this option in the settings and set a time period, for example, one month, three months or a year.
This option is available in both the Android and iOS apps. To use it, tap the three-line menu button in the upper-left corner of the screen and select Setting. Go to the Privacy and Security page and scroll down until you reach the advanced settings.
Here, select the Delete My Account If Away For option and set a new value for the period of inactivity after which the profile will be automatically deleted.
The developers do not provide the option of temporary deactivation. The only thing you can do is simply not log into your profile. If you are satisfied with the option of self-destruction of the account, feel free to delete the application from your computer and phone.
How to delete an account
For those who don't want to wait at least a month, Telegram provides the ability to immediately delete an account and all associated data stored in the cloud. Unfortunately, this cannot be done in the mobile app; you will have to log in to Telegram Web via a computer.
To delete your Telegram account, visit the website My Telegram and log in. On the screen that appears, click on the link to delete your account. In the corresponding text field, enter the reason why you are leaving the service.
When you're ready, click the "Delete My Account" button. In the pop-up window, confirm that you want to delete your profile. The service will then delete both the account itself and the data associated with it.
What happens when you delete an account
Before you permanently delete your Telegram profile, consider the consequences.
When you delete an account, Telegram says that both messages and data will be erased. The profile is permanently deleted, along with chats and contacts, with no possibility of recovery.
At the same time, the channels and groups you created will not be deleted along with the account. They will continue to function normally, and the current administrators will retain all their rights. If you are the only administrator, Telegram will automatically appoint another administrator from among the active community members.
Please note that if you change your mind and want to register an account again using the same phone number, Telegram will not allow you to do so for at least a few days.
Therefore, this instruction is not intended for users who only want to delete messages, but not delete the profile completely. If you want to delete specific dialogs, select them with a long press and send them to the trash by tapping the corresponding icon at the top of the screen.
If there are too many chats, you can try contacting Telegram support and ask them to delete all your conversations from their servers.
How to export data before deleting an account
As noted above, Telegram does not provide the ability to temporarily deactivate an account. Once you completely delete your profile, it will no longer be possible to restore your account. You will not be able to log in to a deactivated profile, nor will you be able to access your correspondence.
Luckily, the desktop version of the app has an export option. You can use it before you delete your account if you need to save any messages from Telegram.
To do this, first install the Telegram application on your PC (there is a version for Mac, Windows And Linux) and log in. Then click on the three-bar icon in the upper right corner of the screen to enter the navigation menu. Select "Advanced settings". Scroll down to "Export data from Telegram".
Select the type of data you want to save. You can export not all chats, but only certain messages. You can exclude public channels or video and GIF files from the archive, specify the export format, and so on. There is even the option export stickers only.
After setting the export settings, click the "Export" button. The duration of the operation depends on the amount of data and the options selected. Export takes several minutes on average. Click "Show my data" to see the final file.