Account and Identity Privacy Settings
Posted: Thu May 29, 2025 5:40 am
These settings control who can see your personal information and interact with your account. Access them via Settings > Privacy and Security.
Phone Number:
Who can see my phone number? This is crucial for privacy. Options:
Nobody: Highly recommended. Prevents anyone from seeing your phone number, even if they have you in their contacts.
My Contacts: Only people in your phone's contact list who also use Telegram can see your number.
Everybody: Anyone on Telegram can see your phone number if they initiate a chat with you.
Who can find me by my number? Even if you hide your number, this setting determines if someone who already has your number in their contacts can find your Telegram profile. Options: "Everybody" or "My Contacts." For maximum privacy, setting both "Who can see my phone number" to "Nobody" and "Who can find me by my number" to "My Contacts" is often a balanced approach, telegram data allowing known contacts to find you without exposing your number to strangers.
Last Seen & Online:
Who can see my last seen time? Controls who can see when you were last active or if you are currently online. Options: "Nobody," "My Contacts," "Everybody."
Exceptions: You can add specific users to an "Always allow" or "Never allow" list, overriding the general setting.
Implication: Hiding this makes your activity less traceable. Note: You will also not see the last seen status of users for whom you hide your own. Telegram also shows an "online" status for about 30 seconds if you are actively using the app, regardless of this setting.
Profile Photos:
Who can see my profile photos? Controls the visibility of your current and past profile pictures. Options: "Nobody," "My Contacts," "Everybody."
Phone Number:
Who can see my phone number? This is crucial for privacy. Options:
Nobody: Highly recommended. Prevents anyone from seeing your phone number, even if they have you in their contacts.
My Contacts: Only people in your phone's contact list who also use Telegram can see your number.
Everybody: Anyone on Telegram can see your phone number if they initiate a chat with you.
Who can find me by my number? Even if you hide your number, this setting determines if someone who already has your number in their contacts can find your Telegram profile. Options: "Everybody" or "My Contacts." For maximum privacy, setting both "Who can see my phone number" to "Nobody" and "Who can find me by my number" to "My Contacts" is often a balanced approach, telegram data allowing known contacts to find you without exposing your number to strangers.
Last Seen & Online:
Who can see my last seen time? Controls who can see when you were last active or if you are currently online. Options: "Nobody," "My Contacts," "Everybody."
Exceptions: You can add specific users to an "Always allow" or "Never allow" list, overriding the general setting.
Implication: Hiding this makes your activity less traceable. Note: You will also not see the last seen status of users for whom you hide your own. Telegram also shows an "online" status for about 30 seconds if you are actively using the app, regardless of this setting.
Profile Photos:
Who can see my profile photos? Controls the visibility of your current and past profile pictures. Options: "Nobody," "My Contacts," "Everybody."