Lesser-Known Telegram Features

While many of us use Telegram, there are some features and that even the most avid Telegram users may not know of. Here are 14 of the most interesting and useful features of Telegram:

You can set a time for message delivery

Did you know you could schedule your message delivery on Telegram? Type out the desired message and hold down the send button for a second or two. In the menu that appears, select “Send later”. Then just choose the date and time of message delivery.

Audio messages can be listened to through a conversational speaker

Turn on the audio message and put your smartphone to your ear, like you’re talking on the phone. Doing so will keep you from broadcasting the message.

Automatic audio message recording

You can record an audio message in the same way you listen to them. Open the dialog box, put the phone to your ear and, once you hear the starting signal, start speaking. Once you’ve finished recording your message, just hit the send button.

Accelerated audio messages listening

While listening to an audio message, a panel with a “2X” button appears at the top. If you press this button, the voice message will be played twice as fast. To return to normal listening speed, press the “2X” button again.

Clear your app storage

Go to Settings > Data and Storage > Storage Usage > Clear Telegram Cache

You can hide your mobile phone number

Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Phone Number

In the top section, you can select who can see your phone number.

You can use multiple accounts on one application

Tap and hold on the Settings icon and, in the menu that appears, select “Add account”

This feature can help you easily distinguish between personal conversations and work conversations.

You can assign automatic folders for different chats

Go to Settings > Chat Folders > Create New Folder

Protect Telegram with a passcode

Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Passcode & Face ID > Turn Passcode On

Copy only the necessary pieces of messages

When you hold down your finger on a message, you highlight the entire message. To select only a part of the text, you can hold down the message and then select the necessary piece.

Forwarding messages

Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Forwarded Message

Here you can configure who can link to your account when forwarding messages. If you select “My Contacts” then people outside of your contacts will only see the name from whom the message was forwarded, but they will not be able to open the profile.

Important conversations can be held through secret chats

Go to the profile of the contact with whom you want to create a secret chat. Click on the “More” button in the profile menu and select “Start Secret Chat” in the additional menu that appears. Secret chats have several features: a more advanced message encryption scheme, no traces on the app’s servers, the ability to delete data by timer, and a ban on forwarding information.

Pinning messages

Your most important messages, groups, and chats can be pinned on the screen. Using this feature will keep these at the top of your screen, instead of being sorted by the date of the last message.

On iOS, just swipe the dialog/chat to the right and the corresponding “Pin” icon will appear. On Android, you need to hold down the message, and a submenu with a pin icon will appear on top.

Disappearing photos

If you want to send a confidential photo or video, you can use additional security measures. Telegram is able to automatically delete these files from the recipient’s device after the time you set expires. In addition, the recipient will not be able to forward self-destructing photos and videos to other contacts. And, if the receiver takes a screenshot, the messenger will notify you about it.

To send self-deleting content, first, add it with a help of the paper clip button. Then hold down the send button and in the additional menu that appears, select “Set Timer” and set the time. The countdown will start from the moment the recipient views the message.