How to Delete Your Telegram Account Permanently in 2025

Despite experiencing a massive surge in popularity in recent times, more and more users decide to delete their Telegram accounts permanently.

The specific reasons vary in nature, but deleting your Telegram account may not be as easy as it seems.

Don’t worry, though, this guide will walk you through every step of the process.

Since 2013 when this messaging app was launched, Telegram has garnered a community of more than half a billion users.

It is an astonishing success and has placed Telegram near the top of social media and messaging app charts alike.

This does not mean that Telegram is without its issues, though.

An increasing number of users have decided to switch to a different app. You may ask yourself, so what? Why make a fuss about it?

As it turns out, Telegram has no simple “delete account” button.

In fact, the default account deleting process can take up to six months, if you do not know the right method.

To the uninformed, how to delete Telegram account might not be a question with an easy answer.

Not anymore. Go through the following guide and you will be able to close the Telegram chapter permanently within minutes.

Why Do Users Delete Their Telegram Accounts Permanently?

1. Telegram’s Security Protocols

What’s so troubling about Telegram’s security protocols? Well, for one, the default Telegram settings do not encrypt messages between conversation participants.

In other words, anyone with access to your wireless network can potentially see the contents of your conversations.

You can enable the Secret Chat option to prevent this, but why is this not the norm already, like in similar messaging apps?

Also, if not encrypted, your messages will be stored on Telegram’s servers by default.

The spokespeople for the app say that this is a feature that helps members restore old chats, but the question remains why this feature is the default setting instead of optional feature.

After all, why would they store such huge amounts of data when they operate on a non-profit basis?

The final security measure that provokes thought is Telegram’s custom-built cryptography protocol called MTProto.

Making your own protocol when others with proven efficiency already exist tends to rub cautious people the wrong way, especially when it tends to fail, like it did before.

We remember all too well when in 2017 a group of cyberterrorists exploited a flaw in the protocol to install cryptocurrency mining software and malware on susceptible Windows PCs.

2. Telegram’s Shady Reputation

The same encryption protocol, MTProto, has brought a bad reputation to Telegram.

Due to the custom-made security system coupled with Telegram’s encryption methods, Telegram is an ideal software for clandestine groups and criminal circles, and even extremist groups and active terrorist organizations.

Precisely because of this Telegram has come under spotlight and has even been banned in several countries.

In 2018, an incident tied to sharing inappropriate content has led all app stores to temporarily remove the app from their offer.

3. Your Contacts Are Making a Switch

Even if you yourself are not bothered because of security protocols and the shady reputation of Telegram, your close contact could be, and what is the use of a messaging app if it is not used by the people whom you want to be in contact with?

If you have discovered a tendency among your contacts to opt out of Telegram, it might be the right time for you to consider making a switch too.

4. You Want to Make a Switch

…or it is you who want to make the switch first. As we said earlier, Telegram is by no means a perfect piece of software.

Perhaps you have found something that better suits your needs and that is perfectly fine.

Exporting All Data Before Deleting Telegram Account Permanently (Optional)

Before you proceed to permanently delete your Telegram account, you might want to consider downloading your data.

When you deactivate your Telegram account, everything that you did not export beforehand will be lost forever.

Who knows, perhaps you will want to go through your old conversations and content in a couple of years and decades, especially if you have been using Telegram intensively.

Every channel and group that you have created do remain online, however. If you have assigned someone as an admin, that user will remain in control.

If you have not, a random active member will be assigned the role for the purpose.

The export of your Telegram content goes to include all your contacts, chats, and data, and it can only be done using Telegram Desktop.

Here are the steps to exporting Telegram data:

1. Launch Telegram Desktop
2. Click on the three horizontal bars in the upper left corner of the screen
3. Click on Settings
4. Go to Advanced
5. Press Export Telegram Data
6. Click on Export
7. Now wait until the data transfer expires

How to Delete Telegram Account Permanently in 2025

 1. Deleting Your Telegram Account on PC

Here’s the tricky part: there is no simple and easy “deactivate my account” option under Telegram settings.

The only proper way to remove your Telegram account without a grace period is via browser.

This method is the quickest, simplest, and most efficient, but leaves you without any wiggle room in the form of a grace period.

Once you go through it, regretting your decision will not bring your data back.

Go through the following steps:

1. Open My Telegram
2. Put in the phone number tied to your Telegram account (in International format)
3. Click on Next
4. Notice the confirmation code that you receive via your Telegram app
5. Open the Telegram messenger
6. Open the message to receive the code
7. Copy the code
8. Enter the code in the field that popped up.
9. Sign in
10. Click Delete My Account
11. Click “Yes, Delete My Account”
12. That’s it, you have successfully deleted your account!

2. Deleting Your Telegram Account on iOS

The previous option is instant and irrevocable. Doing it via an Apple device is a bit more complex and a bit of an ongoing process.

You will have a couple of weeks before you irrevocably lose your Telegram account and data.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Open the Telegram app
2. Go to Settings
3. Select Privacy and Security
4. Tap the “If Away For” option
5. Pick a time period (the shortest being one month)
6. If you go through that period without opening the app and logging in, the Telegram will delete your account automatically

3. Deleting Your Telegram Account on Android

The process is near-identical to the one for iOS, with the same waiting period.

Here’s how it goes:

1. Launch the Telegram app
2. Tap on the three horizontal bars
3. Tap on Settings
4. Press Privacy and Security
5. Tap the “If Away For” option
6. Pick the self-destruct period

If you manage to stay away from your account for the selected duration, your Telegram account will be deleted.

Alternative Methods of Keeping Your Data Safe

Shady policies and security breaches have plagued Telegram in the past, but nearly every corner of the Internet bears with it the same risks.

Keeping your privacy and data safe should be the number one priority in this decade, perhaps even this century, as there are few things worth more. If any.

How do you do this?

One of the most effective ways is using a professional quality VPN while browsing the web, streaming, and sending or receiving information when online.

A perfect example for this is NordVPN, a learning VPN service that excels in cross-platform protection from various malware and security breaches, as well as a cloud storage of 1TB that is fully encrypted.

Due to its vast network, it is also an ideal medium for streamers throughout the world, with zero buffering and a stable internet connection through and through.

With NordVPN, not only do you remain safe on Telegram, but you remain safe wherever you find yourself online.

Which is great!

FAQs

Conclusion

There are certainly a couple of steady arguments in favor of deleting Telegram accounts permanently.

Now you know how to do this without leaving residue data or an idle account on.

Think over the decision, though, as there is no way of returning data after you deactivate your account.

Consider exporting all data before and think about the reasons for making the change.

And, most importantly, be safe when online.