How to delete messages and media on Telegram

The app is a good messenger and a great option when it comes to leaving no trace. Check how to delete messages from Telegram.

For those looking for a messenger app that is good at disappearing messages without leaving a trace, Telegram is the one. Unlike WhatsApp, which limits the time to delete what was sent and still leaves a notice that it has been deleted, the application has no limit and offers some options for deleting the texts. Find out how to delete messages on Telegram below.

• How to create a channel or group on Telegram
• How to delete a message sent on WhatsApp

Learn how to delete Telegram messages and history (Image: Almas Alisolla / Pixabay)

How to delete messages on Telegram

There are a few ways that allow you to delete messages from the application: delete the entire chat history, delete selected messages (received and sent) or send messages that are self-excluded. I’ll show you how to delete messages on Telegram in all of these ways.

Erase all conversation history

You can delete the entire conversation history with a specific contact or define how long messages will be available until they are deleted. But beware: this will completely erase the entire conversation with the contact.

1. Open the chat screen with the contact you want to delete the history;
2. Select the options menu above, in the upper right corner;
3. Touch “Clear history”;
4. Select “Clear history” again to delete all messages;
5. If you want to configure the time that the conversation is available, just select the time in the options bar at the bottom;

You can delete the entire conversation history at once (Image: Playback / Telegram)

Delete a message from a chat

It is also possible to delete just one or select some messages to be deleted in Telegram. The difference for WhatsApp, in this case, is that the first one, in addition to not limiting the time in which you can delete a message, does not leave any warning or information that the text has been deleted.

In WhatsApp, when you delete a message, a notice is left informing the deletion of that text.

1. Open the conversation where you want to delete the message;
2. Touch the message sent or received that you want to delete;
3. Touch the trash can icon in the upper right corner;
4. Confirm that you want to delete the message;
5. If you select the “Delete to contact as well” checkbox, the message will disappear for you and your contact. If not, the text will continue in your contact’s chat;

It is possible to delete only one selected message and delete it without leaving a trace (Image: Reproduction / Telegram)

Send messages that self-destruct

An interesting feature of Telegram is sending messages with an expiration date. To send a message that will self-exclude after a while, just activate the timer in the option to delete history.

1. Open the chat screen with the contact you want to send the message with self-exclusion;
2. Select the options menu above, in the upper right corner;
3. Touch “Clear history”;
4. Configure the time that messages will be available. Just select the option in the time bar at the bottom;
5. Send the message;
6. To deactivate, retrace the path and deactivate the option;

It is possible to determine the time for messages to self-exclude (Image: Playback / Telegram)

In groups and channels, only administrators can activate the timer. To check the time left for a message to be deleted, just touch it.

Delete Telegram media

To delete only a specific media, just follow the steps above to delete a message. To delete Telegram media on the phone, follow the steps:

1. Touch the settings menu;
2. Select “Data and storage”;
3. In the timeline, select the option that defines how long Telegram will keep the media. After that period, all will be deleted.

The paths shown in the text were created with a Samsung Galaxy S10 + with Android 11. However, the steps on iOS are very similar.