You need a phone number to sign up for Telegram, but you don't have to show it to anyone. Two settings decide who sees it and who can look you up with it. A handful of others control your online status, photos and calls, and they all live in one menu: Settings > Privacy and Security.

Quick steps:

  1. Open Settings, then Privacy and Security.
  2. Tap Phone Number and set Who Can See My Phone Number to Nobody.
  3. In the option that appears below, set Who Can Find Me By My Number to My Contacts.
  4. Go back and review last seen, Profile Photo and Calls on the same screen.
  5. Turn on 2-Step Verification and check your active sessions for devices you don't know.

Hide your phone number

Telegram's default is already fairly tight: your number is shown only to people you have saved as contacts, and you can chat in private messages and groups without it being displayed. To go further, open Settings > Privacy and Security > Phone Number.

  • Who Can See My Phone Number sets who sees the number on your profile. Nobody is the strictest choice, and you can add exceptions for specific people.
  • Who Can Find Me By My Number appears once you pick Nobody above. Choose My Contacts, and someone who saves your number in their phone can no longer use it to pull up your Telegram profile. Telegram added this so random users, or government organisations, can't match a number in their contacts to your account. It doesn't get in the way of friends and family who upload their contacts to find you.

There is one thing no setting can change. A person who already knows your number and has it saved will always see it. Hiding it works on strangers, not on people who had it before.

How people can still reach you

Without your number, someone can only find you in two ways: by sharing a group with you, or through a public username. The table shows what each choice opens up.

If you… Then…
Set a public username Anyone can find you in global search and message you without knowing your number
Leave the username empty You won't appear in global search
Share a t.me/+number link It only opens a chat if your settings let people find you by number
Join a group Other members can message you, but they don't see your number

If you don't want strangers to message you at all, skip the username. Already have one? Go to Settings and save it as empty; existing conversations aren't affected. When someone does reach you through a username or a group, neither of you sees the other's number unless the settings allow it.

Last seen and online

Your last seen time is controlled in Privacy and Security too. Telegram works on a give-and-take basis here: if you hide yours from someone, you can't see theirs. Instead, both sides see a rough estimate:

  • "Last seen recently": anywhere from a second to two or three days ago.
  • "Last seen within a week" or "within a month".
  • "Last seen a long time ago": over a month. Blocked people always see this one.

The same rules cover the "online" label. There are a few moments when Telegram shows you as online for about 30 seconds anyway, because it is obvious you are there: when you send someone a message (privately or in a shared group), when you open a private message from them, and while your "typing…" indicator is visible to them. If you do none of those, a person you've hidden your status from will never see you online.

Profile photo, forwards and groups

  • Profile Photo (in Settings > Privacy and Security) can be limited to some people or set to Nobody with exceptions. If only certain people can see your real photo, you can add a public picture that everyone else sees.
  • Forwarded Messages (in Settings > Privacy and Security > Forwarded Messages) limits who can forward your messages with a link back to you. When it is on, a forwarded message shows your name as plain text that doesn't open your profile, so it can't be used to prove you wrote it.
  • Groups & Channels lets you restrict who can add you to groups and channels. Open it and pick the most restrictive option you are comfortable with.

Most of these settings accept exceptions, and an exception can be a whole group chat rather than one person. Add a group to an "always" or "never" list and Telegram adjusts automatically as people join or leave it.

Calls and your IP address

Telegram voice and video calls are end-to-end encrypted, but encryption protects what you say, not where you connect from. Telegram says that, whenever possible, calls go over a peer-to-peer connection, and that if one can't be set up it connects you through its closest server. Inside Privacy and Security there is a Calls section with a peer-to-peer setting. The app's own help text for it says that switching peer-to-peer off relays every call through Telegram's servers to avoid revealing your IP address, though audio and video quality may be lower. If you call people you don't know well, limiting peer-to-peer is the safer choice; for calls with family, you may prefer the better quality.

Bots are a related case. Telegram's privacy policy says a bot sees your public name, username, profile photo and the messages you send it, and that if you tap a link or button leading to a website the bot controls, it can potentially get your IP address.

Lock the account down

  • 2-Step Verification: in Settings > Privacy and Security > 2-Step Verification, add a password so logging in needs both the SMS code and that password. You can add a recovery email; protect that mailbox well, because it can reset your access.
  • Passkeys: under Settings > Privacy and Security > Passkeys you can sign in with your device's PIN, fingerprint or face scan instead of an SMS code.
  • Sessions: go to Settings > Devices (or Active Sessions in Privacy and Security) and end any session on a device you no longer use or don't recognise.
  • Passcode: on a shared phone or computer, set an app passcode in Settings > Privacy and Security.
  • Inactive accounts: Telegram deletes an account after 18 months offline by default. You can change that period in Settings.

For passwords in general, see password hygiene after credential leaks.

Hiding your number doesn't hide your IP from Telegram

The calls setting above protects your IP address from the person you are talking to. It doesn't change what Telegram or your network sees. Telegram's privacy policy says it may collect metadata such as your IP address to fight spam and abuse, and that it may hand an IP address and phone number to authorities in response to a valid court order about a suspect. Meanwhile the Wi-Fi or mobile network you are on can see that you are using Telegram. A VPN shows apps and websites the VPN server's IP address instead of your own and keeps the local network from reading your traffic. It does not make your Telegram account anonymous, because you are still signed in with your phone number; our explainer What is a VPN? covers what it does and doesn't change. What is my IP shows your current public address, and VPNRice apps are on the download page.

FAQ

Can I use Telegram without anyone seeing my number?

Yes. Set Who Can See My Phone Number to Nobody and Who Can Find Me By My Number to My Contacts. Only people who already have your number saved will still see it.

Can a stranger who saves my number find my profile?

Not if Who Can Find Me By My Number is set to My Contacts. Saving the number on their phone then won't match it to your Telegram account. Friends whose numbers you have saved can still find you as usual.

Why does someone see me as "last seen recently" even though I hid it?

That is how hiding works. Instead of an exact time, people see an approximate value such as "recently" or "within a week". Blocked users always see "a long time ago".

Should I turn off peer-to-peer calls?

If keeping your IP address from the other caller matters to you, yes. Calls are then relayed through Telegram's servers, and audio and video quality may decrease.

Last checked: October 2026. Menu names can differ slightly between app versions and regions.

Telegram and other product names mentioned here are trademarks of their respective owners. VPNRice is not affiliated with Telegram.