Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Telegram allows you to control who can see your online status, giving you more privacy.
- You can hide your online status from everyone or only allow selected contacts to see when you’re online.
- Hiding your online status also prevents you from seeing others’ online status, ensuring mutual privacy.
As an expert in online privacy and security, I understand the importance of controlling your digital footprint. Telegram, a popular messaging app, offers a useful feature that allows you to hide your online status from others, providing an additional layer of privacy. In this comprehensive guide, I will walk you through the steps to hide your online status on Telegram across various platforms.
Understanding Telegram’s Online Status
By default, Telegram shows your online status to all your contacts, indicating when you’re actively using the app. While this feature can be convenient for real-time communication, it may also raise privacy concerns, especially if you don’t want others to know when you’re available or actively using the app.
Fortunately, Telegram provides users with the ability to control who can see their online status, giving you more control over your privacy settings.
Hiding Your Online Status on Telegram (Android and iOS)
Follow these steps to hide your online status on the Telegram mobile app for Android and iOS devices:
- Open the Telegram app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Tap on the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) in the top-left corner of the screen.
- Select “Settings” from the dropdown menu.
- Tap on “Privacy and Security.”
- Choose “Last Seen & Online.”
- Under the “Who can see my online status?” section, select one of the following options:
- Everybody: Your online status will be visible to all your Telegram contacts.
- My Contacts: Only your saved contacts will be able to see when you’re online.
- Nobody: Your online status will be hidden from everyone.
- If you choose “Nobody,” you can optionally add exceptions by tapping “Always Share With” and selecting specific contacts who will always see your online status, even if others cannot.
- Tap the checkmark icon or “Done” to save your changes.
By selecting “Nobody,” your online status will be hidden from all your Telegram contacts, providing you with complete privacy regarding your online activity. However, it’s important to note that this setting is reciprocal, meaning you won’t be able to see the online status of others either.
Hiding Your Online Status on Telegram Desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux)
If you’re using Telegram on a desktop computer, follow these steps to hide your online status:
- Open the Telegram desktop app.
- Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner.
- Select “Settings” from the dropdown menu.
- Navigate to the “Privacy and Security” tab.
- Under the “Last Seen & Online” section, choose the desired option:
- Everybody
- My Contacts
- Nobody
- Click “Save” to apply the changes.
By selecting “Nobody,” your online status will be hidden from all your Telegram contacts on the desktop app as well.
Considerations and Best Practices
While hiding your online status can provide an additional layer of privacy, it’s important to consider the following:
- Hiding your online status also prevents you from seeing others’ online status, ensuring mutual privacy.
- If you choose to share your online status with specific contacts, be mindful of who you add to the “Always Share With” list, as they will always be able to see when you’re online.
- Remember that hiding your online status does not prevent others from sending you messages or calling you on Telegram. It simply conceals your active status.
By following these steps, you can take control of your online privacy on Telegram and decide who can see when you’re actively using the app. Whether you prefer to keep your online status visible to everyone, limit it to your contacts, or hide it completely, Telegram provides the flexibility to customize your privacy settings according to your preferences. [1][2][3][7]
