As the preservation of privacy and security becomes increasingly essential in today’s technological world, Telegram provides a number of tools to improve user control and safeguard sensitive information
This post attempts to give you insightful information and useful advice on how to protect your Telegram chats and avoid unintentional message removals.
Unfortunately, Telegram has NO option to prevent others from deleting Telegram messages, therefore this task may require some proactive measures like taking screenshots of your messages and exporting or backing up your chats. I am going to discuss these in detail in the following sections.
How the Delete Telegram Feature Works
Telegram has this unique “Delete for Everyone” or “Also delete for (contact)” feature which allows users to delete Telegram messages that they have sent in a chat, and have it deleted from the chat history for all participants, and there’s absolutely no time limit to it.
This feature can be useful if you have sent a message by mistake, or if you no longer want the message to be visible in the chat., then you can have your Telegram delete message for both sides.
To use this delete feature; just go to your chats and select the particular chat(s) you want to get rid of.
Select by long pressing the chat, then from the upper right corner click on the delete icon, the delete message window will pop up and you can check the option to Also delete for [the name of the other person in the chat], then click the Delete button.
And just like that, you can have your whole Telegram chat deleted for both sides or erase a particular message from your chat.
Tip:
Keep in mind that once the delete telegram feature is used to erase a chat or particular message, there is no way for a user to get it back (even the person who hit the delete button cannot undo it).
Also, anyone with whom you have ever spoken privately may decide to delete whatever you or they have said and proceed without your awareness or even your permission.
I’ll just mention that personally, I appreciate this feature. Yes, there have been moments when it has been a pain, but I really enjoy the thought that I am in charge and can entirely remove a chat at any time, as well as alter or rewrite the narrative in my chats!
But let’s talk about options (if there are any) to prevent the deletion of messages from your Telegram chat.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, Telegram has NO option to disable the “also delete for” feature. It is designed to allow users to delete messages for everyone in a group or individual chat.
However, you can apply some of the tips in the next section to keep your messages intact.
Also read: 8 Tips To Fix Telegram Web Not Working
Tips to prevent others from deleting Telegram messages
Protecting the integrity of your Telegram messages is paramount for maintaining privacy and preserving valuable information.
Despite the lack of a built-in option to stop people from deleting messages in Telegram, there are proactive measures you may take to reduce the risk of unexpected deletions.
1. Screenshot your messages
If you don’t want to be caught off guard and lose your chats, simply take a screenshot of your messages before they are deleted, this way you can refer to them when you need to.
Although, this might prove a bit tiresome if you have a lot of messages. If so, don’t worry, you can try the next tip!
2. Export your chats
You can protect your chats from being deleted by exporting them so that you have the chat history file somewhere on your device.
Note;
The export chat option is only available on Telegram Desktop.
To export your messages, go to your telegram desktop and open up the particular chat you want to export
Click on the 3 dots(⋮) menu and select the Export chat history option
In the popup window select which items to export then click the Export button.
Your file will be saved in your Telegram Desktop installation folder.
Additionally, you should regularly back up your Telegram chats to ensure you have a copy of your conversations. Telegram provides options to back up your chats locally on your device or in the cloud.
This way, even if messages are deleted, you can restore them from the backup.
With these measures, you can improve the possibility of keeping your Telegram messages from being deleted, ensuring that important information is preserved and easily accessible when needed.
Note:
Nevertheless, respecting other people’s right to secrecy and the option to erase their messages is essential.
FAQ
Q. Can someone else delete my Telegram message?
A. Yes, the person you are chatting with can very much delete your side of the conversation as well as theirs whenever they choose to, without your knowledge or consent.
Q. Can Telegram disable delete message for everyone feature?
A. Unfortunately no, you can not disable this feature. All you can do is take the necessary measures to save your chats before they are deleted.
Q. Can you recover a Telegram chat deleted for both sides?
A. Unfortunately no. Neither person in a chat can recover messages as long as they have been deleted.
Q. Does the “delete for everyone” feature work in Telegram groups?
A. Yes. but the only person who can delete the message for the whole group is the group admin.
Therefore, if you send a message and change your mind about it and want to get rid of it, you will not be able to delete it unless you are the group admin.
Q. Does Telegram notify when you delete a message
from both sides/if I delete chat on Telegram will they know?
A. No, when you delete a telegram message from both sides, there is no record of the deletion whatsoever.
In fact, if the recipient had not seen the message yet, they will not even be able to tell that there was a message at all.
Q. Can I save all of my personal Telegram chats?
A. If you want to save some chats before being deleted, you can export your Telegram chats using your computer.
Download the Telegram Desktop app and sign into your account.
Tap on the three lines in the upper left corner(≡), then tap Settings.
Click on the Advanced option and Export Telegram Data. Follow the on-screen prompts and select which data to save or export.
In conclusion
The Telegram “delete for everyone” or “also delete for…” feature both gives and takes away control, depending on which side of the deletion you are on.
And unfortunately, you can neither get your messages back nor stop the other person from deleting them. In fact, you may not even realize immediately that they were deleted.
All you can do is take some precautions and save or back up your messages before they are deleted.
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