Delete the contact from their profile in Telegram, then delete them from your phone's contacts as well. If you only do the first, Telegram's contact sync will add them back.
In Telegram
- Open the chat with the person.
- Tap their name at the top of the chat to open the profile.
- Tap the menu in the top right corner.
- Choose Delete contact.
Then in your phone
Open your Android Contacts app and delete the same person there. Telegram keeps its contact list in sync with the phone, so a contact that still exists on the device will reappear in Telegram at the next sync. This is the single reason most people think the deletion "did not work".
What deleting a contact does and does not do
| Happens | Does not happen |
|---|---|
| They leave your contact list | The chat history is not deleted |
| Their name shows as the number or username | They are not blocked |
| Contact-only privacy rules stop applying to them | They are not told anything |
If the aim is to stop them contacting you
Deleting a contact is not blocking. To stop messages, open the profile and choose Block user. Blocking is silent from their side and can be reversed later under Settings, Privacy and Security, Blocked Users.
If you would rather Telegram never touched your contacts, revoke the contacts permission in Android's app settings. Everything else keeps working, and you find people by username instead.
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