Account deletion is done on the deactivation page on telegram.org, not inside the app. It permanently removes all your messages and contacts, must be confirmed through your Telegram account, and cannot be undone.
How to do it
- Open the deactivation page on telegram.org. Use a desktop browser rather than a mobile one; the process is more reliable there.
- Enter your phone number in full international form.
- Confirm with the code, which arrives as a message in Telegram rather than by SMS, so you need to be signed in somewhere.
- Confirm the deletion.
What happens to everything else
- Messages and contacts are removed permanently.
- Groups and channels you created are left without a creator, but their administrators keep the rights they already had, so the community continues.
- The username is released and can be claimed by somebody else.
Before you press it
Export your data first, from Settings, Advanced, Export Telegram Data. After deletion there is nothing to export. If you own a channel or a large group, hand ownership to somebody you trust rather than leaving it orphaned. And if the goal is simply to stop using Telegram, the self-destruct timer under Privacy and Security does the same thing on a delay and gives you time to change your mind.
Signing up again with the same number produces a brand new, empty account. Nothing from the old one comes back, including your username if somebody has taken it in the meantime.
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