In this article
Tap a link in a chat and Telegram opens it inside itself by default. That is fast, it keeps the conversation one swipe away, and it is the right behaviour for most of what people tap.
It is the wrong behaviour for anything you sign in to. This page is the setting, and the one situation where you should always leave the app.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Change where links open, on Android and on iOS, where the setting lives in different places.
- check_circle Weigh what you gain and lose by leaving the in-app browser on.
- check_circle Recognise the one category of link that belongs in your real browser.
- check_circle Use the escape hatch without changing the setting at all.
iOS lists every browser you have installed; Android offers a single switch and then uses whatever your system default is.
travel_explore Two browsers, two sets of everything
The in-app browser is a small web view owned by Telegram. It opens over the chat, keeps its own cookies, and closes back into the conversation. Because it starts from nothing it knows nothing: not your logins, not your saved passwords, not your extensions.
Your real browser is the opposite. It carries every session you are already signed in to, your password manager, your passkeys and whatever content blocking you have installed. It also costs a context switch, and coming back to the chat means finding Telegram again.
Neither is better. They suit different links, and the useful skill is knowing which kind you are about to tap.
Where should this link open
Four kinds of link. One of them should never open in the in-app browser, and the reason is not what people usually assume.
article An article, a documentation page, a preview
lock Anything asking for a password or a card
shield A page that is mostly advertising
help Something a stranger sent you
A rule that survives contact with real life: read in the app, sign in outside it.
settings Changing the setting
- On Android Settings, Chat Settings, In-app Browser. Turning it off hands links to whatever browser the system considers default.
- On iOS and iPadOS Settings, Data and Storage, Open Links In. This lists the browsers you actually have installed and lets you pick one for Telegram alone.
- On desktop Links go to your system browser already. There is no in-app browser to configure.
- Leave it on and use the escape hatch instead Inside the in-app browser, the menu has Open in Browser. That reopens the current page externally, session and all — which is usually better than changing the setting for every link you will ever tap.
This page is the setting and how to choose per link. The curriculum step covers the web view itself: how it is isolated from your other browsing, what a page inside it can and cannot reach, and what that means for Mini Apps and login flows.
At a glance
- 1Choose the browser
Switch link opening to your own browser in settings.
- 2Logins outside
Sign-in and payment pages belong in your real browser.
- 3One-off escape
Open a single link externally from the menu.
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