In this article
A Secret Chat is a separate conversation between two devices, encrypted so that only those two can read it. It has self-destruct timers, it refuses to forward, and it is the only kind of Telegram chat that never exists on the servers.
Everything that makes it private also makes it awkward: no sync, no backup, no search from your laptop. Knowing which of those trades you are making is the whole decision.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Start a Secret Chat and confirm you are talking to the right person.
- check_circle Set a self-destruct timer and know when it starts counting.
- check_circle Say precisely what the screenshot protection does and does not stop.
- check_circle Decide when an ordinary chat is the better answer.
A Secret Chat has a padlock beside the name and a lock-green header — if those are absent, you are in an ordinary chat.
lock What is different, in plain terms
An ordinary Telegram chat is encrypted between your device and the servers, and stored there so that every device you own can see it. That is what makes your whole history appear when you sign in somewhere new, and it means Telegram holds the messages.
A Secret Chat instead establishes a key directly between the two devices. The servers pass the traffic along without being able to read it, and they keep no copy. The consequences follow mechanically: the chat exists on those two devices and nowhere else, it cannot appear on your desktop, and if you log out it is gone — there is nothing anywhere to restore it from.
What it protects against, and what it does not
Four expectations. Two are met, one is partly met, and one is not met at all — and the last is the one people rely on.
devices Anyone between the two of you
timer Messages that delete themselves
block Screenshots
warning The device at the other end
Honest summary: it removes the servers from the picture. It does not remove the people.
settings Starting one
- Open the person's profile From the chat or from your contacts.
- Choose Start Secret Chat It is in the menu behind the three dots. A new, separate conversation opens with a padlock on the name.
- Wait for them to open it The key is agreed between two devices, so nothing works until they are online. Until then it says it is waiting.
- Compare the picture key Their profile in the secret chat shows the emoji. Check them against theirs by another route, once.
- Set a timer if you want one The clock icon in the header. It applies from that point onwards.
compare When the ordinary chat is the better answer
Most conversations are better in a cloud chat, and saying so is not a hedge. You get them on every device, they survive a lost phone, they are searchable, and they can be forwarded when forwarding is the useful thing to do.
A Secret Chat is for the case where you specifically do not want a copy to exist anywhere but the two devices, and you are willing to pay for that with all of the above. If you cannot name what you are protecting against, the cloud chat is the right choice — and a device passcode plus a cloud password protects you against the threats most people actually face.
This page is the feature and its limits. The curriculum step goes into the mechanism: how the key is agreed, what the picture key is derived from, and what each part of the design is actually defending against.
At a glance
- 1Start and verify
Open a Secret Chat and compare the key image.
- 2Self-destruct timer
Counts from when the message is read.
- 3Screenshots
Blocked or reported on some phones; a second phone defeats it.
Updated
