In this article
By default Telegram fetches media as it arrives so that tapping a photo is instant. On a busy account that means a channel you skim once a week is quietly downloading everything it posts, over whatever connection you happen to be on.
The auto-download settings are where that stops. They are separate rules for mobile, Wi-Fi and roaming, and they are the single most effective thing you can change if your data allowance disappears without explanation.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Set different rules for mobile data, Wi-Fi and roaming.
- check_circle Let photos through while stopping video and files.
- check_circle Limit automatic downloads to people you know.
- check_circle Tell this apart from the cache settings, which solve a different problem.
Three separate profiles, one per connection type — changing one does nothing to the others.
download Two different settings people confuse
Auto-download decides what arrives on your device without you asking. The storage settings decide how long what arrived is kept. They are on the same screen and they solve opposite halves of the same complaint.
If your problem is the data allowance, this is the page. If your problem is the phone running out of space, the retention rules are. Tightening one and not the other leaves the other half of the problem exactly where it was.
Set each connection once
Three profiles and one rule that applies to all of them. Ten minutes here and the setting never needs attention again.
speed On mobile
travel_explore On Wi-Fi
public While roaming
group Restricting by who sent it
A setup that works for most people: contacts only on mobile, generous on Wi-Fi, nothing while roaming.
settings Where to change it
- Open Data and Storage Settings, Data and Storage. Automatic media download is the top section.
- Open each connection profile in turn Mobile, Wi-Fi, roaming. They are edited separately.
- Set the media types Photos, video, files. Each has its own switch and, where it matters, a size limit.
- Set the scope Everyone, contacts, private chats, groups, channels — per profile.
- Check the data usage figures Further down the same screen. They tell you whether the change worked, which no amount of guessing will.
This page is the inbound rules. The curriculum step covers the whole data picture: how the profiles interact with the cache, what roaming actually triggers, and how to keep a strict allowance intact without being cut off from anything.
At a glance
- 1Per connection
Set mobile data, Wi-Fi and roaming separately.
- 2Photos yes, video no
Let small photos through and block large media.
- 3Contacts only
Limit auto-download to people you know.
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