How to Find Your Telegram Username and Numeric User ID

The short answer

When someone asks for your "Telegram ID", they almost always mean your username, the name that starts with @. You find yours near the top of Settings, or in Settings › Account on Android. If you see Add Username there instead, you have not created one yet.

Every account also has a numeric user ID, a number that never changes. The apps do not show it by default; on a computer you can turn it on with an experimental setting, described below.

Three things people call your Telegram ID

	Username	Phone number	Numeric user ID
Looks like	@alexcarter	+1 555 010 0199	A string of digits
Every account has one	No, it is optional	Yes	Yes
Can you change it	Yes, or remove it	Yes, by changing your number	No
Who sees it	Anyone; it is public	Whoever your privacy settings allow	Hidden in the apps by default
What it is for	Being found by search and t.me links	Logging in	Bots and admin tools

So if a friend asks for your ID, send your username. If you do not have one, they will need your phone number or your QR code instead; finding your friends covers all three.

Where to see your own username

On Android it sits in the Your Info group, under your phone number. With a username it shows your @name; without one it shows Add Username.

Tap it to create one, change it or remove it. Choosing a name and username covers the rules and what makes a username hard to imitate.

Finding someone else's username

Open the chat, tap the name at the top, and look under the bio. The Username line shows their @name; press and hold it to copy it, or tap the QR button beside it to show a code someone else can scan.

If there is no Username line, that person has not set one. You cannot then find them by name in search; you need their number or an invite from them.

Once you have a username, people can also open a chat with you through a link: t.me/ followed by the username, without the @. The link opens Telegram on their phone or computer.

Finding the numeric user ID

The numeric ID stays the same even if you change or remove your username, which is why bots and group management tools sometimes ask for it. Telegram Desktop can show it through an experimental setting:

1. Open Main menu (☰) › Settings › Advanced.
2. At the bottom, open Experimental settings.
3. Switch on Show Peer IDs in Profile.
4. Open any profile. The ID now appears in it; for your own, open My Profile from the Main menu.

The Experimental settings screen opens with a warning that these options may not work, may break the app, and may disappear in a later version, so switch it off again once you have the number. Telegram for macOS has the same option under the same name. The Android app does not offer it in its settings.

That completes the Get started track. Head back to the beginning for a recap, or move on to the how-to guides.