Telegram Account Recovery: Lost Number, Device or Password

Three keys, and what you still have

A Telegram account opens with three things: the phone number (which receives codes), a logged-in device (which also receives codes, as messages), and the Two-Step Verification password if you set one. You usually only need one of the first two plus the password. So the first job is to work out which keys you still hold:

Your phone was lost or stolen

1. Call your carrier to block the SIM and order a replacement with the same number. A new SIM, or an eSIM, with your number is the key that opens everything else.
2. If another device is logged in, open Devices there and end the session of the lost phone. Telegram's FAQ notes that thieves usually throw the SIM away and wipe the phone, so the bigger risk is usually losing access, not someone reading your chats. See checking active sessions.
3. Log in on the new phone with your number. If Two-Step Verification is on, enter your password after the code.

Secret chats lived only on the lost phone and do not come back. Everything else, including your cloud chats, media and contacts, returns when you log in.

You will never get the number back

If the number is gone for good (a closed contract, a country you left, a number already given to someone else), what matters is whether any device is still logged in:

• A device is still logged in: change the account's number to a new one from that device, in Settings. On a device you only just connected, Telegram may refuse: "For security reasons, you can't change your phone number from a device that you've just connected. Please use an earlier connection or wait…" Wait the few hours it asks, or use a device that has been logged in longer.
• A login email is set: codes for a new device can go to that inbox instead of the old number. See login email.
• No device and no login email: there is no way to receive a code for that number. Telegram's FAQ warns that you must keep access to your connected number or you risk losing the account. The only remaining route is your carrier restoring the number.

You also forgot the password

With the number or a device, a forgotten Two-Step Verification password is recoverable:

• With a recovery email, tap Forgot password? and enter the code sent to that address.
• Without one, the app explains your options: "remember your password or wait 7 days until your password is reset." The reset keeps your account and chats.
• Resetting the whole account is the last resort. It deletes all your chats, messages, media and files, and for an active, password-protected account it waits a week first.

So it never comes to this

1. Stay logged in on a second device, such as a computer or tablet.
2. Turn on Two-Step Verification with a recovery email you will keep.
3. Add a login email so codes do not depend on your SIM.
4. If you change numbers, move the account to the new number before you give up the old one.

Next step: the recovery email and password hint.