Hundreds of messages are sent through Telegram every day. This instant messaging platform is quite popular among users. Moreover, it's commonly used by both personal and business users. Therefore, sending files through the app is very common. However, conversations, documents, images, etc., may have been accidentally deleted, and we might want to recover them. Is it possible? Yes. So, let's explain how to recover Telegram conversations.
As you probably know, Telegram has become the main alternative to WhatsApp for many users. Its level of privacy is superior in many aspects. Furthermore, Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp wasn't well-received by everyone . Additionally, WhatsApp tends to experience more frequent service outages, making it difficult to communicate with your contacts; this doesn't happen with Telegram, or at least not as often.
Undo the deletion of a channel or chat with the Telegram countdown
Telegram doesn't work the same way as WhatsApp . And recovering deleted Telegram conversations isn't the same either. Furthermore, backups on this instant messaging service aren't automatic, but rather manual.
Now, while Telegram will ask you several times if you're sure you want to delete a specific chat or channel before you do , if you confirm every single message, you'll also see an on-screen notification that lets you undo the action—in this case, the deletion of a particular channel/chat. Be careful, though, because you need to be quick: this undo option only lasts 5 seconds.
Now this does not apply to individual messages within the conversation. This undo option will not appear in this regard and will be lost entirely. At least the solution will not be in sight.
Recover Telegram conversations through an iPhone or through an Android mobile
There are ways to recover deleted messages on both iPhones and Android devices. It won't be as easy or as quick as with WhatsApp—since backups aren't created on Google Drive—but you can explore the files created by the app —at least on Android.
Recover Telegram messages on iPhone
As you probably know, if you're an iOS user, Apple offers a cloud storage service called iCloud. You get 5 GB of free storage to fill with whatever you want; if you need more space, you'll have to pay a monthly fee. That said, if you go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud , you should look for the option labeled ' iCloud Backup '. Find the Telegram app and verify that backups are indeed being created for it.
What will this achieve? Well, if we completely restore the iPhone and restore the latest iCloud backup, the deleted Telegram messages should reappear . This is provided that the deleted message wasn't deleted from iCloud after that backup was created.
Recover Telegram messages on Android
As we mentioned, Google Drive doesn't work with Telegram like it does with WhatsApp . However, Android creates folders with the data from the apps installed on your device. Therefore, if you've deleted a message containing documents, images, etc., you'll need to use a file explorer and look in Internal Storage > Android > Data , and within that folder, find ' org.telegram.messenger '. All your ongoing chats will be stored there, and most likely the message you were looking for.
Make sure you have some Telegram options active to make automatic backups
However, when deleting Telegram files such as images, documents, or videos, you'll need to go to your account settings and look for the 'Data and Storage' option . There you'll find various options to automatically back up all the extra content sent in private chats, groups, or channels.
You'll also see that the first option is 'Auto-download Multimedia'. This can be done via Wi-Fi or mobile data —if you choose to enable mobile data, make sure you have a sufficient data plan. Within each section , you can see which file types you want to auto-save (photos, videos, or files), as well as the download limit per file. For example, videos and files can have a maximum size of 1,5 GB. There are no size limits for photos.
Saved messages: using the cloud storage offered by Telegram
Finally, we'd like to let you know that Telegram offers a private space for your exclusive use . It's a cloud-based space, completely free, called 'Saved Messages' . What does this mean? It means you can store everything important to you there and easily access it without having to back up or restore your phone. In short: it's like your personal notebook on Telegram.
When you start using this 'Saved Messages' channel, you'll see it appear in your chat list . It will also move down in the list over time if you don't use it much. But don't worry, if you don't see it there, you can always access this chat through your profile menu. That is, when you go to your Telegram profile, you can access your settings, and among the available options, you'll see 'Saved Messages'. This will always be a shortcut to your Telegram message log.
Finally, and in case you were wondering: the space used in this folder/chat/channel is unlimited. You can place all kinds of content there, such as photos, documents (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) , videos, or even stickers that caught your eye. However, if you accidentally delete the chat, the content will be deleted, and you'll have to access it as explained in the previous cases.