How To Hide Phone Number In Telegram: Choose Who Can See It

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Millions of people use Telegram daily and most of the people use it openly without hiding their phone numbers. While some people wish to use it anonymously without letting anyone know about their number. The reason is that everyone is not comfortable when their phone number pops-up each time someone reaches their profile. Thanks to Telegram for adding a feature using which hiding the phone number has become so much easier. Moreover, Telegram also made it possible to add exceptions to it, making this feature even more useful. So let’s start without wasting any more time.

Note: There can be a small change in the interface otherwise the steps are the same for Telegram mobile app (Android and iOS) and the Telegram desktop app. In this article, we are making use of an Android device.

Suggested Read: How To Pin A Message Or Chats In Telegram

Hiding Phone Number In Telegram

Selecting Nobody

By default, the Telegram settings are set so that only your Contacts are able to see your phone number and no one else. But there can be many personal reasons to hide the phone number from the people in the contact list too. Keeping this in mind, here are the steps to do that.

1. Launch the Telegram app on your device and tap on the hamburger icon at the top left of the screen.

Telegram settings

2. Now tap on the Settings option given just below the Invite Friends option. (In the case of an iPhone, the Settings option is available at the bottom right corner.)

settings to hide phone number in telegram

3. Under the Settings heading, select the Privacy and Security option.

telegram privacy and security

4. After that, tap on the Phone Number option available under Privacy.

telegram phone number settings

5. Now, under Who Can See My Phone Number? select Nobody and tap on the tick icon.

hide phone number in telegram

Adding Exceptions

There might be some people with whom you might not have any problem sharing the phone number. For those near and dear ones, you use the exception feature.

1. Tap on the Always Allow option under the Add exceptions heading.

allow users to view number
add contacts to view number

2. Select as many users from the contact list as you want and tap on the tick icon.

Adding more people to exception or removing the few of the existing ones is also possible with these steps.

1. Again tap on the Always Allow, Tap on the three-dots adjacent to the contact added and select Delete to remove the contact.

delete, add users to nobody option

2. For adding more people to the exception, simply tap on the Add Users or Groups and repeat the 2nd step above.

Selecting Everybody

This option is for people who don’t have any problem sharing their phone number with anyone. Not only the people saved in your contact list but any random person reaching your Telegram profile can see your phone number.

Simply select the Everybody option and tap on the tick icon to make it work.

show phone number to everybody

Adding Exceptions

The exceptions that we added under Everybody are a bit different from the once we added under Nobody. Here the exceptions added are the people who will not be able to see your phone number.

1. Tap on the Never Allow option.

restrict users from viewing number

2. Select the users to add in the list and tap on the tick icon.

add exceptions to everybody

For adding or removing more people to the list, again tap on the Never Allow. Next, tap on the three-dots in front of the username and select Delete. For adding more people to the list, tap on Add Users or Groups.

delete, add users to everybody option

Selecting My Contacts

While using Telegram, this option is by default selected and your number will only be visible to those people whose contact number you have saved in your contact list. But all the people in the contacts are not so well known that you can share your number with them in return.

Adding Exceptions

When we select the My Contacts option, two different exceptions are available, Always Allow and Never Allow. The users added to the Always allow will be able to see your Phone number. While selecting Never Allow, the users added to it will not be able to see the number. The steps to add or remove the users are the same as before.

show number only to contacts

Deleting Synced Contacts

When your number is selected to be shown only to your contacts then obviously the people in your contact list will be the only one to see it. But after testing, it was seen that even if you delete a particular contact from your phone book, that person will still be able to see your phone number in Telegram when they open up your profile. It happens maybe because that contact is still saved in the Telegram servers. We don’t know how much time Telegram will take to remove it or maybe it never removes.

So it’s better to do this job manually, rather than waiting for Telegram to do it for us.

1. Tap on the hamburger icon on the top-left.

settings to delete synced contacts

2. Now select the Settings option.

telegram settings to remove synced contacts

3. Under the Settings, select Privacy and Security.

changing privacy and security settings

4. After that, scroll down a bit and tap on the Delete Synced Contacts under the Contacts.

delete synced contacts

5. Finally, tap on OK.

phone number removed from unwanted accounts

Now any contact that you deleted will only be able to see your Telegram name instead of your number.

Suggested Read: How To Set Up Automatic Replies On Telegram

Wrapping Up

Hiding the phone number on your Telegram account makes it even more secure. Alternatively, you can use the app without a phone number.

It is best for people who like to use social media platforms anonymously, without getting much notice. There can be a number of other reasons too for hiding the number on Telegram, but whatever be the case, these steps are surely going to work for you.

About The Author

  • Daksh Chaudhary

    Daksh is an ardent blogger, introvert and a tech enthusiast who is keen about gadgets and technology, and maybe he can contaminate you by sharing the same vibes.

Photo of author

Daksh Chaudhary

Daksh is an ardent blogger, introvert and a tech enthusiast who is keen about gadgets and technology, and maybe he can contaminate you by sharing the same vibes.

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