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Hiding Last Seen Time - Done Right
<!DOCTYPE html> <html class=""> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Hiding Last Seen Time - Done Right</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta property="og:title" content="Hiding Last Seen Time - Done Right"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://telegram.org/file/811140464/2/NTCaRX43SOs/b8380997d80f21f92d"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Telegram"> <meta property="og:description" content="In Telegram you can hide your last seen time with granular controls"> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2014-11-19T15:19:04+00:00"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /><meta name="twitter:image" content="https://telegram.org/file/811140464/2/NTCaRX43SOs/b8380997d80f21f92d" /> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="254098051407226"> <meta property="vk:app_id" content="3782569"> <meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="app-id=686449807"> <meta name="telegram:channel" content="@telegram"> <link rel="canonical" 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class="side_blog_date">Jun 30</div> <div class="side_blog_title">Mini App Bar, Paid Media, Story Search & More</div> </a> </div> </div> </div></div> <div id="dev_page_content_wrap" class=" "> <div class="dev_page_bread_crumbs"></div> <h1 id="dev_page_title">Hiding Last Seen Time - Done Right</h1> <div id="dev_page_content"><div class="blog_side_image_wrap"> <img src="/file/811140464/2/NTCaRX43SOs/b8380997d80f21f92d" class="blog_side_image"/> </div> <p>Each day our volunteer-driven support team gets several thousand requests from our users to help them hide their <strong>Last Seen</strong> time. We knew it's important, and have been working hard to get this feature right. We wanted to make sure that Telegram users would have unprecedented precision and flexibility, without the usual tradeoffs. </p> <p>Starting today, you can specify <strong>exactly</strong> who will see your Last Seen time in both our <a href="/dl/ios">iOS</a> and <a href="/dl/android">Android</a> apps. You can choose between the three basic options (“Everybody”, “My Contacts” and “Nobody”) and add <strong>any</strong> number of exceptions into the <strong>“Always Share With…”</strong> and <strong>“Never Share With…”</strong> sections. </p> <blockquote> <p>For example, this way you can make your Last Seen time available to everybody but your boss, or to nobody with the exception of your marriage partner (or vice versa, it's up to you). If you’d like to share your Last seen time only with your contacts plus the members of some work-related group you have, you can do it in just a few taps. This makes countless combinations possible.</p> </blockquote> <h4><a class="anchor" name="why-is-this-important" href="#why-is-this-important"><i class="anchor-icon"></i></a>Why Is This Important?</h4> <p>To make things fair, you won’t see Last Seen timestamps for people with whom you don‘t share your own. That’s why it‘s important to have granular controls — Telegram’s precision helps you avoid difficult choices. For example, you don't need to choose between hiding your Last Seen from your boss and being able to know when your best friend was online. You can have both.</p> <div><center> <a href="/file/811140790/1/chLwhBOO1_M/cfb9b5a63524879b0c" target="_blank"><img src="/file/811140790/1/chLwhBOO1_M/cfb9b5a63524879b0c" title="New Privacy and Security Section" style="padding: 10px; width: 200px" /></a> <a href="/file/811140765/1/2cJCSFH7_sM/6342b1cf6bc8f21c1e" target="_blank"><img src="/file/811140765/1/2cJCSFH7_sM/6342b1cf6bc8f21c1e" title="Last Seen Settings" style="padding: 10px; width: 200px" /></a></center> </div> <h4><a class="anchor" name="last-seen-recently" href="#last-seen-recently"><i class="anchor-icon"></i></a>Last Seen Recently</h4> <p>Of course, the absence of a Last Seen timestamp makes it difficult to know whether the person you're about to contact is a regular user of Telegram and will be able to read your message. That is why even if the exact Last Seen time is hidden, you will still see an <strong>approximate value</strong>, like “last seen recently” (i.e. from one minute ago to about 3 days) or “last seen within a month”. This keeps stalkers away, but makes it possible to understand whether a person is reachable over Telegram.</p> <p>Speaking of inactive users, we're not going to have too many of them soon. Starting today, Telegram accounts will self-destruct after 6 months of inactivity by default.</p> <h4><a class="anchor" name="self-destructing-accounts" href="#self-destructing-accounts"><i class="anchor-icon"></i></a>Self-Destructing Accounts</h4> <p>Big companies like to accumulate data about their users and keep it for an indefinite time. Telegram is not a commercial organization and we value our disk space greatly. Last year we introduced self-destructing messages, today we are adding self-destructing accounts.</p> <p>From now on, if you stop using Telegram and do not login for at least 6 months, your account will be deleted along with all messages, media, contacts and every other piece of data you store in the Telegram cloud. You can change the exact period after which your inactive account will self-destruct – with options ranging from 1 month to 1 year.</p> <div><br><center><img src="/img/tl_card_destruct.gif" title="This blog post will self-destruct in 10... 9..."></center><br></div> <p>These new features are already available in our <a href="/dl/ios">iOS</a> and <a href="/dl/android">Android</a> apps. Stay tuned for more privacy-related updates.</p> <div></div> <p><em>The Telegram Team,<br>November 19, 2014</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="tl_main_share clearfix"> <a href="https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftelegram.org%2Fblog%2Fprivacy-revolution&text=In%20Telegram%20you%20can%20hide%20your%20last%20seen%20time%20with%20granular%20controls" class="tl_telegram_share_btn" id="tl_telegram_share_btn" data-text="In Telegram you can hide your last seen time with granular controls" data-url="https://telegram.org/blog/privacy-revolution"><i class="tl_telegram_share_icon"></i><span class="tl_telegram_share_label" target="_blank">Forward</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="tl_twitter_share_btn" id="tl_twitter_share_btn" data-text="In Telegram you can hide your last seen time with granular controls" data-url="https://telegram.org/blog/privacy-revolution" data-via="Telegram">Tweet <span class="tl_twitter_share_cnt"></span></a> </div> </div> <div class="tl_main_recent_news_wrap tlb_other_news_wrap tl_blog_list_page_wrap"> <h3 class="tl_main_recent_news_header"> <a href="/blog">Other News</a> </h3> <div class="tl_main_recent_news_cards clearfix"> <a class="dev_blog_card_link_wrap" href="/blog/fullscreen-miniapps-and-more"><div class="dev_blog_card_wrap"> <img class="dev_blog_card_image" src="https://telegram.org/file/400780400836/1/pf8Tnc3fxBI.260468/01084a12b6e470638c" /> <div class="dev_blog_card_alltext_wrap"> <h4 class="dev_blog_card_title">Mini Apps 2.0: Full-Screen Mode, Home Screen Icons, Geolocation and 10 more features</h4> <div class="dev_blog_card_lead">Today we launch the largest update in the history of mini apps. They get a full-screen mode…</div> </div> <div class="dev_blog_card_date">Nov 17, 2024</div> </div></a><a class="dev_blog_card_link_wrap" href="/blog/dynamic-video-quality-and-more"><div class="dev_blog_card_wrap"> <img class="dev_blog_card_image" src="https://telegram.org/file/400780400783/3/inBnJMRsW8I.250596/95648f6c88a6890213" /> <div class="dev_blog_card_alltext_wrap"> <h4 class="dev_blog_card_title">Improved Videos and Much More</h4> <div class="dev_blog_card_lead">Today's update adds faster loading, better quality and new speed controls to videos, last edit timestamps, attaching media to sent messages, increased limits for mini apps, new monetization…</div> </div> <div class="dev_blog_card_date">Oct 31, 2024</div> </div></a><a class="dev_blog_card_link_wrap" href="/blog/gifts-verification-platform"><div class="dev_blog_card_wrap"> <img class="dev_blog_card_image" src="https://telegram.org/file/400780400875/2/7jMIWHhNK14.271741/26556506cae1a02907" /> <div class="dev_blog_card_alltext_wrap"> <h4 class="dev_blog_card_title">Gifts, Verification Platform and More</h4> <div class="dev_blog_card_lead">Users can now send Gifts to their friends: the recipients of gifts can display them on their profile pages or turn them into Stars. Additionally, Telegram launched a platform for businesses…</div> </div> <div class="dev_blog_card_date">Oct 5, 2024</div> </div></a><a class="dev_blog_card_link_wrap" href="/blog/star-giveaways-iv-in-browser"><div class="dev_blog_card_wrap"> <img class="dev_blog_card_image" src="https://telegram.org/file/400780400331/1/tuLhKJmWKdw.276665/463e789d166b4e3890" /> <div class="dev_blog_card_alltext_wrap"> <h4 class="dev_blog_card_title">Star Giveaways and More</h4> <div class="dev_blog_card_lead">With today's update, groups and channels can use Telegram Stars as prizes in Giveaways. Also, any article you open in the Telegram Browser can now be converted to Instant View, making…</div> </div> <div class="dev_blog_card_date">Sep 6, 2024</div> </div></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer_wrap"> <div class="footer_columns_wrap footer_desktop"> <div class="footer_column footer_column_telegram"> <h5>Telegram</h5> <div class="footer_telegram_description"></div> Telegram is a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed. </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/faq">About</a></h5> <ul> <li><a href="/faq">FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="/privacy">Privacy</a></li> <li><a href="/press">Press</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/apps#mobile-apps">Mobile Apps</a></h5> <ul> <li><a href="/dl/ios">iPhone/iPad</a></li> <li><a href="/android">Android</a></li> <li><a href="/dl/web">Mobile Web</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/apps#desktop-apps">Desktop Apps</a></h5> <ul> <li><a href="//desktop.telegram.org/">PC/Mac/Linux</a></li> <li><a href="//macos.telegram.org/">macOS</a></li> <li><a href="/dl/web">Web-browser</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer_column footer_column_platform"> <h5><a href="//core.telegram.org/">Platform</a></h5> <ul> <li><a href="//core.telegram.org/api">API</a></li> <li><a href="//translations.telegram.org/">Translations</a></li> <li><a href="//instantview.telegram.org/">Instant View</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="footer_columns_wrap footer_mobile"> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/faq">About</a></h5> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/blog">Blog</a></h5> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/apps">Apps</a></h5> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="//core.telegram.org/">Platform</a></h5> </div> <div class="footer_column"> <h5><a href="/press">Press</a></h5> </div> </div> </div> <script src="/js/main.js?47"></script> <script>twitterCustomShareInit(); blogSideImageInit(); backToTopInit("Go up"); removePreloadInit(); </script> </body> </html> <!-- page generated in 16.39ms -->