We’ve all been there: trying to join Telegram without notifying contacts. Unfortunately, Telegram is designed such that people who also have your number saved on their device and that sync your contacts with Telegram receive notifications when you join.
Like you, I’m not into this whole phone number as username thing by Telegram. Besides, some people have had their phone number for years and they have a lot of people they stopped talking to. So, when they join Telegram, their long-lost friends will be notified “hello! Patrick just joined Telegram!” without asking first and with no option to disable the annoying notification.
It somehow sucks that people have to get out of this by changing their phone number, especially when it’s your primary phone number.
How to join Telegram without notifying contacts
Notwithstanding Telegram’s stubbornness, I have figured out some working methods you could use to block your contacts from knowing when you join Telegram.
1. Deny Telegram access to your contact
This trick sometimes fails, especially on iOS. However, it works on most Android versions. You just have to deny Telegram permission to read your contacts. That way, the app won’t have access to your contacts, and won’t notify anyone that you joined. Thus, you join Telegram without notifying contacts.
If your device gives contacts permission to Telegram by default, change it via your device settings. Just go to Apps, select Telegram, and click App Info. Finally, click Permissions and deny Telegram permission for contact. This works on Android and must be set up before signing up with your phone number.
If you need help with your device, comment your device name in the comment form and I’ll assist you.
2. Do not sync contacts while signing up
When signing up on Telegram on Android, you’ll be asked to enter your mobile number and you’ll see an option that asks whether you want to sync contacts or not. Uncheck the option to sync contacts to prevent Telegram from knowing your contacts who probably also have your telephone number saved. That way, Telegram won’t know your contacts and won’t notify others in your contact list that “you have joined telegram”.
After signing up, go to settings in the Telegram app and disable “Sync Contact” to prevent Telegram from syncing and notifying your contacts in the future when you join again.
3. Use a temporary number and change it later
There’s a trick to join Telegram without notifying contacts, and that’s to use a temporary number to sign up and then change your phone number. Just create a Telegram account with a new or temporary number that you’ve not given to anyone.
Now, open Telegram settings and go to Privacy and Security » Phone Number, and select Nobody and My Contacts. You can keep some contacts on your account if you don’t have a problem with them knowing that you have joined Telegram.
After a couple of days, go to Settings, tap your phone number and click Change Number. You can now change the temporary number to your main number without Telegram notifying anyone.
According to Telegram, after changing your number, users can see your new number if they have saved your telephone number in their address book or if your Privacy settings allow them to see it. So, those contacts that you excluded from seeing your phone number will not see your new phone number when you join Telegram with your primary phone number.
4. Register on Telegram with a different phone number
Perhaps, Telegram believes that people having your telephone number is a trust metric. As such, if you want to open a Telegram account without notifying your contacts, register with a telephone number that no one else has.
You could even use a landline to register Telegram on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop. A landline can receive the registration text message and read out the PIN to you to verify your account. Going forward, PINs for your new device will be sent to your Telegram account, so you don’t need to access the phone number to know your PIN as long as your Telegram account is set up on multiple devices.
Read also: Trick to search private Telegram channels
Conclusion
Telegram should allow users to choose who gets notified or not when joining Telegram instead of announcing new arrivals to the whole world. Users deserve to join Telegram without notifying contacts if they don’t want to. Telegram does allow users to disable the option of being notified about people who join Telegram but not many people care about that feature, so they still get notified when their contacts join.
