Though messaging apps were created to make communication easier between humans, there are times when we prefer to be left alone.
When you’re not in the mood to chat, hiding your last seen status can keep unwanted messages away. Thankfully, such privacy protection is available on Telegram. This messaging app lets you hide your last seen status from any user you want.
Keep scrolling down and find out more about how to hide last seen on Telegram from an iPhone or an Android device.
How to Hide Last Seen on Telegram
The Telegram app running on iOS and Android are practically similar. Thus, this guide applies to both iPhone and Android users.
Here are 5 easy steps of hiding your last seen from everyone, including the ones not on your contact list:
- Open your Telegram app.
- Tap on Settings at the bottom right of your screen if you’re an iPhone user or Tap on the Three Line Icon at the top left if you’re on Android.
- Click on Privacy and Security, located below “Notifications and Sounds” and above “Data and Storage”.
- Under the Privacy category, choose Last Seen & Online.
- Pick Nobody.
If you wish to exclude some people and allow them to see your last seen status, simply go to Exceptions → Always Share With, and then pick certain users or groups to add.
Following the above steps will make your last seen status invisible to any user of Telegram, whether they’re on your contact list or not.
Hiding last seen status from your contacts only
Let’s say you want your last seen status to only be invisible to a certain group of people from your contacts. This option is also available on Telegram. To achieve that, just follow the exact steps given below.
- Open Telegram → Settings.
- Tap on Privacy and Security.
- Click on Last Seen & Online.
- For the last step, however, instead of picking Nobody, tap on My Contacts and scroll down to Exceptions → Never Share With. After that, you can select the unlucky ones who can no longer see your timestamp.
In contrast, clicking on Exceptions → Always Share With will allow you to choose a lucky few who’ll always be able to view your last seen.
The Drawbacks of Hiding Last Seen on Telegram
While hiding last seen status is an amazing feature on Telegram, it’s not without its own setbacks. Here are a couple of the things you must consider before turning off your timestamp notification.
It’s not completely hidden
Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram doesn’t completely hide your timestamp. A time range estimation will always be placed on your last seen status. If you ever wonder what does “last seen recently” on telegram means, that’s one example of that.
Four updates will be shown to those on your hidden list:
- Recently. Shown when you logged in less than three days ago.
- Within a week. Shown when you last used Telegram any time between three and seven days ago.
- Within a month. Shown when you were last seen over seven days ago, but haven’t reached one month yet.
- A long time ago. Shown when you didn’t come back for over a month. It will also pop up when you block someone.
You can’t see other people’s timestamps as well
It seems that Telegram wants to create a fair chatting app for all of its users because disabling certain people from seeing your timestamp means that you also can’t see their online status.
When you activate the “hide my last seen” feature, the people on your hidden list will show the time range updates mentioned above rather than the usual accurate time. For instance, last seen recently will appear instead of last seen 4 minutes ago.
Wrap Up
Whether you’re an iPhone or Android user, hiding your last seen on Telegram is very straightforward. While this feature is great to keep unwelcomed users at bay and to protect your privacy, you must also be prepared to lose your ability to see your friends’ online status.
So, which one do you choose? Do you like to let people know that you’re online? Or do you prefer to keep it low and hide your last seen status? Feel free to leave your opinions in the comment section below.
