How to Delete All Messages in Telegram

Telegram has no single "delete everything" button. Within one conversation the whole history goes in seconds — through Clear History in the chat menu, optionally with the checkbox that removes it for the other person too. Clearing every chat at once, though, is a manual job done conversation by conversation: the only action that wipes absolutely everything is deleting the account.

Below are the methods that work for different scales: one conversation, a bulk clean-up, and automatic clearing from here on.

Every message in one conversation

1. Open the chat.
2. Tap the person's name in the header.
3. Choose Clear History.
4. Tick the option to delete on their side if you want that.
5. Confirm.

The conversation stays in your list but ends up empty. If you don't want the chat either, use Delete Chat, which removes both the messages and the conversation.

Private chats have no time limit: messages of any age can be erased, other people's included.

All your messages in a group

There's no bulk option here for an ordinary member. Your own posts have to be selected by hand and deleted in batches. Leaving the group, contrary to popular belief, doesn't erase them — they stay visible to everyone else.

Admins have more room: a member's context menu includes an action that removes all of their messages in the community at once. The same action is used when banning rule-breakers. If the group is yours, you can clear one person's history — including your own.

Selecting messages in bulk

1. Press and hold the first message until it's selected.
2. Tap the other messages you want — the counter at the top shows how many are selected.
3. Tap delete and choose whether to remove them for yourself or for everyone.

The same thing is done with a mouse on a computer, usually faster: long conversations are easier to clear from the desktop.

All chats at once

There's no command for clearing the whole list. Multi-select speeds things up: on Android a long press on the first conversation switches the list into selection mode, you mark the rest, and everything goes in one action.

When the volume rather than the content is the problem, the archive is a middle ground: conversations move out of sight while the messages remain.

Saved Messages and bot chats

Saved Messages is an ordinary chat, so its history clears the same way. Bear in mind that every file you parked there goes with it, and cloud copies can't be recovered.

Bot conversations clear normally too, but clearing doesn't revoke the permissions granted to the bot — that's done separately in the privacy settings. Data the bot already received stays on its operator's side.

Auto-deletion instead of manual clean-ups

If you find yourself clearing chats regularly, set a timer: the chat menu lets you choose an auto-delete period — typically a day, a week or a month. Messages then disappear on their own for both participants and you never go back to doing it by hand.

The timer is set per conversation, and the other side can see when it's switched on.

Wiping the account entirely

The only way to be certain every message is gone at once is deleting the account. It's irreversible: contacts, memberships, cloud files and your username go along with the conversations.

And if the goal isn't leaving the messenger but getting a clean profile for a new purpose — a work project, customer support, a separate channel — scrubbing the old account makes little sense: starting from an empty one is simpler. That's exactly why ready-made Telegram accounts are often used for those scenarios, with the personal profile left as it is.

What to save first

• Important files and documents. Download them to your device — cloud copies go with the messages.
• Codes and credentials. Anything you forwarded to yourself belongs somewhere safer.
• A full archive. The desktop version has a data export that downloads selected chats along with their media.
• Contacts. Make sure the numbers you need are saved in your address book.

About third-party "cleaners"

Bots and modified clients circulate promising to wipe every conversation in one click. They all require access to your account — which means access to all of your messages. The risk is out of proportion to the time saved: outcomes range from a ban for breaking the rules to losing the profile entirely.

The built-in tools cover every use case, and bulk selection from a computer is faster than it looks.

What survives the deletion

• Forwarded copies of your messages in other chats.
• Screenshots and files people saved to their devices.
• Messages in groups where you have no admin rights.
• The local cache on your device — cleared separately in the data and storage section.

Deleted content can't be restored: Telegram has no recycle bin, and support doesn't bring conversations back.

Common mistakes

• Hunting for a "delete everything" button. It doesn't exist, and the search wastes time.
• Leaving a group expecting the messages to vanish. They stay with the remaining members.
• Confusing clearing the cache with deleting messages. The cache only holds local copies.
• Forgetting the both-sides checkbox. The conversation disappears on your side only.
• Deleting the account without exporting first. After confirmation the export is no longer possible.

FAQ

Can I delete every message in one action?

Within a single chat, yes, via Clear History. Across all chats at once, only by deleting the account.

Will the messages be deleted for the other person?

Only if you tick that option. In private chats it's available with no time limit.

Can I erase my messages in every group?

Not automatically. In your own communities the admin action that removes a member's messages helps; elsewhere it's manual selection.

Will it free up phone storage?

Partly: the space is taken by the local cache, cleared separately in the data and storage settings.

What happens to secret chats?

They're stored on the devices, so deletion is always two-sided, and logging out of the account removes them completely.

Will the messages come back if I log in again?

No. Deleted messages don't return, though chats you didn't delete load from the cloud as usual.

Will the other person notice I deleted everything?

There's no notification, but an emptied chat is noticeable, especially when the deletion covered both sides.

How long does deleting the account take?

It happens right after confirmation; there's no delay period for changing your mind.

In short

Mass clean-ups in Telegram happen chat by chat: Clear History wipes one conversation, multi-select speeds up the list, and an auto-delete timer takes care of the future. There's no universal button for every message, and the only total measure is deleting the account — which leaves you without contacts or subscriptions either. Before any serious clean-up, save the files you need and export an archive from the desktop version if it matters.