What is a secret chat in Telegram

Long distances are not an obstacle to communication today. If you have the Internet, you can talk and correspond for free.

One of the most secure conversation apps is Telegram. But even in it, messages are saved on external media (servers).

What if you need to discuss issues that are not intended for prying eyes and ears? For example, how much money can be invested and in what shares, having received insider information, questions of earnings, etc. To solve this problem, Pavel Durov’s team has developed a special service.

Let’s consider what a secret chat in Telegram is, its advantages and possibilities. How to use it on different devices. Methods for deleting transmitted information.

Secret chat – what is it

This is the name of a closed correspondence between two users of the application, in which the transmitted information does not go to the servers for storage, but is sent in encrypted form from one interlocutor to another.

Benefits

The secret chat in Telegram has a large number of advantages, but the main one can be considered a serious level of information encryption. In many ways, this is what contributes to the rapid promotion of the messenger among users.

Pavel Durov announced a competition with a prize fund of $ 200 thousand to the one who can decrypt one message of the hidden chat in Telegram. Nobody got a reward because the secret of fasting was never revealed.

How to create a secret chat in Telegram

The security of correspondence is achieved using the Diffie-Hellman algorithm. The principle of protection is based on the fact that the synchronous encryption key is available only to two participants in the dialogue and only on those devices on which a private chat is created. When replacing the gadget, even a correspondent logged into the same account with the same password will not be able to read received and sent messages.

Note. The program that protects the privacy of correspondence was created by the Telegram development team. It is called MTProto and is built into the messenger, you do not need to use bot to install it.

A secret chat on Telegram keeps the interlocutor anonymous. To create a dialog, you only need to know the username. It is not necessary to give your opponent a phone number.

Another advantage is the available function of self-destruction of information after reading it by the recipient. Moreover, it is impossible to undo the deletion or restore the text after its destruction.

If chat is closed and disconnected, all transmitted and received messages, regardless of whether the interlocutor managed to read them or not, are also destroyed on the devices from which the correspondence was conducted.

And finally, when trying to take a screenshot of the screen by one of the participants in the dialogue:

  • on iOS – the second party will receive a notification from the performed actions;
  • on other operating systems, a message will be displayed stating that copying of text is prohibited.

Features

To the question: a secret chat in Telegram – what is it, what is its difference from a regular chat, you can answer – this is a private correspondence, the peculiarity of which is in the set of the following functions:

  • When information is deleted by one side of the dialogue, the message also disappears from the other.
  • Self-destruction of text, file by timer. The settings allow you to enable the deletion of correspondence after a specified period after reading. The time for self-destruction is set by either side of the dialogue and ranges from one minute to seven days.
  • Inability to forward information from a private dialogue to unauthorized persons.
  • Screenshot protection. On the iPhone, when one participant in the dialogue tries to take a photo of the screen, the second is immediately notified of this. On smartphones with Android, the application does not provide the ability to create screenshots, but this attempt is also reported to the second party.
  • The number of created secret chats in Telegram is not limited even with one contact, but it is impossible to create a secret group chat.
  • All transmitted information is encrypted and stored only on the devices of the participants in the dialogues. It is not saved on remote servers, it is inaccessible from other gadgets, even if Telegram is installed on them with the same account.

How to hide a chat – step by step instructions

In order to open a secret chat, you need to go to the messenger settings on the main page.

For Android

On smartphones with the Android operating system installed, you can create a hidden chat in Telegram by clicking on the three horizontal bars located in the upper left corner of the application.

If you tap on them, a list of main menu functions will open. It is enough to select the section “New secret chat” and find the desired name.

The fact that communication is taking place in a secret chat is signaled by a lock icon next to the interlocutor’s nickname.

On iPhone

Hide chat in Telegram for iOS is as easy as for Android. The only difference is the shape and location of the icon for entering the main menu.

On the iPhone, in order to start chatting in a secret chat, you need to click on the pencil icon located in the upper right corner, which means entering the main menu.

Then, as in the previous paragraph, select the Section “New secret chat”, find the interlocutor and start communicating.

On PC

The regular desktop version does not allow you to create a hidden chat in Telegram. In order to hide important correspondence on your computer, you need to install the BlueStacks emulator. Such a program is installed on computers with Windows, Mac, Linux.

Then we go to the messenger menu, click on the item “New secret chat”, choose a partner for communication.

But there is a condition: both interlocutors must go into a hidden chat from a computer – if one works from the desktop version, and the second from a smartphone, there will be no connection.

Setting a self-destruct timer

The principle of connecting the period of self-destruction of information after it has been read by the interlocutor is common for devices on all operating systems:

  • in an open secret chat, enter the menu located in the upper right corner;
  • select the section “Set a timer for deleting messages and tap on it;
  • determine the time required to receive information, click on it;
  • click the button confirming the selection.

After the operations carried out, the interlocutor will be able to see the information only for a set period. At the end of the time specified in the settings, the message is deleted.

Setting the message self-destruct timer

How to delete secret chat

It’s not difficult to do this, you don’t have to leave the chat:

  • go to the chat menu;
  • item “Delete”.

After completing these operations, all information will disappear. It will not be hidden from the interlocutor, but will be destroyed from both devices on which the dialogue was conducted. It will be impossible to restore it.

Conclusions

A secret chat in Telegram is still an indispensable service for people doing business, those who do not want to advertise the information they are transmitting.

You can create an encrypted dialogue on any device – smartphone, tablet, desktop computer.

The secret Telegram chat does not allow sending messages, copying them.

It is also impossible to check the interlocutor by phone number, since the service allows you to see only the nickname.

When you configure the self-destruction of messages, delete the chat, all transmitted information is automatically destroyed.