Can I change my phone number in Telegram?

It is important to keep your Telegram number up to date, since your provider may reassign your number to a different person when you stop using your old SIM. And in the current system the owner of the number is the owner or the Telegram account as well.

To change your number: Go to Telegram Settings > Phone number > Change number > type in your new number. If necessary, enter the code you will receive via an SMS to the new number. Done!

For this to work, please make sure there is no existing Telegram account connected to the new number. If there is one, you'll have to delete the other account before starting the transfer. 

Your contacts will have your new number added to their address book, provided they had your old number in their phone book and you have not blocked them in Telegram.

The app says my phone number is already connected to a Telegram account!

If you want to change your current phone number in Telegram, you must first ensure that the your new number does not have a Telegram account connected to it. If there is one, you need to delete it before starting the transfer.

If you delete the account currently connected to your new number, it cannot be recovered, so please make sure you don't need the account before deleting it.

Here are the detailed steps to perform this process. We also recommend that you use a non-mobile browser to do this.

1) Use any of our apps to log in with the account currently associated with your new number - e.g. go to https://web.telegram.org, enter your new phone number there and log in using the code you receive via SMS to the number.

2) Once logged into the new numbers account, navigate to https://telegram.org/deactivate and enter your new phone number there, in international format. You will now receive a password through Telegram (keep an eye on the app you logged on to in step 1). Enter the password and delete the account. (Check this post for detailed steps with screenshots)

3) Now, open your main account on a mobile device, go to Telegram Settings > Phone number > Change number > type in your new number. If necessary, enter the code you will receive via an SMS to the new number.

Done!

To contact Telegram support, go to Settings, and scroll down until you see the 'Ask a Question' button at the bottom.

If you want to join us, check out the Telegram Support Initiative.