How to Pin and Manage Messages in Telegram

Jamie Read more January 23, 2022

One neat feature that seems to be quite underrated in the world’s favorite chat app, Telegram, is the ability to pin a message. Pinning messages keeps it at the top of your chat list, ensuring you can access it quickly and easily. You can pin your private chats or those in groups, and it is convenient indeed.

People pin messages frequently. It tends to be conversation threads that they want to return to, or when people send links, they don’t have time to check right away. Users pin the chat, access it quickly, and then unpin it when they have done what they wanted. Groups often pin important messages, too, to ensure every member has the chance to read them.

How to Pin a Message in Telegram

It is relatively simple to pin a message in Telegram, so it gets used often. You can pin chats between individuals or groups, and the process is the same.

Open the chat you want to pin in Telegram.
Tap on the chat until a popup box appears.
Select “Pin,” then choose whether to allow all parties to know you pinned it.
Confirm your action by tapping “PIN.”
Your chat remains at the top of your message screen, ready for you to do what you need to do with it. When you no longer need it, simply tap the “x” icon and select “Unpin.”

That isn’t all you can do with Telegram chats. Here are a few more tips and tricks for Telegram that will supercharge your experience.

Edit Sent Messages in Telegram

One unusual but welcome feature in Telegram is the ability to edit messages, even after you sent them. If you send a group message or a chat with someone essential and spot a glaring typo, you can go into that message and edit it after the fact.

Open the chat you want to edit in Telegram.
Long press on the chat.
Select “edit” (pencil icon) from the popup box.
Make your change and tap on the “save” icon (checkmark icon).

The message gets changed for everyone, and a pencil icon shows that the message got edited too.

Reply to Messages from Your Home Screen in Telegram

Like you can reply to SMS notifications from your phone’s “Home” screen, you can do the same in Telegram. You need to enable the function first, but if you’re usually quick off the mark when replying, this can save precious seconds.

Open Telegram and select “Settings.”
Select “Notifications and Sounds.”
Enable Notifications for chats.

This setting displays a notification on your “Home” screen when you get a message. You can then tap that message and reply directly.

Read Telegram Messages without Telling the Sender

If curiosity gets the better of you and you cannot wait to read a message but don’t have time for a protracted chat, you can secretly read Telegram messages. The process is the same as other chat apps—use airplane mode.

Allow Telegram to download the message as usual.
Turn on “Airplane mode” in your phone.
Open and read your Telegram message.
Shut down Telegram until you want the read receipt to be sent.

Using “Airplane mode” is an old trick but still a useful one.

How to Hide When You Were Last on Telegram

There are times when you sneak on to Telegram, but you don’t want certain friends to know. The reasons are many and likely all valid, so it’s good that you can hide the “Last Seen” setting.

Open Telegram and select “Settings.”
Select “Privacy and Security.”
Modify “Last Seen & Online.”

Within the “Last Seen” setting, you get to choose who sees what and can even add exceptions to any rules you set. It’s a neat little feature that comes in handy sometimes.

Sort Your Chats with Hashtags in Telegram

If you have a massive group in Telegram, it might be helpful to sort all your conversations with hashtags. These work in the same way as they do on Twitter. You can search for particular hashtags quickly. The process is Ideal for busier groups.

Open a message within Telegram.
Tap on the “vertical ellipsis” (three-dotted icon) in the upper right section to access the search option.
Type the “hashtag” (#) character followed by a meaningful term.

You can now search using that hashtag, as will other people in the group.

Stop GIFs from Autoplaying in Telegram

Many people don’t like GIFs. They find them incredibly annoying and not that funny most of the time. The ability to stop them from auto-playing and flashing or moving on your phone is invaluable. Here is how to enable the setting.

Open Telegram and select “Settings.”
Tap on “Data and Storage.”
Toggle “Auto-play media GIFs” to off.

Now, you get to enjoy a GIF-free Telegram experience. You can still play GIFs when you select them, but they will no longer flash annoyingly at you until you manually trigger them.

In closing, pinning messages in Telegram is relatively easy, and it makes your selected chats stand out from the rest to keep things organized. Also, managing your chat messages is not complex if you know what you can do, such as sorting by using hashtags, editing your messages, controlling animated GIFs in chats, and more. The shortcuts also speed things up, such as replying to others directly from the “Home” screen.