How to Stop "Contact Joined Telegram" Notifications

You can stop "Contact joined Telegram" alerts with one switch in Telegram's notification settings. It is usually called "Contact joined Telegram" or "New contacts" and sits in the events part of Notifications and Sounds. Turning it off on one device usually applies to your whole account, but it is worth checking each app you use.

This guide shows where the switch is on each platform, why the alerts happen in the first place, how to clean up the chats they leave behind, and what you can and cannot do to stop other people being told when you join.

Why Telegram sends these alerts

Telegram can match the phone numbers in your address book against its users. When you allow contact syncing, your phone shares your contacts with Telegram so the app can show you which friends already use it. When someone in that list creates an account later, Telegram sends you an alert and often opens a chat with a small service message saying they joined.

Two things have to be true for you to get the alert:

• Your contacts are synced with Telegram, now or at some point in the past.
• The new account uses a phone number that is saved in your contacts.

That second point explains alerts that seem random. A plumber you called once, an old colleague or a number you saved years ago can all trigger one. It also explains why someone who changed their number may appear to "join" again.

The alert itself is harmless. It does not mean the person can see your messages, and it does not mean they were told about you. It is simply Telegram announcing a match.

Before you start

• Update Telegram from your app store or Telegram's website. Menu names move between versions, and older versions may label the switch differently.
• Know which apps you use. Many people have Telegram on a phone and a computer. Notification preferences are mostly stored with your account, but some settings are kept per device.
• Decide what you want. Do you only want silence, or do you also want Telegram to stop reading your address book? These are separate settings, covered below.

Turn off the alert on Android

1. Open Telegram and tap the menu (the three lines in the top-left corner).
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Notifications and Sounds.
4. Scroll down to the events section.
5. Turn off the switch named "Contact joined Telegram" or similar.

If you do not see it, scroll the whole page. On some versions it sits near other event switches such as pinned messages. Telegram changes this screen from time to time, so the exact position may differ from what is described here.

Turn off the alert on iPhone and iPad

1. Open Telegram and tap Settings in the bottom bar.
2. Tap Notifications and Sounds.
3. Scroll to the lower part of the screen.
4. Look for a switch called "New Contacts", "Contact Joined" or similar, and turn it off.

The iOS app sometimes uses shorter labels than Android. If you cannot find it, use the search bar at the top of Settings and type "contact". That search usually jumps straight to the right switch.

Turn off the alert on Telegram Desktop

1. Open Telegram Desktop on Windows, macOS or Linux.
2. Open Settings from the main menu.
3. Choose Notifications.
4. Find the events area and untick "Contact joined Telegram" if it is shown.

Desktop apps follow the account setting in most cases, so if you switched it off on your phone, you may find it already off here. The native macOS app and Telegram Web have their own layouts. In those, look in the notification settings for any event switch about contacts. For more on the differences between the apps, see Telegram on Desktop and Web.

Check that it worked

You cannot easily test this on demand, because you need a contact to join. Instead:

1. Re-open Notifications and Sounds on each device and confirm the switch is off.
2. Close and re-open the app, then check again. If the switch has flipped back, the setting did not save. That usually means a connection problem at the moment you changed it.
3. Wait for the next real join. If you still get an alert, go through the troubleshooting section below.

Clean up the chats these alerts create

Turning off the notification stops the sound and banner. On some versions, a chat with a "joined Telegram" service message may still appear in your chat list. Here is how to deal with the leftovers.

Delete them one by one

1. Long-press the chat (or right-click on Desktop).
2. Choose Delete.
3. Confirm. Deleting a chat that only contains a join message removes nothing important.

Delete many at once

1. On a phone, long-press one chat to enter selection mode.
2. Tap the other join chats to add them.
3. Tap the delete icon.

Archive instead of deleting

If you might want to message the person later, archive the chat. Archived chats stay out of your main list. You can learn more in How to pin, mute and archive Telegram chats.

Use folders to hide noise

A folder that only includes the chats you care about keeps join messages out of sight without deleting anything. The guide to Telegram folders shows how to build one.

Stop Telegram reading your address book

If the deeper issue is that you do not want Telegram matching your contacts at all, turn off contact syncing.

1. Open Settings, then Privacy and Security.
2. Find the data settings or contacts section.
3. Turn off the switch for syncing contacts.
4. If offered, use the option to delete synced contacts. This removes the copy Telegram stored from your phone book.

What changes after this:

• Telegram will no longer learn about new numbers you save.
• Contacts already saved inside Telegram may stay until you delete synced contacts.
• Fewer people from your phone book appear in your Telegram contact list, which also means fewer join alerts.

What does not change:

• People you already chat with stay in your chat list.
• You can still add contacts manually by username or number.

On a phone, you can also remove Telegram's contacts permission in your phone's own app settings. This stops future syncing at the system level. Telegram may then show a reminder asking for access; you can dismiss it.

Can you stop others being told when you join?

This is the question people search next, often before they create an account.

The honest answer is that you have limited control. The alert is generated on the other person's side, because their synced contacts include your number. Your settings cannot reach into their phone book.

What you can control:

• Who can find you by your number. In Privacy and Security, the phone number settings let you limit who can see your number and who can find you by it. This narrows how visible you are, though it may not stop every join alert. The guide on hiding your phone number on Telegram covers the options in detail.
• Which number you use. Some people sign up with a number that friends do not have saved. That is a personal choice and has its own trade-offs, such as account recovery.

What you cannot control:

• Whether a friend has contact syncing switched on.
• Whether a friend saved your number years ago.

If privacy around joining matters to you, set your phone number privacy before you start chatting, and read our privacy settings checklist for the rest.

If the alerts keep coming

The switch is off but alerts still arrive

1. Check every device. An old tablet or a work laptop may still be logged in. In Settings, the devices or active sessions screen lists every login.
2. Update each app. An outdated client may handle the setting differently.
3. Toggle the switch on, close the app, then toggle it off again. This forces the setting to save.

If none of this helps, the alerts may come from your phone's system, not Telegram. Check that you are not seeing a notification from a different app, such as a contacts app or a messenger that mirrors Telegram.

The alert comes as a normal message notification

Sometimes the join message arrives inside a chat and is announced like any other message. In that case:

1. Long-press the chat and mute it, or delete it.
2. Check that the general notification settings for private chats are what you want. Muting all private chats would stop real messages too, so avoid that unless you mean it.

Join messages pile up after reinstalling

Reinstalling or logging in on a new phone can re-sync contacts. If you turned syncing off before, check that it is still off on the new device. Syncing is often switched on by default during setup.

Example: a quiet setup for a busy phone

Example only. Maria runs a small Telegram channel and has three thousand contacts from years of freelance work. Join alerts arrive several times a week.

1. She turns off "Contact joined Telegram" on her Android phone.
2. She checks her laptop and finds the same switch already off.
3. She turns off contact syncing and deletes synced contacts, because she prefers to add people by username.
4. She selects old join chats and deletes them in one go.
5. She creates a "Work" folder for her channel admin chats.

The result is a chat list with only the conversations she uses, and no new alerts.

Common mistakes

• Muting all private chats. This silences join alerts but also every real message. Use the specific switch instead.
• Only changing one device. Most settings follow the account, but a forgotten device can still behave differently. Check each one.
• Deleting a chat you needed. A join message sometimes sits in a chat that later held a real conversation. Look before you bulk-delete.
• Assuming turning off sync deletes contacts. It stops new syncing. Use the delete synced contacts option to remove what was already stored.
• Thinking the other person was told about you. Your alert says nothing to them. Their alert, if any, depends on their own settings.

FAQ

Does turning off the alert tell my contacts anything?

No. The setting only affects what you see. Nobody is notified that you changed it.

Will I still see new contacts in my contact list?

If contact syncing is on, yes. The switch only stops the alert. To stop the matching itself, turn off contact syncing.

Why did someone I barely know show up as joining?

Their number was in your phone book, possibly saved long ago. Telegram matched it when they signed up.

Can I turn the alerts back on later?

Yes. Go back to Notifications and Sounds and switch it on. Alerts resume for future joins only.

Is the join alert a sign of a scam?

Not by itself. But scammers sometimes message new users soon after they join. If a new contact asks for a code, money or a link click, read how to spot Telegram scams first.

Summary

Turn off "Contact joined Telegram" (sometimes "New contacts") in Notifications and Sounds on each device you use. Delete or archive leftover join chats, or hide them with a folder. If you want Telegram to stop matching your address book, turn off contact syncing and delete synced contacts in Privacy and Security. You cannot stop friends from being told you joined, but phone number privacy settings reduce how visible you are.