How to Send Self-destructing Messages in Telegram Chats?
While using end-to-end encryption is probably secure enough for most messages in Telegram, you can go a step further and send messages that disappear after a specified amount of time. This way you don't have to manually delete the message later, so you can send it and forget about it without worrying about whether it's still there.
To start a self-destructing message in Telegram App, you have to be in a Secret Chat. You can't send self-destructing messages in a regular chat, so make sure you're in a secret chat. If not, start one.
If you're using an iPhone, tap the stopwatch icon next to the message field area in a secret chat. On an Android phone, tap the ellipsis (three dots) in the upper right corner and select "Set Self-Destruct Timer," or just tap the little stopwatch icon next to the person's name or number at the top.
From there, you can choose from a variety of lengths of time - 1 to 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 week. No matter what you choose, the timer won't start until the message is viewed on the recipient's screen (you'll see two green check marks next to the message when it starts counting down).
Any messages you send to recipients after you set the timer, or any messages they send to you afterward, will have the same time limit for viewing. It doesn't just apply to the one message you plan to send -- it applies to all new messages in your secret chat. You can't just set a timer for a message and that's it.
Well, technically, you can just send a timed message - by setting a self-destruct timer, sending your message, then disabling the timer in the secret chat. Note that the timer does not affect messages sent or received before it was set, nor after it was disabled.
If you decide to send a photo with the self-destruct timer enabled in a secret chat, it will initially be hidden and the timer won't start until the recipient taps it to open it. Unlike written messages, photo messages show you and the recipient a countdown clock.
For videos, recipients must first download the video, then click to open it. Also, if the video is longer than the timer, the new timer is given the length of the video so they can at least watch the entire video.