How to clear Telegram storage and cache

Telegram stores every photo, video, voice message and sticker you have opened on your phone as cache. Over a year of active channels and groups that easily becomes 10–30 GB. Clearing it is safe for normal chats: the files stay in the Telegram cloud and download again when you open them.

How to clear Telegram cache on iPhone

1. Open Telegram and tap Settings (bottom right).
2. Go to Data and Storage → Storage Usage. Telegram calculates how much space it uses, by type (photos, videos, files, stickers and so on) and by chat.
3. Tap Clear Entire Cache to remove everything, or uncheck the categories you want to keep first.
4. To clean selectively, scroll down to the list of chats and channels sorted by size, open the heaviest one and clear just its media.

Afterwards, check Settings → General → iPhone Storage → Telegram: the “Documents & Data” number should drop. If it does not update right away, give it a few minutes.

How to clear Telegram cache on Android

The path is the same: Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Usage → Clear Cache. Android also shows the size of the local database; if it is large, you can clear it from the same screen — chats will reload from the cloud.

Avoid using Settings → Apps → Telegram → Storage → Clear storage in Android settings as a shortcut: it logs you out and wipes everything local, including secret chats.

Set limits so the cache does not come back

Clearing once helps for a month. Limits help for good. On the same Storage Usage screen:

• Keep Media — set separately for Private Chats, Group Chats and Channels. For example: private chats — 1 month, groups — 1 week, channels — 1 day or 1 week. Older media is removed automatically.
• Maximum Cache Size — a hard cap, such as 5 GB. When the cache reaches it, Telegram deletes the oldest files first.

Turn down auto-download

Telegram downloads media in the background as soon as you scroll past it. Go to Settings → Data and Storage → Automatic Media Download and review Using Cellular and Using Wi-Fi:

• turn off videos and files for channels and groups;
• set a small size limit for videos, or keep only photos;
• enable auto-play only where you need it.

Media you do not auto-download is fetched only when you tap it.

Stop saving to your photo library

On iPhone, check Settings → Data and Storage → Save to Photos: if it is on for groups or channels, every picture lands in your camera roll — and stays there after you clear the cache, because it is now a separate copy. On Android, the equivalent is Save to Gallery in the same section.

Photos already saved this way have to be deleted in the Photos app. If there are many, the quickest way is to go through them one by one in Temfy — swipe left to delete, right to keep — or use the tips in how to clean up your camera roll.

What stays in the cloud — and what does not

• Regular chats, groups and channels — everything stays on Telegram’s servers. Clearing cache only removes local copies.
• Secret chats — stored only on your devices. Their media is not in the cloud, so think before clearing it.
• Chats you have left or deleted, and channels that were removed — their files may no longer be available to download. Save anything important before cleaning.

Is there a Telegram storage limit?

Telegram cloud storage has no overall limit — you can keep as many messages and files there as you like. What is limited is the size of a single file you can send (2 GB, or 4 GB with Telegram Premium). The only real “limit” is the space on your phone, which is why the Keep Media and Maximum Cache Size settings matter.

FAQ

Will clearing Telegram cache delete my messages?

No. Messages and media in regular chats stay in the cloud; only local copies of media are removed.

Why does Telegram still take a lot of space after clearing?

The app itself and its database take some space, and the cache starts filling up again as soon as you open chats. Set Keep Media and Maximum Cache Size to keep it in check.