What Are Telegram Read Receipts and Can You Turn Them Off?

Quick Tips

• Enable Airplane Mode on your phone and read the Telegram message without sending read receipts.
• You can check any recent Telegram messages from the notification panel. You can also ask Siri or Google Assistant to read them for you.
• Open Telegram > long-press the chat profile picture or icon > read recent messages without read receipts.

What Does Telegram Check Mark or Read Receipt Mean?

Telegram’s read receipts let you know whether the other user has read your message. This is where the check marks and eye icon come in. You can use this feature in individual chats, groups, and channels to know who or how many users have read your message. For more details, here’s a step-by-step look.

One Check Mark

Step 1: Open Telegram and tap on the relevant user or group.

Step 2: Check for a single check mark in front of your message.

If you see it, your message has been sent to the other user or group but has yet to be seen. Once the other user opens the message, it will turn into two check marks.

Two Check Mark

Step 1: Open Telegram and tap on the relevant user or group.

Step 2: Here, check the message for two check marks.

Tip: In Telegram groups, tap on the message with two check marks to see who has read it in the group.

Eye Icon

Note: This is only visible when using Telegram channels.

Step 1: Open Telegram and tap on the relevant channel.

Step 2: Here, go to the selected message and check the eye icon.

The number in front of the eye icon signifies the number of people who have seen the message in the channel. However, you can’t see who has seen the message.

Also Read: How to search for Telegram groups and channels

Can You Turn off Read Receipts on Telegram?

Unfortunately, there is no option to turn off read receipts on Telegram as of now. This means it will display two check marks as long as you open the chat window. In Telegram channels, the number of views for the read messages will increase accordingly.

How to Read a Message on Telegram Without Sending Read Receipts

While Telegram will immediately add the second check mark or increase the view count to messages that have been seen, there are some workarounds to prevent this. This can help you read a message without notifying the other user, though it might be temporary for some methods.

Method 1: Using Telegram in Airplane Mode

Airplane mode helps turn off all communications for your device. This means Wi-Fi will automatically turn off once you turn on Airplane mode, preventing Telegram from notifying the other user.

You can now check the message without informing the other users. However, this is a temporary solution, as Telegram will display the second check mark once you disable Airplane mode on your device.

Method 2: Checking Messages From the Notification Panel

New messages are usually visible in the notification panel. To use this method, open the notification panel and see the recent Telegram messages without sending read receipts. However, you might only see a limited number of messages. Additionally, they might disappear if you dismiss the notification.

Method 3: Using Snoop and Look

The Snoop and Look feature ensures you can see messages in a chat without opening the message in the Telegram app. Here’s how to use it.

Step 1: Open Telegram and go to the relevant chat. Long-press the chat profile picture or icon.

Step 2: Now, scroll through this window to see recent messages.

While this will allow you to see more messages than the other methods, you can’t see all the messages sent or received within the chat on the Telegram mobile app.

Method 4: Using Google Assistant or Siri to Read the Message

If you’re using an Android device, you can activate Google Assistant to read the newly received Telegram message without letting the other user know. iPhone users can set up and personalize Siri’s response to make it read aloud your recent Telegram messages without any read receipts.

FAQs for Understanding Telegram Read Receipts