Telegram is the all-in-one messaging-cum-networking platform that allows us to do many different things ranging from personal one-to-one services like chatting to more socially-oriented features like groups and channels. But if you are more into messaging on Telegram, you might be interested in knowing about the “last seen” and “online” statuses that appear on the top of the chat screen of people you chat with.
As on other messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger, your “online” and “last seen” statuses on Telegram are displayed to everyone who chats with you or has your number on their app. But sometimes, these statuses can behave strangely and can show incorrect statuses. And many times, you can appear online to others even when you are not.
This blog will discuss why Telegram shows people you are online even when you are not using Telegram. We will talk about when and why your “online” status might appear incorrectly on Telegram and how you can stop this error for your account.
Why are “last seen” and “online” statuses important, anyway?
The “last seen” and online statuses on Telegram are meant to help users know a bit about their friends’ Telegram usage. By looking at your friend’s “last seen” timestamp, you can get an idea about how frequently they use Telegram and decide whether you should approach them on the platform.
If you open someone’s chat screen on Telegram and see that they were last seen “recently,” it is quite safe to assume that they will be online on the app soon. But if you see that the user last came online “a week ago” or “a long time ago,” you can be sure that contacting them on Telegram will not be a good idea.
For users who have enabled these statuses for everyone, you can see the exact “last seen” timestamps instead of “recently” or “a month ago.” Clearly, these statuses help a lot when you want to chat with someone on Telegram.
But can you always rely on the “last seen” and “online” on Telegram? These statuses, although quite helpful, are not always worth your trust. Let’s talk about why your “online” or “last seen” status might appear incorrectly on your friend’s accounts.
Why Does Telegram Always Shows People That I’m Online While I’m Not?
Your online status on Telegram is meant to let people know whether you are currently using Telegram. But sometimes, this status might appear on someone else’s Telegram even when you are not online on Telegram. Why does this happen?
Well, there are a few scenarios when this can happen. But usually, you can prevent these from happening by following some simple steps. Let’s see why Telegram might show you online even when you are not:
Telegram is running in the background:
This is a common reason why you might appear online to others on Telegram even when you have not used the app for a while. We all have the habit of pressing the Home button to close an app without closing it in the background. While this habit might not cause any other issue, you might appear online on Telegram without actually being online.
When you send Telegram to the background without closing it, the app can still use your network connection and might keep sending your status online. However, this problem doesn’t occur on app devices.
Solution: Whenever you don’t want to use Telegram for a while, close it in the background. Doing this will not only help solve your issue but also clear your RAM, making your device run faster.
Your app is outdated:
Another common reason behind the incorrect online status on Telegram is an outdated version of the app. Any issue or problem is more likely to appear on an outdated version rather than an updated version.
Solution: If you haven’t updated your Telegram app for a long time, update the app as soon as possible.
You were online recently:
Sometimes, you might appear online for some time after you close the Telegram app. This is because Telegram can sometimes retain your status for a few minutes due to a technical bug or glitch. Although this might not always happen, it can happen occasionally. On such occasions, you can appear online for around 30 seconds or even up to five minutes.
Solution: Clear the cached data of Telegram. If the issue persists, uninstall the app and install it again.
Here’s what you can do to hide your online status on Telegram:
If you don’t want to appear online on Telegram without actually being online, you can try the methods mentioned above. But if you want a quick and effective technique to remove your online status, you can turn it off altogether.
Telegram allows users to choose who can see their “last seen” and “online” statuses. By default, anyone on Telegram can see when you are online or were last online on the app. But you can change these settings to limit who can see this information.
Follow these steps to change who can see your online status on Telegram.
Step 1: Open the Telegram app and tap on the three parallel lines at the top left.
Step 2: From the navigation panel that appears, go to Settings.
Step 3: On the next screen, you will arrive at your Account Settings. Select the option Privacy and Security under the subhead Settings.
Step 4: The Privacy and Security section contains several privacy settings regarding your Telegram account. Tap on Last Seen & Online.
Step 5: You will see three options to choose who to share your “last seen” status with: Everybody, My Contacts, and Nobody. By selecting Nobody, your “last seen” and “online” statuses will get hidden.
Step 6: Tap on the Check Mark at the top-right corner to save your settings.
This way, your “online” status will not be known to anyone.
Closing thoughts
Telegram has “online” and “last seen” statuses to inform users whether a person is currently online and when they were last online on the app. While these two statuses are important while using the messaging app, they can sometimes be inaccurate.
If Telegram is incorrectly showing you online even when you are not, there can be several reasons behind this. This issue can occur if you have not closed the app from the background or if your app is outdated. Other times, you might continue appearing online for a few minutes after you have closed the app.
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