How to use Telegram without your real phone number

What Telegram does with your number

A Telegram account is created with a phone number. Depending on your settings, people who have that number in their contacts can find you, and members of the groups you join may be able to see it. The number is also how you log in again on a new device.

That gives you two good reasons to use a private number rather than your personal one:

• Privacy. Nobody can look you up with the number from your contacts, from your listings or from a data leak.
• Separation. A number used only for Telegram can’t be linked to your other accounts through your main SIM.

A private number is the foundation; the privacy settings below do the rest.

Pick a number you can keep

Telegram sends the first login code by SMS or with a phone call. A real mobile number receives these reliably. A VoIP number from a calling app often works too, but some VoIP ranges are refused, and that can change over time.

More important than the type is how long you keep it. You will need the number to log in on a new device, so choose a rental you intend to keep — the price is locked for as long as the number is yours.

Can you use Telegram without a phone number?

Not entirely: every Telegram account starts with a phone number. The closest thing to “no number” is an anonymous +888 number bought on Fragment, the TON blockchain marketplace for Telegram usernames and numbers. It needs no SIM, but it only works inside Telegram — it can’t receive texts or calls from anything else — and it is held by a wallet that anyone can see on the TON blockchain. It isn’t cheap either: all 136,566 of these numbers sold out in December 2022, they are now only resold by their owners, and on 29 September 2026 the cheapest one for sale was listed at 2,300 TON — roughly $3,500.

A private number that isn’t registered to your name does the same job for Telegram and also works for Signal, WhatsApp and the other accounts you want to keep apart. Whichever you choose, the settings below keep the number hidden from other users.

Create the account

1. Reserve the number and pay in crypto; it’s live the moment it’s paid.
2. Open the Numonym inbox in your browser.
3. Install Telegram and tap Start Messaging.
4. Enter the number with its country code.
5. Type the login code. It appears in your inbox with a copy button. If Telegram calls you instead, the code read aloud is transcribed and detected in your voicemail.
6. Set a name and a username. The username is what you will share instead of the number.

Later, when you log in on another device, Telegram usually sends the code as a message inside the app on the devices already logged in. SMS and calls are used when no other session is active — one more reason to keep the number.

Hide your number from other users

1. Open Settings → Privacy and Security → Phone Number.
2. Set Who can see my phone number to Nobody.
3. Set Who can find me by my number to My Contacts, so strangers who have the number can’t look you up.
4. Review the other entries on the same screen — Last Seen & Online, Profile Photos, Groups & Channels — and restrict them the same way.

With these settings, other users see your name and username, never the number itself.

Two more settings on the same screen are worth a look:

• Calls → Use peer-to-peer: set it to Nobody or My Contacts. Peer-to-peer calls connect you directly to the other person, which can reveal your IP address; with this off, calls are relayed through Telegram’s servers.
• Groups & Channels: choose who can add you. Restricting it to your contacts stops strangers from dropping you into groups where your profile becomes visible to hundreds of people.

Your username can be changed or removed at any time, so you can give out a temporary one for a sale or an event and retire it afterwards — the account and the private number stay the same.

Protect the account

• Two-Step Verification (Privacy and Security → Two-Step Verification) adds a password that is required on every new login, even with a valid code. Telegram offers a recovery email; it is optional, but without it the password cannot be reset, so store it well.
• Passkey: from a device that is already logged in, create a passkey to log in on a new device with its PIN, fingerprint or face instead of an SMS code — handy when you are travelling.
• Passcode lock locks the app on your device with a code or with biometrics.
• Active sessions (Settings → Devices) shows every device logged in to your account. End the ones you don’t recognize.
• Account self-destruct: Telegram deletes accounts that don’t come online for a set period — 18 months according to its FAQ — and you can change the period under Privacy and Security. Pick one that matches how often you use the account.

On the Numonym side, transfers and port-outs need your PIN and your 2FA, and our support team can’t move a number on your behalf. See how to protect your accounts from SIM swapping.

Reading your texts in Telegram

Numonym can also forward the texts your number receives to Telegram, where you can read them and reply. It is convenient when you already live in Telegram all day.

Keep in mind that Telegram can see what passes through it. For sensitive codes, use the web inbox or forward to PGP-encrypted email instead — you choose the destination number by number.