How to download and install Telegram on Mac

Which Telegram to download

Both apps use the same account and show the same chats. They differ in how they look and where they come from:

• Telegram for macOS is made for the Mac and looks and works like other Mac apps. It suits most Mac users, and this page’s download button and Homebrew command are for it. In the Mac App Store it is called Telegram.
• Telegram Desktop is the same app as on Windows and Linux. Take it if you also use those systems and want the same interface everywhere. It comes from desktop.telegram.org, and in the Mac App Store it is called Telegram Lite.

To install Telegram Desktop with Homebrew instead:

Downloaded from the website, both apps are called Telegram in Applications, so install only one of them. Download Telegram only from telegram.org or the App Store.

How to install Telegram

1. Open Telegram.dmg in your Downloads folder.
2. In the window that opens, drag Telegram to the Applications folder.

3. Eject the Telegram disk: click the eject button next to it in the Finder sidebar.
4. Open Telegram from Applications and click Open when macOS asks about an app downloaded from the internet.

From the App Store, search for Telegram, click Get, then Install. It appears in Applications by itself.

Sign in to Telegram

1. Open Telegram on your Mac and click Start Messaging: it shows a QR code.
2. On your phone, open Telegram and go to Settings › Devices, then tap the button to link a desktop device.
3. Point the phone’s camera at the QR code on the Mac screen.
4. No phone at hand? Choose to log in by phone number instead and enter the code Telegram sends you.

Your chats are stored in Telegram’s cloud, so they appear on the Mac right away. Secret chats stay only on the device where they were started.

What to set up after the first launch

• Notifications. If you don’t get new message alerts, turn them on for Telegram in System Settings › Notifications.
• Microphone and Camera: macOS asks the first time you call. If you clicked Don’t Allow, turn on Telegram in System Settings › Privacy & Security.
• Opening at login. If you don’t want Telegram to start with your Mac, turn it off in System Settings › General › Login Items.
• Cache. Telegram keeps the photos and videos you open, and the cache grows fast in busy chats and channels. Its size and the button to clear it are in Telegram’s settings, under data and storage.
• The installer. Move Telegram.dmg from Downloads to the Trash once Telegram runs.

If Telegram won’t install or open

• «Telegram is damaged and can’t be opened». The download was incomplete. Delete it and download it again from telegram.org.
• The phone won’t read the QR code. Turn up the screen brightness and hold the phone straight in front of the screen, or log in by phone number.
• Nothing helps. Remove Telegram completely, with its local copy of chats and cache, and install it again: see how to uninstall Telegram on Mac.

Alternatives to Telegram

• WhatsAppChats and calls with your phone contacts.
• SignalEnd-to-end encrypted, run by a non-profit.
• DiscordVoice channels and communities.