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The best way to hide something is to not have it in the first place. But what if you only want to show your Telegram profile picture to your contacts, or hide it from someone in particular? Here's how to hide your Telegram profile picture.

Telegram's privacy feature gives you an incredible amount of control over who can and can't see your profile picture. You can only show your profile picture to your contacts if you want. You can also specifically choose the contacts, groups, or users from whom you want to hide your profile picture.

Related: PSA: Telegram Chats Aren't End-to-End Encrypted by Default

The steps for hiding the profile picture in Telegram are slightly different for iPhone and Android. We will talk about both platforms below.

Hide Your Profile Picture in Telegram on iPhone

You can hide your profile picture from the general public or specific users via the settings menu section in the Telegram app. To get started, open the Telegram app on your iPhone and go to the "Settings" tab.

Tap Settings icon from Toolbar in Telegram for iPhone

Here, choose the "Privacy and Security" option.

Tap Privacy and Security in Telegram for iPhone

Now, select the "Profile Photo" option.

Tap Profile Photo from Telegram Settings

By default, the profile picture is shown to "Everyone."

If you want to hide your profile picture from the general public (and anyone who gets their hands on your phone number or username), choose the "My Contacts" option. Now, only users who are in your contact book will be able to see your profile picture.

Tap My Contacts from Telegram for iPhone

If you want to add particular exceptions, you can do so from the "Exceptions" section.

To hide your profile picture from particular contacts, groups, or a user who's harassing you, tap the "Never Share With" button.

Tap Never Share With from Telegram for iPhone

Here, select the "Add Users or Groups" option.

Tap Add Users from Never Share With in Telegram for iPhone

Search for and select the user you want to hide your profile picture from. Tap the "Done" button to save your choice.

Select User and Tap Done in Telegram for iPhone

You can go back and choose the "Always Share With" option to always share your profile picture with particular users or groups.

Tap Always Share With in Telegram for iPhone

Tap the "Add Users or Groups" option.

Tap Add Users from Always Share With in Telegram for iPhone

Search for and select contacts who you want to add. Tap "Done" to save your choices.

Select Users to Always Share with in Telegram for iPhone

Telegram will now show your profile picture with the selected users.

Hide Your Profile Picture in Telegram on Android

The steps for hiding your profile picture in Telegram are slightly different for the Android app.

Open the Telegram app and tap the three-line menu icon from the top-left corner.

Tap Menu in Telegram for Android

Now, choose the "Settings" option.

Tap Settings in Telegram for Android

Here, go to the "Privacy and Security" section.

Tap Privacy and Security from Telegram Settings on Android

Choose the "Profile Photos" option.

Tap Profile Photos from Telegram on Android

If you only want to share your profile picture with users in your contact book, choose the "My Contacts" option. This instantly hides your photo from everyone else on Telegram.

Tap My Contacts from Telegram on Android

But you can go a step further. Once you choose the "My Contacts" option, Telegram will give you two more granular options: "Always Allow" and "Never Allow."

The "Always Allow" feature will let you add users or groups that can see your profile picture (This also works for users who are not in your contact book.).

Tap the "Always Allow" button to get started.

Tap Always Allow from Telegram on Android

Search for and add contacts, users, or groups. You can also search for contacts based on their usernames.

Choose User in Telegram for Android

Tap the checkmark icon to save your selection.

Tap Checkmark in Telegram for Android

Similarly, you can choose the "Never Allow" feature and add contacts, users, or groups that you want to hide your profile picture from.

Tap Never Allow from Telegram on Android

Search for and select the contacts (or users) from whom you want to hide your profile picture.

Search and Select User in Telegram for Android

Now, tap the checkmark icon to save the selection.

Tap Checkmark in Telegram for Android

Once you are done customizing the settings, tap the checkmark icon from the top-right corner to save the settings.

Tap Checkmark to Save Settings in Telegram for Android

And that's it. Telegram will now hide the profile picture from the selected users.


New to Telegram? Here's how to use Telegram's encrypted Secret Chat mode.

Related: How to Start an Encrypted Secret Chat in Telegram