Telegram is one of the best instant messengers for Linux and it definitely needs no introduction. It is loved by the community because you can install Telegram in Linux thanks to the official native Linux client. Telegram runs on my Android phone and on my Linux desktop, so life is good.
Telegram is also privacy-focused, featuring a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange.
But the thing that sets Telegram apart is its limitless nature. There’s no limit on the size of the file you can share using Telegram. You can send files of any format. The groups can contain up to 20,000 people, which I guess is quite limitless.
Talking of groups, did you know that It’s FOSS has an official Telegram channel? If you are an active Telegram user, join our official channel to receive the latest updates instantly:
Looking for Cutegram?
Cutegram was an unofficial but in some ways better Telegram app for Linux desktop.
Cutegram has been discontinued and you should not be using it anymore.
Telegram is officially available for Linux anyway, so stick with the official application.
Install Telegram desktop client in Linux
Telegram emphasizes on privacy and unlike its competitor WhatsApp, it has desktop client available for all the platforms, in addition to clients for all major mobile OS. Let’s see how to install official Telegram app in Linux.
There are various ways you can install Telegram in Linux. First would be to check if Telegram is available in your distribution’s package manager. Chances are that it should be.
Install Telegram in Ubuntu-based distributions
Telegram is available in the universe repository of Ubuntu 18.04 and higher versions. You can install it simply using the standard apt-get install command.
sudo apt install telegram-desktop
Do note that the application version in the Ubuntu repository might not be the latest.
Install Telegram in any Linux distribution using Snap
If you have enabled Snap support for your Linux distributions, you can install the Snap packaged version of Telegram.
sudo snap install telegram-desktop
Installing Telegram in any Linux distribution
Telegram also provides an executable that you can download and run by double clicking on it.
First thing first. Go to the download page of Telegram website and download the executable for your system, be it 32-bit or 64-bit. Once you have downloaded the compressed file (I presume it is in the Download directory) use the following commands to install Telegram desktop app:
cd ~/Downloads
tar -xJvf tsetup.0.7.2.tar
sudo mv Telegram /opt/telegram
sudo ln -sf /opt/telegram/Telegram /usr/bin/telegramTo explain the commands above, what we just did was to go to Downloads directory and extract the compressed code. The files are extracted in a directory named Telegram. Next what we did was to move this directory to a new directory named telegram in /opt and then made a soft link in /usr/bin so that you can run the program.
How to use Telegram in Linux
Now, once you have installed Telegram, to run it, just write telegram in terminal to start the app. For the first time you’ll be greeted with a welcome screen like this:
If you are using Ubuntu Unity, I suggest that you ‘lock it to the launcher’ so that you can easily access it from Unity Launcher and won’t have to type the command every time. Of course, at first run, you’ll have to verify your phone number.
The interface looks clean in Ubuntu. And you can use same set emoticons that are in the mobile app. Here is a screenshot of a conversation between me and my girlfriend. Actually, it’s me only who sent these messages from her iPhone :)
When the desktop app is running, you’ll get desktop notifications for new messages. At present, it doesn’t use native Unity or Gnome notifications. But hey! At least there are notifications.
It is great to see more messaging tools officially supporting Linux desktop. What’s your favorite messaging application on Linux?
Recently, I’m unable to download the media files from telegram. I’m using Arch linux. I have tried both the installers from Arch repo and the telegram’s tar file. In both cases, the download “Failed” is what I get. Can you please help here
Thank you a lot! By-hands-install works on my Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit desktop.
Great explanation but I feel it is missing an important aspect for a lot of users > A .desktop file and adding that to the application menu :)
Telegram automaticaly create the .desktop entry when you execute it the first time, that is why is important move the file before start the app.
Hi! Hope your doing well. I already have Telegram installed, but I want to update the app so i can export my chats. Can you help me?
In case of using the executable for installation you should choose a destination folder which isn’t under /opt, but where you have write permissions without sudo, e.g. create a ~/App/ folder. It will be installed only to you, but Telegram will be able to auto update itself upon launch. I believe auto update is the default setting (Under advanced)
thank you for clear information …😊. I have successfully installed telegram at my desktop using download tar, extract and make symlink between /opt and /usr/bin. But if someday I want to remove telegram, could you explain how to do it? Thank you very much for your help
In that case, remove the links and remove the extracted files. That’s it :)
ok thank you very much….😊
And how can I do that…?
Please help, I’ve been stuck trying to uninstall it for hours now.
Thank you.
I cannot give you exact commands if I do not know where you placed it and what name you gave it. I suggest reading a little bit on adding and removing links.