If you're making the move from WhatsApp to another messaging app, one of the major hurdles is losing your chat history. Thankfully, Telegram lets you import your WhatsApp individual and group chats easily.

Here's how to import your WhatsApp chat history to Telegram...

How to Move Individual Whatsapp Chats to Telegram

You wouldn't want to leave behind all the fun texts, songs, photos, videos, and files you've shared with your friends and other contacts.

Transferring individual chats from WhatsApp is easy, but it involves exporting individual chats from specific contacts to their Telegram profile. This will only work if the person is on Telegram.

Transferring WhatsApp Chats to Telegram on iPhone

In WhatsApp on iOS, open the chat you want to transfer and tap the contact photo to open Contact Info.

Next, scroll down and select Export Chat. From the menu that pops up, pick Attach Media to include all media from the chat. You should note that if you pick this, it'll take quite a while to export the chat. Otherwise, select Without Media if you want to include only texts.

This will export your chat and open the share sheet. Choose Telegram from there, and this will open Telegram's contact list. After you select a relevant contact, Telegram will import the WhatsApp chats.

Since Telegram is available for iPadOS, you can sync your accounts and enjoy those chats on your iPad too.

Transferring WhatsApp Chats to Telegram on Android

On WhatsApp for Android, open the chat you want to move and tap on the three-dot button in the upper-right corner. From the menu that pops up, tap on More > Export Chat, and then choose Telegram from the share menu.

After that, you'll have to pick up the relevant contact from Telegram's contact list to begin importing chats.

WhatsApp will automatically export all photos, documents, videos, and audio files from your phone to Telegram. This only covers the ones stored on your phone and won't include ones you've deleted.

How to Move WhatsApp Group Chats to Telegram

Telegram lets you add up to 200,000 users to a group, offers enhanced permissions for admins, and provides better group management features. These are just some of the reasons you might want to move your WhatsApp groups to Telegram.

There are a few things to note when importing group chats from WhatsApp to Telegram:

  • If you create a new Telegram group and import all the group chats, you become the group's owner. You can always transfer the ownership later.
  • WhatsApp group members who are not on Telegram will not be automatically added to the new Telegram group.
  • You can invite your friends using an invite link or sending a text. Your friends can join the group using their phone number or a username.
  • Group owners and admins can decide whether new group members can see older messages or not.

After transferring your group chats to Telegram, you'll have to assign admin roles and give appropriate permissions to them and other users.

You can add some useful Telegram bots to spice the chats and make them entertaining. And if you want to avoid the chaos in the WhatsApp group chats, explore useful Telegram channels and use the ones that interest you.

Moving Group Chats on iOS

On iPhone, open the WhatsApp group chat you want to export. Tap on the contact to open Contact Info. Scroll down, select Export Chat, and pick whether you want to Attach Media or export Without Media.

WhatsApp will export your chats and open a share menu for you to select Telegram. That will open the Telegram's contact list for you to pick the group you've made or select Import to a New Group. Choose Create and Import to start a new one.

Moving WhatsApp Group Chats on Android

On Android, you can create a group on Telegram that you want to export your group chat to.

You can then open the WhatsApp group chat and tap on the three-dot button in the top right corner. From the menu that pops up, select More > Export chat. Select whether you want the export to Attach Media or continue Without Media to begin the process.

When WhatsApp exports a chat, a share sheet will open. You can select Telegram from the share sheet to launch Telegram's contact list. You'll see the group you've created on that list. Select it to begin the import.

If you haven't made a group, you can select Import to a New Group and choose Create and Import at the top of the contacts list to make a new group.

Tip: Disable Contact Notifications When Moving Chats

Telegram requires you to register using your phone number, just like WhatsApp. To make exporting chats as easy as possible, you'll need to sync your contacts with Telegram at first.

However, you'll continue to receive a barrage of 'contact has joined' notifications as folks from your phone contacts join Telegram.

Once you've completed the transfer of the chats you want to keep, you can disable the contact joined notification on Telegram. You can even disable these contact notifications while importing your WhatsApp chats.

For that, you need to disable contact syncing for Telegram after your initial sync.

To disable these notifications for Telegram on iOS or iPadOS, follow these steps:

  1. Tap Settings in the bottom-right corner.
  2. Select Privacy and Security.
  3. Scroll down and choose Data Settings.
  4. Under the Contacts, toggle Sync Contacts off, and then tap on Delete Synced Contacts.
  5. Head back to Settings and select Notifications and Sounds.
  6. Scroll down and turn the toggle off for New Contacts.

To disable Contact Joined Notifications for Telegram on Android, you'll use these steps:

  1. Tap the menu (three horizontal lines icon) at the top-left and pick Settings.
  2. From Settings, tap Privacy and Security.
  3. Scroll down till you see Contacts, disable the toggle for Sync Contacts, and tap Delete Synced Contacts.
  4. Head back to Settings and select Notifications and Sounds.
  5. Scroll down to Events and turn off the toggle for Contact joined Telegram.

After doing this, you'll have to manually add contacts to Telegram.

Move Your Chats To Telegram Before You Ditch WhatsApp

The best thing about importing WhatsApp chats is that Telegram restores the original timestamps for all messages, even in the group chats. You'll notice the 'Imported' text as part of the timestamp on such messages.

If you're are unsure about moving your chats out of WhatsApp, you could explore more about why Telegram is such a popular alternative to WhatsApp. Telegram offers plenty of useful features for you to explore and become an advanced user.