What to Do If Someone Else’s Account Already Exists on Your New Number?

Sometimes, when trying to create a Telegram account on a recently purchased phone number, users discover that there is already a Telegram account on that number.

In this article, we explain why this can happen and what to do in such cases.

This article is related to few others. Maybe they are also useful for you:

Table of content

  1. What is the issue?
  2. How can Telegram account be linked to my new number?
  3. What should I do?
  4. Please also note
  5. For users who do not own phone number anymore

1. What is the issue?

If you recently bought a new mobile number and are trying to create a new account with it, and the app says that the code has been sent to another device, this means that the number has already been used by someone else.

If you try to change your account number to a number that is already taken by another account, you will see the message “The number +XXXXXXXXXX is already connected to a Telegram account. Please delete that account before using this number.”

2. How can Telegram account be linked to my new number?

Mobile network operators rarely sell to customers new phone numbers that no one has used before. Instead, they take phone numbers from customers who have stopped using them and sell them again. Most likely, you got such number, and the Telegram account was created by the previous owner of your number.

Why do they do this? Because if every new subscriber was given a new number, then the available numbers would run out pretty quickly. It is not difficult to find articles on this topic on the Internet.

3. What should I do?

You have two options:

  1. Contact the previous owner of the number (for example, by writing to him on Telegram) and inform him that the number now belongs to you and that you can at least delete it. This is the absolute truth: suggest that he read section 5 of this article.
  2. Go straight to deleting the old account. More on that below.

Shortly

Your task is to log into your existing account and delete it, and if you can’t log in, simply reset the account. A short sequence of steps looks like this:

  1. Request a one-time authorization code in the form of a call or SMS:
    • If the application sends it to your phone number, then simply enter it in the application and go to the next step.
    • If the application informs that the code was sent to your email, then reset this email, enter yours and receive the code to it.
    • If the application asks you to enter an email address to receive codes, enter your address and receive the code to it.
  2. Enter the one-time authorization code in your application.
  3. If the account is not protected by a cloud password, then you will immediately be authorized in the account and can delete it. If the application asks you to enter a cloud password, reset the account.

Detailed

We’ll tell you more about each step.

  1. In the official mobile app, start logging in to your account and enter your new phone number. You won’t be able to request an SMS from the web app, from Telegram Desktop, or from unofficial apps.
  2. Then everything depends on whether the account has been switched to email authorization. There are three possible options:
    • 2.1. The account has not been switched to email authorization. If the app says “We’ve sent the code to the Telegram app on your other device”, click the button to request a code in the form of an SMS or phone call, which is located under this message. There are three possible options:
      • 2.1.1. The code has arrived successfully. If the app says that Telegram is calling you or sending an SMS, and the code has arrived, then simply enter it in your app.
      • 2.1.2. The code was sent but has not arrived. If the application reports that the code has been sent, but the code has not arrived, read section #3 of the article “What to Do When Telegram Auth Code Doesn’t Arrive?”
      • 2.1.3. The code was not sent. Finally, if the application reports “Sorry. If you did not receive a call or SNS with the code, check your settings…”, then read section #4 of the same article.
    • 2.2. The account was switched to authorization by mail. If the application reports “Enter the code that was sent to the email [email protected]”, click the “No access to mail?” button. If the account has a Telegram Premium subscription, you can reset the mail immediately, and if not, you have two options:
      • 2.2.1. Wait 7 days. Start the mail reset procedure. After 7 days, try to log in to the account again, enter your email and receive the authorization code.
      • 2.2.2. Gift a subscription. Give your account a Telegram Premium subscription and reset your email right away. We don’t recommend doing this, because it may turn out that the account is also protected by a cloud password; in this case, you’ll have to reset it completely, and then the subscription you gave it will disappear along with the account.
    • 2.3. Telegram is switching the account to email authorization right now. Telegram may decide to switch the account to email authorization right at the moment you try to log in. In this case, the application will ask you to specify the email address to which authorization codes will now be sent. Just specify your email and receive the code.
  3. After entering the one-time authorization code, two situations are possible, depending on whether the former owner protected their account with a cloud password.
    • 3.1. The account is not protected by a cloud password. If after entering the one-time code, you immediately find yourself in the account, it means that its former owner did not protect it with a cloud password. In this case, you need to keep in mind the following:
      • If the old owner has devices with a signed-in account, he will receive a notification that you have signed in to his account and will be able to end your session. But you will not be able to end his sessions immediately after signing in: this option is not available in the first 24 hours after authorization.
      • You can delete the account immediately after authorization. To do this:
        • Go to the web page https://telegram.org/delete. This should be done not in Telegram, but in the browser.
        • Enter the phone number of the account you want to delete.
        • Get the authorization code from the Telegram service account and enter it on the authorization page.
        • Request account deletion.
    • 3.2. The account is protected by a cloud password. If, after entering a one-time code, the application asks you to enter a cloud password, you can reset such an account. We describe in detail how to do this in section No. 2 of the article “What To Do If You Forgot Your Telegram 2FA Password”.

4. Please also note

  1. If you can choose a phone number when buying a new SIM card, you should choose a number that does not have an account or ban. To do this, try to log into your Telegram account by entering this number before buying the number and see what the application tells you.
  2. After resetting the old account and creating a new one, strangers may start writing to you, mistaking you for the old owner of the number. The fact is that their number may be saved in the address books of their phones, and then when you create a new account, they will receive a notification in Telegram that you have created an account, and this notification will indicate not your name, but the one with which they saved the phone number. Do not rush to complain about them: they are not guilty of anything.

5. For users who do not own phone number anymore

If you own a Telegram account but have lost access to its SIM card, you risk losing your account as well. The new SIM card owner can reset your account and create their own instead.

We strongly recommend that you do not keep accounts on phone numbers that you do not have access to.

We provide detailed information on how to change your account phone number and why you should do this in the article “How to change the phone number of your Telegram account?”