Can You Open and Use Desktop Telegram Without Using a Phone?

I know it has to be registered with a phone number but after that, can you use it on desktop without ever having to have/use that same phone number again?

And how would you secure the account against whoever gained access to the phone number you used to register the account with?

Could you just buy Telegram accounts that were already registered by the seller with a phone, install/login to them on desktop, change your PIN, remove the phone numbers from the accounts (optional) or something?

I keep reading conflicting reports on this.

UncleAdolf said:

I know it has to be registered with a phone number but after that, can you use it on desktop without ever having to have/use that same phone number again?

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No, because it will ask you to scan the qr code or send an otp to confirm entry.

UncleAdolf said:

And how would you secure the account against whoever gained access to the phone number you used to register the account with?

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set a password
Set 2fa
Although, both can be forced removed after 14 days if the account is inactive.

UncleAdolf said:

Could you just buy Telegram accounts that were already registered by the seller with a phone, install/login to them on desktop, change your PIN, remove the phone numbers from the accounts (optional) or something?

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still comes with risk, for example if they have the phone number, they can just get back in
best way to be real safe is, buy the crypto numbers through tg's own channel.

xReminisce said:

No, because it will ask you to scan the qr code or send an otp to confirm entry.

set a password
Set 2fa
Although, both can be forced removed after 14 days if the account is inactive.

still comes with risk, for example if they have the phone number, they can just get back in
best way to be real safe is, buy the crypto numbers through tg's own channel.

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Seriously? I can't just use a throwaway phone or SMS service to receive a code, set up the desktop account, setup a PIN, and never use the phone/number again? I have to have a phone at all times?

What is an otp? And why are there so many guides online to "Make Telegram Without a Phone" and what not, saying you can make it for desktop simply using a landline or dumbphone? And what do you mean when you say "best way to be real safe is, buy the crypto numbers through tg's own channel"? Thanks.

You don't need it, but if you log out from the desktop application, you won't be able to log in again. The reason for this is that it will send a verification code to your phone number when you try to log in.

navydeep said:

You don't need it, but if you log out from the desktop application, you won't be able to log in again. The reason for this is that it will send a verification code to your phone number when you try to log in.

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That's ridiculous. So let's say I buy 5 PVA Telegram accounts from a seller on here and want to use them on desktop, without a phone. Now what? I can't just email-verify it, or set a PIN or TOTP or something? I'm fine with having to use a phone for initial sign up but I have to have access to that phone forever... ridiculous. Oh well.

UncleAdolf said:

Seriously? I can't just use a throwaway phone or SMS service to receive a code, set up the desktop account, setup a PIN, and never use the phone/number again? I have to have a phone at all times?

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Yes, I am very serious

UncleAdolf said:

What is an otp?

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One Time Password
the verification code that gets sent to your phone number

UncleAdolf said:

And why are there so many guides online to "Make Telegram Without a Phone" and what not, saying you can make it for desktop simply using a landline or dumbphone

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There are lots of guides on how to make $100,000,000 passive income overnight
Doesn't mean they are true & in the past, the security was alot more lax, you would rarely to never get a phone verification popup iirc.
But since tg has gotten alot more popular since then, design changed.

UncleAdolf said:

"best way to be real safe is, buy the crypto numbers through tg's own channel"? Thanks.

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This is the only real way to purchase a PVA TG and not risk of being hacked or forcefully reset/taken over, unless your crypto wallet with that "Telephone number" gets hacked.
Here is the official blog post https://telegram.org/blog/ultimate-privacy-topics-2-0
Within that blogpost, you can find the marketplace platform which is called Fragment.

freelancer.beans said:

I tell you what, I'm on a freelancing business and TG is a day to day platform for communicating clients and sometimes they ask me to create a bunch of TG accounts for their business.

so I use a diposable phone number (non-voip ) from bulksims.com for 30cents each or if my customer wants a long term accounts I buy the long term number for 30days which I can renew.

Its very easy, dont do extra steps if there's a simple way to do it.

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But then whoever gets the phone number when it's recycled or in someone else's hands can take over the Telegram accounts, no? And from what I hear, Telegram now demands you verify with a QR code, not just SMS sent to you, no?