Chat History

Your chat history is missing or older messages don't show, or you need to move chats from Telegram, open the history to new members, or clear it — find your case in the contents below.

Importing Chat History From Other Messengers

Corporate users can migrate chats from Telegram using a special bot. See Ready-to-Deploy Bots & SmartApps. Contact your organization's Support or your administrator to install and run it.

Loading Chats History

How Is History Loaded in Client Apps?

After signing in again, the app loads the last 50 (web/desktop) or 100 (mobile app) messages in each chat or channel that you open. System messages are included in this number. To load older history, scroll the chat up.

Can I Export Message History From My Chats?

This feature isn't available in the app.

Access to Correspondence History

How to Open History for Future New Participants in a Group Chat or Channel?

Turn off end-to-end encryption in the chat: in the app, open the chat or channel properties and turn off the End-to-end encryption toggle. After this, new members will see the history, and the limit on the number of participants will be lifted. You can also disable encryption when adding a new member. A corporate server administrator can make a chat or channel open. They can disable end-to-end encryption only in chats.

Is it Possible to Open the History in Advance?

Yes. To let new members see the entire history, the chat or channel administrator must meet both conditions:

1. Disable end-to-end encryption beforehand — when creating the chat or channel.
2. Add at least one user from all necessary servers.
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   The first user from a server can even be a bot. For example, an organization has two servers, and the first one already has a group chat or channel. If you add a bot from the second server to it, the history will be loaded to the second server for future users.

Is It Possible to Share Only the Last 100 Messages from History With a New Participant?

No, you cannot. The architecture of eXpress is different from that of messengers with centralized storage (for example, Telegram).

In Telegram, all messages are stored on a single server, so the service can “provide” a new participant with exactly as much history as the administrator allows within the platform’s own limitations.

In eXpress, chat history is stored in a distributed manner on the servers of each participant in the conversation. When a new participant is added to a chat, their server provides them with the entire history from the moment when the first user from that server appeared in the chat. If the new participant is the first from their server, the chat will appear empty to them: the server has only just created a local copy of the chat and begun synchronizing the encrypted history. You cannot transfer only part of the history (“the last N messages”).

If end-to-end encryption is disabled, a new participant will see the entire chat history available on their server. If it is enabled, they won't see anything from the conversation before they were added.

Why Can't I See the History in Another Company's Chat If E2E Encryption Is Disabled?

You see the chat history from the moment the first member from your server was added to it. Chats are loaded onto the servers of each participant. If messages were sent when there were no participants from your server in the chat yet, users of your server will not see them.

The Pinned Message Won't Open in an E2E Encrypted Chat. Why?

A pinned message will not open if you were added to a chat with encryption enabled after the message was sent.

Deleting Correspondence History

How to Clear Chat History?

The Clear chat history, Clear channel history, or Clear thread history command in the properties (card) of a chat, channel, or thread deletes all messages on all your devices. On the server, messages remain encrypted. The chat, channel, or thread will remain in the list and will move in time to the moment of creation. This may not happen immediately: the local cache is updated with a delay.

Is It Possible to Restore Cleared Chat History on Devices?

Yes, because chats are stored on the server. To restore deleted history:

1. Leave the chat or channel: delete it from the list or exit via the context menu.
2. Return to the chat or channel via an invitation link, or ask the chat or channel administrator to add you back.
3. The history will load from the server onto all your devices.

When Can Chat History Be Lost?

Access to chat history may be lost:

• Forever, if you reset your personal password on the app login screen — more details. History will disappear in all chats; the chats themselves will remain.
• Permanently, if you linked a phone number to one account but logged into the corporate server with another account without a phone number — more details.
• Permanently, if you deleted the account, as the HUID will change — more details.
• Permanently, if you changed your login on a legacy corporate server or created a new account in the corporate directory without linking a phone number — more details.
• If the account was logged out, for example, upon termination from the company: access to corporate messages is lost. You can restore the correspondence if you connect to the same server again with a phone number — more details. If the phone number was not linked, corporate chat history is lost permanently — more details
• If you migrated from one corporate server to another: access to the previous corporate correspondence is lost.

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