How to Record Telegram Calls on Desktop (Mac, PC, Linux)

Short answer: Telegram's built-in recorder covers only video chats and live streams in groups and channels, and only admins can start it; one-to-one and group calls have no documented record option. To record any Telegram call, take it in Telegram Desktop and run a recorder that captures your microphone and system audio, such as Reline. Ask everyone first.

Partly. Telegram's FAQ describes end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls, which you can turn into a group call of up to 200 participants, and it describes no way to record them. The one recording feature Telegram documents is for video chats in groups (its FAQ also calls them voice chats) and live streams in channels: since September 2021, an admin can record one as audio only or as video and audio, in portrait or landscape. While it records, a red dot appears next to the chat's title, and the file goes to the admin's Saved Messages.

1. Open the group or channel in Telegram Desktop where you are an admin allowed to manage video chats, and start or join its video chat.
2. Open the video chat's three-dot menu and start a recording. Choose audio only, or video and audio; for video, pick portrait or landscape.
3. Tell the people in the chat. Telegram also shows a red dot next to the title while it records.
4. Stop the recording from the same menu, or end the video chat. The file arrives in your Saved Messages.

Telegram's announcement describes a media file, with no transcript or summary. For notes, run Reline at the same time, or record with Reline instead. It also helps when you are not an admin, or when the call is a one-to-one or group call.

• Telegram Desktop for Windows, macOS or Linux (x64, Flatpak or Snap) from desktop.telegram.org. On a Mac you can also use Telegram's native macOS app: Reline records what the computer plays, so either works.
• A recorder that captures system audio (the other side) as well as your microphone (your side). Reline's desktop app does this on macOS, Windows and Linux (beta).
• Headphones, ideally. On open speakers your microphone also hears the other side, and some of their words can land on your side of the transcript.
• The other person's yes, or the group's.

1. Install Telegram Desktop or Telegram for macOS and log in.
2. Install the Reline desktop app for Mac and sign in. The Free plan is enough to start.
3. Allow the microphone when macOS asks, then allow system audio. On macOS 14.2 and later this is an audio-only permission; on macOS 13 to 14.1 Reline uses the screen and system audio permission, which can need an app restart. Before macOS 13, only your microphone is recorded.
4. Tell the other person you would like to record for notes, and wait for a clear yes.
5. Press record in Reline, then place or answer the Telegram call. Reline does not detect Telegram calls on its own, so you start it yourself. The live transcript starts as people talk.
6. Stop the recording when you hang up. You get the transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

Telegram Desktop ships for 64-bit Linux as a download, a Flatpak or a Snap, and Reline's Linux desktop app (beta) records your microphone and system audio through PulseAudio or PipeWire. The steps match Windows: install both, get consent, press record in Reline, then call. If the transcript only shows your side, check that your output device is not muted: a muted output gives Reline silence.

Telegram's own recorder puts a red dot next to the video chat's title. A recorder on your computer shows nothing inside Telegram, so nobody on the call knows unless you say so. The law still applies. In the US, federal law (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)) allows recording with one party's consent, but several states, such as California (Penal Code 632), require every party to agree before a confidential conversation is recorded. In the EU, recording identifiable people brings data protection rules into play, and in Germany secretly recording a private conversation can be a criminal offence (Section 201 of the Criminal Code). Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. Ask at the start, keep the yes in the transcript, and stop if anyone objects. This is not legal advice.

• Fits: one-to-one and group Telegram calls, and video chats you join, on Telegram Desktop, when everyone agrees and you want a searchable transcript in 60+ languages plus a summary.
• Audio and transcript only: Reline does not record the video or a shared screen.
• Speaker labels are Me vs Other (your microphone vs the call audio). In a group call everyone else is "Other"; Reline cannot name Telegram participants.
• Not for calls on your phone: there is no Reline mobile app.
• Not local-only: audio goes to a cloud transcription provider, audio and notes are stored in cloud storage (Cloudflare R2), and summaries and chat use cloud AI models. Notes are private by default.
• If everything must stay on your machine, an offline recorder with a local transcription model is the better match.

The same setup works for other calling apps that no notetaker bot can join. Signal and WhatsApp each have their own quirks around desktop apps, linked phones and recording notices.

Start on the Free plan to record your first calls. Professional is $15 per month ($140 per year) and Enterprise is $32 per month ($26 per month on annual).