Find a Telegram User Without a Username: Forward a Message

Someone has no username, so you can't search them? If you have one of their messages, forward it to @doublegram_lookup_bot and Lookup tells you who wrote it, with their name and numeric ID. Telegram passes on the sender with the message, so it works even when searching their ID wouldn't.

Without a message from them, Lookup can't find them: it doesn't search by name or phone number.

How to forward a message to Lookup

1. In any chat, press and hold the message and tap Forward.
2. Choose @doublegram_lookup_bot.
3. Lookup replies with who sent it.

Old messages work too. A few things to keep in mind:

• Keep the sender's name: if you forward with the sender's name hidden, the message reaches Lookup as if you had written it.
• A screenshot or copied text doesn't work: Lookup needs the forwarded message.
• Forwarding only works in your private chat with Lookup, not with @dglookbot from other chats.

What you'll find

• A message from a person: their name, numeric ID and username, and whether it's a bot. When Lookup can, it adds what a username search shows: bio, last seen, Telegram Premium and Telegram's scam and fake account warnings.
• A post from a public channel: the channel's ID, title and username, with its description and number of members.
• A post from a private channel: its ID and title, if the channel allows forwarding. It's the easiest way to get a private channel's ID, which an invite link doesn't show.
• A message sent in the name of a group, like those of anonymous admins: the group's ID and title.

The answer starts with 📨 Message forwarded from a user (or a channel, or a group).

When the sender hides their account

On Telegram anyone can choose whether their forwarded messages link back to their account (Settings → Privacy and Security → Forwarded Messages). If they've turned it off, Telegram only passes on the name, and so does Lookup:

• 📋 Type: 👤 User (privacy protected)
• 👤 Name: the name on the message
• 📝 Username: Hidden for privacy

No bot can see more: the ID and the username never reach Lookup. It happens often, and it counts as a search, because Lookup did answer.

What you can still do:

• ask the person for their username, or look for it in a group or channel where they write;
• if they write in a group where you're an admin, add Lookup there and reply to their message with /lookup: in the group, Lookup sees who wrote it. This needs Premium, see Lookup in your groups.