Telegram For Desktop Less Than Perfect

In x32Win10ProV22H2, Telegram for Desktop is a wonderful communication application that I would not swap for another; however there are two irritations which I would like to be removed. It involves disabling the tools for Attachments and for Emojs. These tools are at the left and right ends of the text-entry bar. The reason I want them disabled is not just because I personally have no use for them, but because I am constantly activating them inadvertently, and then having to close the unwanted opened windows. The developers, who update the app EXTREMELY frequently, should be the ones to give me the advice I need, but they are unresponsive to any kind of user input, so I appeal to help-forums instead.

 

- According to a comment on the official code repository for Telegram desktop, you can disable the emoji suggestions by unchecking the **Replace emoji** checkbox in **Settings**¹. You can also press **Escape** to hide the emoji autocomplete panel - see link (1).

- However, some users reported that this option does not work for them and the emoji tool still pops up when they hover the mouse over the icon - see link (2). In that case, you may want to try installing another version of Telegram desktop, such as the cross-platform one, which has separate toggles for **suggests** and **autoselect** of emojis - see link (1) responses. When they are both turned off, there should be no emoji suggest at all.

- To remove the attachment tool, you can go to **Settings > Advanced > Automatic Media Downloads** and disable automatic downloads for **Photos** and **Files** in private chats, groups, and channels - see link (3). This will prevent the attachment window from opening automatically when you receive media files.

Links:
(1) Is it possible to disable emojs in Telegram desktop?. https://superuser.com/questions/1348786/is-it-possible-to-disable-emojs-in-telegram-desktop.
(2) How to Disable Auto Media Downloads on Telegram Desktop. https://gadgetstouse.com/blog/2021/04/23/disable-auto-media-downloads-on-telegram-desktop/.
(3) How to Remove Telegram Stickers Packs from Mobile and Desktop. https://www.guidingtech.com/remove-telegram-stickers-packs-from-mobile-and-desktop/.
(4) Telegram 4.14.9 at Majorgeeks. https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/telegram.html
(5) Majorgeeks Chat & Messaging Tools. Download Chat & Messaging Tools for Windows - MajorGeeks

 

Thank you.
'Replace Emoji automatically is not in Settings, but in Chat Settings. It is already unticked.

Link 1 is about the objection raised by ME, and offers NO solution. I have already, in Link 1, stated the failure to solve the problem.

"This will prevent the attachment window from opening automatically when you receive media files." That is NOT my issue. My issue is that I want the two tools either disabled or removed so that I CAN NOT unintentionally trigger them to open their windows.

 

I apologize for misunderstanding your issue. I thought you wanted to prevent the attachment window from opening when you receive media files, not when you hover over the icon or press a key.

Unfortunately, there is no built-in option in Telegram desktop to disable or remove the two tools completely. They are part of the user interface and cannot be modified without changing the source code of the application.

I did some more research and found a few possible solutions that you can try. You can use some third-party tools to block or hide the emoji and attachment windows from appearing on your screen. These tools are not affiliated with Telegram, but they can help you customize your Windows experience.

If you are interested, you can try the following steps:

- To disable the Windows emoji panel completely, you can edit the **EnableExpressiveInputShellHotkey** DWORD in the Windows registry - see https://www.thewindowsclub.com/emoji-panel-in-windows-10. This will prevent the emoji panel from popping up when you press **Windows + .** or **Windows + ;** keys. However, this will also affect other applications that use the emoji panel, such as Microsoft Edge, so you may want to backup your registry before making any changes.

- To disable the emoji panel only for Telegram desktop, you can use a third-party tool called **AutoHotkey** - see https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/autohotkey.html. This is a scripting language that allows you to customize keyboard shortcuts and mouse actions. You can create a script that blocks the emoji panel from opening when you are using Telegram desktop, and run it in the background. You may find help on AHK scripts and scripting at https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoHotkey/.

- To disable the attachment tool only for Telegram desktop, you could use another third-party tool like "*Window Detective*" (see https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/window_detective.html) or **WinSpy++** (see https://github.com/strobejb/winspy). These are utilities that allows you to inspect and modify the properties of any window on your screen. You could use it to find the handle and class name of the attachment tool window, and then hide it or disable it using the **Style** and **ExStyle** options. Essentially, what this is doing is modifying the Telegram application so that calls to the attachment dialogs are circumvented. There may be other similar tools listed here: https://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/sortname/system_info.html.

 

If you are interested, you can try the following steps: - I am VERY interested.

'To disable the Windows emoji panel completely' I have NO IDEA where or what this is. The emoji panel that I do not want opening AT ALL
is in Telegram.

'use a third-party tool called **AutoHotkey**' I am VERY familiar with that program and use it extensively to type text strings from 'hotkeys'.
My previous attempts to extend use of it to other 'functions' has left me totally confused. I guess I could write to Autohotkey developers and see if they can 'do the job' for me.

'To disable the attachment tool only for Telegram desktop' I would like that, but I had heard of neither Window Detective, nor Winspy.

I really appreciate your exceptional diligence in dealing with my issue - yours is the tenth forum I have consulted about this - but I really need MUCH more help than 'find the handle and class name of the attachment tool window, and then hide it or disable it using the **Style** and **ExStyle** options.' in programs I neither have nor have familiarity with. I will set about getting copies of those programs as my first 'contribution' to solving this problem. I If they are x64-ONLY programs then they are of no use, as my system is x32.

Once again many thanks for your extraordinary efforts.

 

I have installed both programs - they operate in x32 - In Win Spy I was able to find Telegram, but not in Windows Detective.
I have NO IDEA how to progress from here.
One of them listed 'many' programs as 'unknown'

 

Have you contacted Telegram via their support or social media sites - see https://www.telegram.org/faq#telegram-support

I see that there are a number of Telegram applications (see https://www.telegram.org/). Just to check, which version are you using the Desktop version (as assumed above) or the Browser version? Does the behaviour you want to modify exist in both. With the Browser version there are other approaches that could be used to modify the behaviour, such as Javascript modifying extensions (for example GreaseMonkey in Firefox).

Modification of the Browser application may be more fruitful as modifying the Desktop application requires a good understanding of C++ applications and their architecture in Windows, more than could be provided here. Have you tried Stack Exchange/Stack Overflow at https://stackexchange.com/sites#technology who could provide code examples.

There are two general approaches for modifying the Telegram Desktop application behaviour for attachments:

* top-down - is using other applications to modify the actions made by the Telegram application. By using WinSpy or similar applications you will need to trigger the attachment function in Telegram and watch for the specific calls in the stack made by the application. Then once you have those, you would either use that application or similar ones to modify that call invocation to a no operation (i.e., do nothing function).

* bottom-up - is using the Telegram source code, which is Open source at: https://www.telegram.org/apps#source-code following links from the Desktop source code to GitHub at: https://github.com/telegramdesktop/tdesktop/tree/dev/Telegram/SourceFiles. Here you can build your own version of Telegram with whatever behaviour you desire.

However, you can see from the source code https://github.com/telegramdesktop/...SourceFiles/menu/menu_item_download_files.cpp and https://github.com/telegramdesktop/tdesktop/tree/dev/Telegram/SourceFiles/ui/chat/attach numerous attachment functions within Telegram. Even more detail in https://github.com/telegramdesktop/...ceFiles/ui/chat/attach/attach_bot_webview.cpp. The source code gives you insight for the top-down approach as to the module names to look out for in modifying the Telegram behaviour.

 

'Have you contacted Telegram via their support or social media sites' I do not use social media. All other attempts have resulted in no response.
"which version are you using the Desktop version (as assumed above)" It is a standalone - works without a browser.
"Does the behaviour you want to modify exist in both ?" I don't know - I have no interest in the browser version.
"Have you tried Stack Exchange/Stack Overflow " Yes, but Stackoverflow has disabled my 'account' : "Sorry, we are no longer accepting questions from your account because most of your questions need improvement or are out of scope for this site."

'bottom-up - is using the Telegram source code' - theoretically that seems to be the most likely route to success, if it weren't for the fact that it appears to require a degree in coding. I can barely succeed with Autohotkey or Macro Express and dabbling in source code is quite daunting.
I would have to look for specialists in that - which is not impossible, but a challenge.

 

Maxwell - Finally some progress - there was a useful response from Telegram Support.
I do not need to activate the text-insertion bar by clicking near the Attachment tool - I can click in 'safe' location and just start typing.
That EFFECTIVELY disables the Attachment tool.
Half the problem solved.

They challenged me to say how come the emoji panel opens - that is something I still have to work on.

 

'something I still have to work on' - I have come to the following conclusion :
There is the need to click on the SEND tool, and that is so close to the emoji tool, that often emojis get enabled instead of the message sent.
So if there were a non-mouse mechanism for SENDing, my second problem would be solved.

I have since found in SETTINGS that there are two alternative ways of sending (rather than clicking the SEND tool) it is a matter of getting used to applying the better one.

 

Problem solved. thank you so much.

 

Alas - problem NOT solved - it's my accidental 'brushing' those tools with the mouse cursor when I edit written text, that the unwanted windows open. I'd REALLY like those tools disabled.

 

Telegram fixed the attachment tool so that grazing it with the cursor no longer opens its panel. The emoj tool can be fixed by Hamburger;Settings;Advanced;Experimental Settings, right at the bottom has 'Show Emoji/Stickers/GIFs panel only after a click.'