Telegram's People Nearby in 2025: What Happened?

In case you haven’t already noticed, Telegram has officially removed the People Nearby feature from the app, discontinuing this location-based function across all devices. This change has left many users wondering what happened to “nearby” on Telegram and how to find local contacts now.

Below we explain what the People Nearby feature was, why it was taken away, and how you can connect with others locally on Telegram going forward.

What Was the People Nearby Feature?

People Nearby was a location-based discovery feature that let users find and contact others in their vicinity. It essentially acted as a “Telegram near me” option to meet new friends or exchange contact info with nearby people.

People Nearby was introduced in 2019 as a quick way to find people nearby on Telegram and exchange contacts when meeting in person. It was later expanded (dubbed People Nearby 2.0) in 2020 to help users meet new friends around them or even set up last-minute dates.

In addition to finding individual users, People Nearby included Groups Nearby. This let users discover or create local group chats tied to a location and connect with people nearby on Telegram without exchanging phone numbers.

All of this was entirely optional – many people never enabled it, while others found it a fun way to see who was on Telegram nearby. Unfortunately, on late 2024, this feature was removed.

Why Was People Nearby Removed?

Telegram decided to shut down People Nearby due to safety, privacy, and misuse concerns, combined with very low usage.

Pavel Durov announced in September 2024 that the feature was being retired because it was hardly used – less than 0.1% of Telegram’s users ever utilized People Nearby – and it had “issues with bots and scammers.”

In practice, some malicious users had abused People Nearby by using automated accounts (bots) or fake profiles to spam others or promote scams. This undermined the feature’s purpose as a safe way to meet genuine people.

While Telegram required manual opt-in, those who did turn it on could inadvertently expose their location. Researchers demonstrated that an attacker could use triangulation techniques with fake GPS locations to pinpoint a user’s exact coordinates via People Nearby. Essentially, by checking distances from multiple points, someone could figure out exactly where you are – a serious privacy issue.

There were also safety concerns that People Nearby might be used for illicit activities. Some reports suggested it was being misused by a tiny minority (for things like local illicit transactions), contributing to Telegram’s broader moderation challenges. In mid-2024 Telegram faced legal pressure in some countries regarding criminal activity on the platform, which likely prompted a crackdown on features prone to abuse.

Durov himself was arrested in France around that time on allegations related to Telegram’s handling of illegal content, and afterwards he pledged to improve moderation on the app.

Another simple reason was that very few people actually used People Nearby for its intended purpose (meeting new people). Telegram has above a billion users, but the vast majority never touched this feature. Instead of trying to salvage it, Telegram opted to remove People Nearby entirely.

“Businesses Nearby”: Telegram’s Planned Replacement

When announcing the removal of People Nearby, Telegram’s team also revealed that they intend to introduce a new feature called Businesses Nearby in its place.

This upcoming feature is envisioned as a way to discover local businesses and services on Telegram rather than individual people. According to Durov’s statements, Businesses Nearby will showcase legitimate, verified business accounts around your location, allowing those businesses to display their products and accept payments via Telegram. In essence, it shifts the focus from finding random people to finding nearby shops, restaurants, or services that are on Telegram.

It’s important to note that as of now (mid-2025), Businesses Nearby is not yet available to users. Telegram announced it as a planned feature, but it has not rolled out in the app at the time of writing. There is no “Businesses Nearby” section live in Telegram’s menus yet.

How to Connect Locally on Telegram Without People Nearby Feature

With People Nearby gone, users looking to connect with others in their local area will need to rely on alternative methods.

Here are a few ways you can find local contacts or groups on Telegram now:

• Join Local Groups or Channels: Even though you can’t browse location-based groups through a menu anymore, you can still search for them manually. Try using the Telegram global search (the search bar at the top of your chat list) to look up your city, neighborhood, or interest keywords. For example, searching the name of your town or phrases like “New York meetup” or “London chat” might reveal public groups or channels for people in your area.
• Use Social Media or Forums to Find Telegram Communities: Outside of Telegram itself, you can discover local groups through other platforms. Websites like Meetup, Reddit, Facebook, or local forums often have Telegram group links shared by the community.For instance, a subreddit for your city might have a stickied post with a Telegram group invite. Because Telegram supports invite links, you can join those groups directly once you have the link.
• Contact People You Meet via QR or Username: If your original use of People Nearby was to exchange contact info with someone you met face-to-face (like at a party or event), you can still do that on Telegram through other means.The app now lets you quickly add contacts by QR code or by sharing usernames. For example, you can show your Telegram QR code to a person next to you, and they can scan it to open a chat with you (no phone number needed).

Telegram still has plenty of ways to connect and socialize – it’s just no longer oriented around geographic proximity by default. You can explore public groups (on any topic globally), join communities of interest, and chat in massive group chats.

To meet people, you might engage in topic-based groups or channels where locals congregate, or use other apps designed for local networking. Telegram has shifted focus away from local stranger meet-ups due to the concerns discussed, so users seeking that experience may need to use different platforms (for example, apps like Meetup, Nextdoor, or even dating/friend-finder apps if the goal is to discover people nearby).

In summary, the removal of People Nearby means Telegram no longer supports random local social discovery. While it’s a loss for the small number of users who enjoyed that feature, it was done in the interest of safety and privacy for the community at large.

FAQs

• How can I see People Nearby on Telegram now? – You can’t. The feature was removed in late 2024, so there is no way to view nearby Telegram users through the app anymore. The menu option for People Nearby has been taken out on all platforms.
• How do I find nearby Telegram users or local friends? – Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find random nearby users via Telegram now that People Nearby is gone. There isn’t an equivalent “Telegram near me” feature at present. You would have to know someone’s username/number or find them in a group rather than discovering strangers by proximity.
• Why is my People Nearby list empty or missing? – It’s empty because Telegram disabled the service. Starting September 2024, the People Nearby section stopped functioning and now it has been fully removed. So your app no longer shows any nearby people or groups. This is a permanent change, not a temporary glitch, if you still see the feature, you must be using an outdated Telegram version.
• Is there a way or a bot to get the People Nearby feature back? – No, there isn’t any reliable method to resurrect it. Telegram has shut down the servers that powered People Nearby, so no bot or third-party tool can access that data. Any so-called “people nearby Telegram bot working” now is likely unsafe or fake. The feature is simply discontinued.

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