Unofficial Telegram client for Windows, Linux and macOS, built from the official
Telegram Desktop sources.
Features from exteraGram and other community clients, adapted for Desktop.
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| Platform | File |
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| Windows | exDesktop-setup-x64.*.exe installer or exDesktop-portable-x64.*.zip portable version |
| Linux | exDesktop-linux-x64.*.tar.gz, run exDesktop from the archive |
| macOS | exDesktop-macos-arm64.*.dmg or .zip for Apple Silicon |
All files are available on the releases page. exDesktop installs beside Telegram Desktop and keeps its data separate.
API credentials
Get your own API ID and hash on Telegram's API credentials page. Pass them to CMake or the configure script when generating project files:
-D TDESKTOP_API_ID=YOUR_API_ID -D TDESKTOP_API_HASH=YOUR_API_HASHLinux
Dependencies
- CMake 3.16 or newer and a C++20 compiler (GCC 12 or Clang 15 and newer)
- Qt 6: Core, Gui, Widgets, Network, OpenGL, DBus, Wayland, Svg, ImageFormats
- Python 3.11 to 3.14 development headers (
python3-dev/dev-lang/python) - Telegram Desktop libraries:
tg_owt,ffmpeg,openal,opus,rnnoise,libjpeg-turbo,xxhash,minizip,ada,cld3,wallet-engine-telegram
Build with CMake
cmake -B build -G Ninja \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
-DQT_VERSION_MAJOR=6 \
-DDESKTOP_APP_DISABLE_QT_PLUGINS=ON \
-DTDESKTOP_API_ID="YOUR_API_ID" \
-DTDESKTOP_API_HASH="YOUR_API_HASH"
cmake --build build --target TelegramGentoo
emerge net-im/exdesktopPython plugin runtime
Copy the runtime files to /usr/share/exDesktop/python/extera/, or keep them next to the binary in python/extera/:
sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/exDesktop/python/extera
sudo cp -r Telegram/SourceFiles/extera/python/* /usr/share/exDesktop/python/extera/Windows
- Follow the Telegram Desktop Windows build guide.
- Put the embedded Python 3.11 runtime in
Libraries/win64/python311, including the headers,python311.liband theembedfolder. - Generate the project files with your API ID and hash:
python configure.py x64 -D TDESKTOP_API_ID=YOUR_API_ID -D TDESKTOP_API_HASH=YOUR_API_HASH- Build the
Telegramtarget:
cmake --build out --config Release --target TelegramThe python folder next to Telegram.exe is required for plugins.
Most strings follow Telegram Desktop translations. exDesktop strings are available in English and Russian.
| Project | Use in exDesktop |
|---|---|
| Telegram Desktop | Client sources |
| exteraGram | Features and plugin format |
| AyuGram Desktop | Desktop implementation references |
| tg-ws-proxy | Built-in WebSocket proxy, MIT License |
exDesktop is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.