“Connecting…” in the header means Telegram cannot reach its servers. Messages hang with a clock icon, photos will not open, yet other apps work fine. Here is what to check, quickest first.
1. Connect a proxy — it takes 10 seconds
The most common cause is a broken path between your ISP and Telegram’s servers. An MTProto proxy routes Telegram traffic differently and disguises it as ordinary HTTPS.
Open tg-proxies.com/go and it offers the best working server right away, or pick one from the proxy list.
2. Change networks
Switch from Wi‑Fi to mobile data or the other way round. If Telegram works on one network but not the other, the network is the problem — and a proxy will help.
3. Check the date and time
A wrong system clock breaks secure connections. Turn on automatic date and time.
4. Update Telegram
Older builds cope worse with unstable networks and do not always support modern Fake‑TLS proxies.
5. Turn off data savers and unused VPN profiles
Data Saver, “Restrict background data” on Android and forgotten VPN profiles on iPhone often keep Telegram from connecting.
6. If it is not only Telegram
If YouTube, Instagram and other services behave the same way, a Telegram proxy is not enough — it only covers the messenger. You need a VPN that carries the whole device: try VPNEscape free. See also “Proxy or VPN for Telegram”.