Personal Chat Backup¶

Backup media from your personal chats and saved messages. Perfect for preserving memories and important files.

Use Case¶

Perfect For

Personal media archival
Preserving memories and photos
Important document backup
Privacy-focused data preservation

Key Features¶

Saved Messages Support: Backup your Telegram "Saved Messages"
Private Chat Backup: Archive conversations with friends and family
All Media Types: Photos, videos, documents, audio files
Privacy-Focused: Runs locally, data never leaves your control

Quick Start¶

Create docker-compose.yml:¶

version: '3.8'

services:
  telegram-downloader:
    image: rfsbraz/telegram-downloader:latest
    container_name: telegram-personal-backup
    restart: unless-stopped

    environment:
      # Telegram API credentials
      - TDL_API_ID=YOUR_API_ID
      - TDL_API_HASH=YOUR_API_HASH
      - TDL_PHONE_NUMBER=YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER

      # Daemon configuration
      - TDL_DAEMON_ENABLED=true
      - TDL_DAEMON_CHECK_INTERVAL=600  # Check every 10 minutes

      # Notifications (optional for personal use)
      - TDL_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED=false

      # Source 1: Your "Saved Messages"
      - TDL_SOURCES_0_URL=https://t.me/me
      - TDL_SOURCES_0_NAME=My Saved Messages
      - TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_EXTENSIONS=.jpg,.png,.mp4,.pdf,.doc,.docx,.zip

      # Source 2: Private chat with friend (optional)
      - TDL_SOURCES_1_URL=https://t.me/friend_username
      - TDL_SOURCES_1_NAME=Friend Chat
      - TDL_SOURCES_1_FILTERS_EXTENSIONS=.jpg,.png,.mp4

    volumes:
      - ./personal_backup:/downloads
      - ./sessions:/app/.sessions

    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "python3", "/app/healthcheck.py"]
      interval: 2m
      timeout: 10s

Deploy:¶

mkdir telegram-personal-backup && cd telegram-personal-backup
mkdir personal_backup sessions

# Create docker-compose.yml with configuration above
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f  # Authenticate on first run

Configuration Highlights¶

Saved Messages Backup¶

- TDL_SOURCES_0_URL=https://t.me/me  # Special URL for "Saved Messages"
- TDL_SOURCES_0_NAME=My Saved Messages

Saved Messages

https://t.me/me is a special URL that backs up your Telegram "Saved Messages".

All Media Types¶

# Comprehensive backup
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_EXTENSIONS=.jpg,.png,.gif,.mp4,.mp3,.pdf,.doc,.docx,.zip,.rar

Privacy Settings¶

# Disable notifications for privacy
- TDL_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED=false

# Mount volumes with restrictive permissions
# See deployment guide for security best practices

Expected Results¶

Folder Structure¶

personal_backup/
├── My Saved Messages/
│   ├── family_photo.jpg
│   ├── vacation_video.mp4
│   ├── important_document.pdf
│   └── work_presentation.pptx
└── Friend Chat/
    ├── shared_memory.jpg
    └── funny_video.mp4

Backup Verification¶

# Check backup size
du -sh personal_backup/

# List recent files
find personal_backup/ -type f -mtime -7 -ls

# Count files by type
find personal_backup/ -name "*.jpg" | wc -l
find personal_backup/ -name "*.mp4" | wc -l

Customization¶

Selective Backup¶

# Only photos and videos
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_EXTENSIONS=.jpg,.png,.mp4,.mov

# Only documents
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_EXTENSIONS=.pdf,.doc,.docx,.txt

# Only recent media
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_MIN_DATE=2025-01-01

Multiple Private Chats¶

- TDL_SOURCES_0_URL=https://t.me/me
- TDL_SOURCES_0_NAME=Saved Messages

- TDL_SOURCES_1_URL=https://t.me/friend1
- TDL_SOURCES_1_NAME=Friend 1

- TDL_SOURCES_2_URL=https://t.me/friend2
- TDL_SOURCES_2_NAME=Friend 2

- TDL_SOURCES_3_URL=https://t.me/family_group
- TDL_SOURCES_3_NAME=Family Group

Backup Schedule¶

# Daily backup (check every 24 hours)
- TDL_DAEMON_CHECK_INTERVAL=86400

# Weekly backup (check every 7 days)
- TDL_DAEMON_CHECK_INTERVAL=604800

# Real-time backup (check every 5 minutes)
- TDL_DAEMON_CHECK_INTERVAL=300

Security Best Practices¶

Protect Your Backup

Your backup contains private data. Secure it properly!

File Permissions¶

# Restrict access to backup folder
chmod 700 personal_backup/
chmod 700 sessions/

# Verify permissions
ls -la

Encryption¶

# Use encrypted volumes for sensitive data
volumes:
  - /mnt/encrypted/personal_backup:/downloads

Session Protection¶

Session Files are Sensitive

Session files grant full access to your Telegram account.

Keep sessions/ folder secure (chmod 700)
Never share session files
Back up sessions separately
Delete sessions if device is compromised

Backup Strategy¶

Automated Offsite Backup¶

#!/bin/bash
# backup-to-cloud.sh
# Run daily via cron

# Compress backup
tar -czf backup-$(date +%Y-%m-%d).tar.gz personal_backup/

# Upload to cloud storage (rclone example)
rclone copy backup-*.tar.gz remote:backups/telegram/

# Clean up local compressed backup
rm backup-*.tar.gz

# Keep last 30 days in cloud
rclone delete remote:backups/telegram/ --min-age 30d

Verification Script¶

#!/bin/bash
# verify-backup.sh
# Verify backup integrity

echo "Backup Statistics:"
echo "Total files: $(find personal_backup/ -type f | wc -l)"
echo "Total size: $(du -sh personal_backup/ | cut -f1)"
echo ""
echo "By file type:"
echo "Photos: $(find personal_backup/ -name "*.jpg" -o -name "*.png" | wc -l)"
echo "Videos: $(find personal_backup/ -name "*.mp4" -o -name "*.mov" | wc -l)"
echo "Documents: $(find personal_backup/ -name "*.pdf" -o -name "*.doc*" | wc -l)"

Troubleshooting¶

Can't Access Private Chat

Ensure:

You have permission to access the chat
Chat username is correct
You're authenticated with correct account

Large Backup Size

Manage storage:

# Limit file sizes
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_MAX_SIZE=100MB

# Only recent media
- TDL_SOURCES_0_FILTERS_MIN_DATE=2025-01-01

Selective Restore

Restore specific files:

# Find specific file
find personal_backup/ -name "*family*"

# Restore to different location
cp personal_backup/Saved\ Messages/file.jpg ~/restored/

See Troubleshooting Guide for more help.

Performance¶

Resource Usage¶

Metric	Typical Usage	Notes
CPU	<5%	Minimal for personal use
Memory	100-200 MB	Light workload
Disk	Varies	Depends on media volume

Optimization¶

Less frequent checks: Personal backups don't need real-time sync
Date filtering: Only backup recent media to save space
Selective sources: Backup only important chats

Ebook Forum - Similar setup for ebook archival
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YouTube Archiver - Video content backup

Download personal-backup.yml

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