When you import chat history into a chat from other apps, imported messages will be sorted by original sending date and merged with existing messages in:
Newly created 1-on-1 and group chats.
Any existing 1-on-1 chats that have fewer than 1000 messages (on Telegram).
Smaller existing group chats with basic settings that have fewer than 1000 messages (on Telegram).
Unfortunately, it is not possible to merge existing and imported message histores in chats which have more than 1000 messages and in large groups (or groups with altered settings: e.g., with "message history" set to visible for new members, etc.)
In the cases when it's not possible to merge histories, imported messages are placed into the moment when they were imported. All messages include their original timestamps and follow one another in the correct order.
Workaround
To make it easier to navigate chats where merging is not possible, you can pin the last message in the chat before you import messages. This way you can quickly jump past the imported messages if you need something above them.
Yes, but it would allow you to put a message in 1970, or in 2025. This does not make sense, so should not be allowed. Obviously future messages can be validated and blocked, but it doesn't make sense to show a message before the user joined telegram.
Yes that's why you have the imported flag! This flag is intended to tell the person that this message is imported!
M
Max
The most important thing is that I can search for messages in 2016 and I find the correct one! Why should telegram show me messages from 2016 when I search for messages in 2020? This doesn't make any sense at all!
D
Deleted Account
I know. But it makes messages more confusing if they are split up. People often have two different conversations in different messengers, but a single conversation is rarely split between them. This makes more sense, because the messages on a single topic are in the same place. The messages were not sent *on telegram* in 2016.
As I already said that's why you have the imported flag. There are so many ways to implement this feature that are better then the current implementation.
I'm saying that reordering them is not useful to the user. Also it's not technically possible, because all messages are given sequential IDs and it would break many assumptions in existing clients.
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The messages were not sent *on telegram* in 2016.