ForwardsCoverBot: forward without a trace

You want to pass a message from a work chat to a friend, but it carries a label saying who sent it.

Or you need to show a post from a closed channel without revealing where it came from. ForwardsCoverBot handles this: it takes a message and hands it back with no trace of the original sender. 🕶

The bot's profile has one line: it covers forwards from your sent messages. It works simply, with no heavy setup.

What happens to your message

The bot echoes any message you send it or edit for it. If you then forward its reply to another person, the forward label shows the bot's name, not yours and not the original author's. Different message types are supported, and text formatting is kept.

So it rewrites nothing and changes no meaning. It only changes what the forward header says.

Four steps to an anonymous forward

1. Open the bot and press Start.
2. Forward it the message you want to pass on without a name.
3. The bot sends the same message back with no sender attached.
4. Forward that new message to the person or chat you need.

It takes a few seconds once you get used to it. The main thing is not to forward the original directly.

Commands for editing before you forward

The bot does more than hide forwards. It can adjust the message itself.

• /disablewebpagepreview turns off the link preview.
• /removecaption strips the caption from media.
• /addcaption adds a caption or replaces the old one.
• /removebuttons removes buttons from the message.
• /addbuttons adds buttons with links.
• /addspoiler and /removespoiler toggle the spoiler cover.

Send /help for a reference.

Do you even need a bot?

Maybe not. Telegram added a built-in way to forward without the sender's name. On a phone, choose the option to hide the sender's name while forwarding. On desktop, uncheck the box that shows the sender's name in the forwarding window.

Copying the text by hand works too. But if a chat admin has disabled copying and forwarding, none of these methods apply, and that should be respected.

Privacy and ethics

The author published the source code and states that the bot does not send your messages to other chats. If you are very careful, you can read the code or run your own instance.

Keep the purpose in mind. Anonymous forwarding is handy when you protect yourself or a friend from unwanted attention. If you use it to pass off someone else's work as your own or to dodge community rules, that is a problem, not privacy.

Who finds it useful

• Channel admins. Reposts without a source tag for internal publishing.
• Everyday users. Passing along a screenshot or post without showing which chat it is from.
• Anyone preparing a post. Quick changes to a caption or buttons.

Directory data puts monthly users at tens of thousands. If all you need is a nameless forward, start with Telegram's built-in option and keep the bot for captions and buttons. 🙂