# Pico User Guide

> Everything you need to chat, share and stay safe on Pico Messenger

Online: https://docs.picogram.ir/users/en/

## Welcome to Pico

Pico is a fast, private messenger. It runs in your browser, on your phone and on your computer, in English and Persian, with full right-to-left support. You can chat with friends, make groups and channels, send photos, videos, files and voice messages, and use bots.

Open it

Go to picogram.ir in any browser. There is nothing to download from a store.

Install it like an app

Android (Chrome): open the menu and choose Install app or Add to Home screen. You can also use Settings → Install Pico inside Pico.

iPhone / iPad (Safari): tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

Computer (Chrome, Edge): click the install icon in the address bar.

🔔 Turn on notifications in Settings → Notifications to hear about new messages even when Pico is closed.

## Your account

Creating an account

Type your e-mail address and press Continue.

Pico e-mails you a 6-digit code. Type it in (check the spam folder too). The code works for 10 minutes and only once.

Choose your name, an optional username and a password of at least 8 characters.

Your username is how people find you: @SorenaNet. It is shown exactly as you type it (capital letters included), while searching and links ignore case. It needs 4 to 32 letters, digits or underscores, must start with a letter, cannot end in bot and cannot contain pico, which is reserved for the team.

Signing in

Type your e-mail and choose how:

With a code: we e-mail you a code and you are in. No password needed.

With your password: type the e-mail and the password.

Both open the whole account, private chats included. If you are already signed in on a device that has been signed in for more than a day, the code also appears in the Pico chat there.

Change your password or e-mail

Open the menu → Settings → Security. Change password asks for the old and the new one. Change e-mail asks for your password and the new address, then sends a code to the new address to confirm it. The old address gets a short warning e-mail.

Your devices

Settings → Devices lists every device that is signed in, with its last activity. End any of them, or all the others at once. If something looks unfamiliar, end it and change your password.

🛡 The Pico chat keeps you informed. The official Pico account tells you about every new sign-in (device and time, never an address), password changes, e-mail changes and ended sessions.
Keep your e-mail account safe: anyone who controls your e-mail can ask for a sign-in code. Never give a code to anyone, not even to someone who says they work for Pico.

## Chatting

Start a chat

Press the pencil button, or type in the search box: a name, a @username, or a link like picogram.ir/#/u/name. Open the person and write. A chat appears in your list as soon as someone writes the first message.

What you can do with a message

Press and hold a message on a phone, or right-click it on a computer:

Action | What it does | 
Reply | Quotes the message in your answer. On a phone you can also swipe the message. | 
Edit | Fix your own message; it shows edited. | 
Delete | Removes the message for everyone, without leaving any trace. Admins can delete in groups they manage. | 
Forward | Sends the message to another chat. | 
React | Double-tap, or pick an emoji. Up to 3 reactions per message. | 
Pin | Keeps an important message at the top of the chat. | 

Format your text

Select text and use the T button, or type the marks yourself:

You type | You get | 
**bold** | bold | 
__italic__ | italic | 
++underline++ | underline | 
~~strike~~ | strikethrough | 
||secret|| | a spoiler that opens when tapped | 
`code` | monospace code | 

Emoji

Emoji look like Apple's on every device. Press the smiley next to the message box to pick one.

Saved Messages

Your own private notebook, pinned at the top of the list. Send yourself notes, links, photos and files, and open them on any of your devices.

## Photos, videos, files and voice

Press the paperclip to send photos, videos or any file. You can add a caption, and send several at once.

The limit is 200 MB per file (a file just a hair over still goes through).

Big files are sent in small pieces: if your connection drops, only the piece in progress is repeated. A progress ring shows on the message and you can cancel it.

For a voice message, use the microphone button next to the message box: record, then send it (or cancel).

Tap a photo to see it full size, tap a file to save it.

📶 On a slow connection, wait for the ring to finish before closing the app.

## Your chat list

The tabs on top filter the list: All, Unread, Private, Groups, Channels, Bots. The official Pico account stays in All only.

Press and hold a chat (right-click on a computer) for the menu:

Pin up to 5 chats to the top.

Mute for 1 hour, 8 hours, 2 days or for ever.

Archive a chat: it moves to Archived chats (the row at the top of the list).

Mark as unread / read.

Delete the chat.

A half-written message is kept as a draft and shows in red in the list.

## Groups and channels

A group is a chat where everyone can write. A channel is for broadcasting: only admins post and everyone else reads. Press the pencil button and choose New group or New channel, give it a name, a picture and (optionally) a description.

Public or private

Public: give it a username. Anyone can find it by searching and join.

Private: no username. People join with the invite link you share. You can reset the link at any time, which stops the old one.

Approve new members

For a private group or channel turn on Approve new members (edit the chat). People who open the link then send a request, and the owner or admins with the invite right accept or decline them. It is not available for public chats.

Admins

The owner can make admins and choose exactly what each may do: change info, post, edit messages, delete messages, ban people, invite, pin, add admins. The owner can hand the group over to someone else (you confirm with your password). In groups you can also set what ordinary members may do: send messages, send media, add people, pin, change info.

Banning

A banned person cannot join again, not even with the link, until an admin unbans them in the chat info.

## Privacy and safety

Encryption

Private chats between two people, and your Saved Messages, are encrypted with keys tied to the accounts. Groups, channels and bots are protected on the way and in storage, but they are not private chats: treat them like a room. No screen in Pico, including the admin panel, shows what people write.

No addresses kept

Pico does not store or show IP addresses, and its logs do not keep who connected. E-mail addresses are stored scrambled, not as text.

Last seen

Settings → Privacy and security lets you show your last-seen time to everybody, only to contacts, or to nobody.

Blocking

Open a person and choose Block. They can still type to you, but their messages never reach you, and they see you as "last seen a long time ago". Unblock them any time; what they sent while blocked stays hidden.

Reporting

Use Report on a message or a profile. A reported message shares only its own text with the Pico team.

Fake "Pico" accounts

Nobody but the team may call themselves "Pico Support" or "Pico Admin". The only official accounts are the verified ones listed in the next section. The team never asks for your code or password.

## Official accounts and bots

Bots are small helper programs you chat with. The verified (blue tick) official ones are:

Account | What it does | 
Pico | Notices about your account: new sign-ins, password and e-mail changes, sign-in codes. You cannot reply to it. | 
@botfather | Makes and manages bots (for developers). | 
@spambot | Tells you if your account has limits and lets you appeal. | 
@bluetick | Request a blue tick for an account, channel, group or bot. | 
@support | Write to the Pico team; a person answers in the same chat. | 
@infobot | Shows your account details, or the public details of any @username. | 
@deleteaccount | The official way to delete your account (see the next section). | 

Other bots are made by people outside Pico: only add the ones you trust, and never type your password or a sign-in code into a bot.

## Deleting your account

Open @deleteaccount and press Delete my account. The bot e-mails a 6-digit code to the address of your account; send the code back and the account is deleted for good. (Settings → Delete account works too and asks for your password.)

What is removed

Your profile, settings, devices, bots and private chats. Messages you wrote in groups and channels may stay without your name, and groups you own stay without an owner. It cannot be undone.

The safety rules

A device that signed in less than 24 hours ago has to wait before it can delete the account, so a stolen or borrowed session cannot wipe it at once. The bot tells you how long is left. The device that created the account is not delayed.

One e-mail address can delete its account at most twice in 24 hours.

Right after a deletion the same address is free: you can open a new account with it straight away.

👋 If you only want a break, you can just sign out. Nothing is deleted.

## Settings and looks

Language: English or Persian, switched instantly, with the whole layout flipping to right-to-left.

Theme: light, dark or black.

Time zone: times can follow Tehran or your device.

Notifications: allow or stop push notifications for this device.

Profile: name, bio, picture and username. A bio is shown line by line, each line in its own direction.

## FAQ

**Is Pico free?**
Yes. You use it in your browser or install it as an app, for free.

**I did not get the code. What now?**
Wait a minute, check the spam folder, and press "send again". Make sure the address has no typo. A code works for 10 minutes and only once.

**I forgot my password.**
Sign in with a code instead: choose "Sign in with a code", then set a new password in Settings → Security.

**What is the biggest file I can send?**
200 MB per file.

**Can I use Pico on two devices?**
Yes. Sign in on each one; see and end them in Settings → Devices.

**Why do my private chats say they are locked?**
On a device where you signed in with a code before the key was saved, tap the banner and type your password once.

**How do I report a problem?**
Write to @support. A person from the Pico team answers in the same chat.