---
title: "Telegram 409 Conflict: getUpdates Error"
description: "Fix Telegram error 409 Conflict, \"terminated by other getUpdates request\": a second copy of your bot, or a webhook still set, is using the same token."
url: "https://sillydev.co.uk/errors/telegram-409-conflict"
updated: "2026-09-28"
---

Telegram · 409

# Telegram 409 Conflict

Telegram only lets one connection at a time fetch a bot's updates. Something else is fetching them too, and the two keep knocking each other off.

[← All errors](https://sillydev.co.uk/errors)

What you are seeing

Bot API

`Conflict: terminated by other getUpdates request; make sure that only one bot instance is running`

Bot API

`Conflict: can't use getUpdates method while webhook is active; use deleteWebhook to delete the webhook first`

## Another copy is running

This is the cause nine times in ten. The bot is still running on your own computer, in a second terminal, in an IDE's run window you forgot about, or on another host you tried first. Each copy asks Telegram for updates, each request cancels the other, and both log 409 in turn.

Stop every copy you know of, then start exactly one. If the error carries on with only one running, somebody else has your token — revoke it with /revoke in @BotFather and use the new one.

A single 409 in the seconds after a restart is harmless: the previous process's last request can take a moment to expire. It is only a problem if it keeps happening.

## A webhook is still set

The second message means the bot was once set up with a webhook, and Telegram will not also hand out updates by polling. Delete the webhook, then start the bot. Most libraries do this for you when they start polling; if yours does not, a one-off request does it.

Browser or curl

```
https://api.telegram.org/bot<YOUR_TOKEN>/deleteWebhook
```

python-telegram-bot

```
# drop_pending_updates also skips anything queued while the bot was down.
application.run_polling(drop_pending_updates=True)
```

FAQ

## Questions

**Can I run the bot locally for testing while it runs on a server?**

Not with the same token. Create a second bot in @BotFather for development, so your test copy and your live copy never share one.

**Does hosting cause this?**

Only if two copies end up running. On our hosting a server runs one process, so the second copy is almost always somewhere else — usually your own machine.

Read next

- [Telegram webhooks vs polling How each way of receiving updates works, what webhooks require, and which one to use.](https://sillydev.co.uk/guides/telegram-webhooks-vs-polling)
- [429 Too Many Requests The bot sent messages faster than Telegram allows. Wait the time it gives, then pace sends.](https://sillydev.co.uk/errors/telegram-429-too-many-requests)
- [Free Telegram Bot Hosting Host it free →](https://sillydev.co.uk/telegram-bot-hosting)