diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0925a614b1b..799951ab06c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Telegram/Polling: retry recoverable setup-time network failures in monitor startup and await runner teardown before retry to avoid overlapping polling sessions.
 - Telegram/Polling: clear Telegram webhooks (`deleteWebhook`) before starting long-poll `getUpdates`, including retry handling for transient cleanup failures.
 - Telegram/Webhook: add `channels.telegram.webhookPort` config support and pass it through plugin startup wiring to the monitor listener.
+- Telegram/Media: send a user-facing Telegram reply when media download fails (non-size errors) instead of silently dropping the message.
 - Signal/RPC: guard malformed Signal RPC JSON responses with a clear status-scoped error and add regression coverage for invalid JSON responses. (#22995) Thanks @adhitShet.
 - Gateway/Subagents: guard gateway and subagent session-key/message trim paths against undefined inputs to prevent early `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'trim')` crashes during subagent spawn and wait flows.
 - Agents/Workspace: guard `resolveUserPath` against undefined/null input to prevent `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'trim')` crashes when workspace paths are missing in embedded runner flows.
diff --git a/src/telegram/bot-handlers.ts b/src/telegram/bot-handlers.ts
index 33f94331ee5..5d3cfc30b4a 100644
--- a/src/telegram/bot-handlers.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/bot-handlers.ts
@@ -722,7 +722,16 @@ export const registerTelegramHandlers = ({
         logger.warn({ chatId, error: String(mediaErr) }, oversizeLogMessage);
         return;
       }
-      throw mediaErr;
+      logger.warn({ chatId, error: String(mediaErr) }, "media fetch failed");
+      await withTelegramApiErrorLogging({
+        operation: "sendMessage",
+        runtime,
+        fn: () =>
+          bot.api.sendMessage(chatId, "⚠️ Failed to download media. Please try again.", {
+            reply_to_message_id: msg.message_id,
+          }),
+      }).catch(() => {});
+      return;
     }
 
     // Skip sticker-only messages where the sticker was skipped (animated/video)
diff --git a/src/telegram/bot.create-telegram-bot.test.ts b/src/telegram/bot.create-telegram-bot.test.ts
index a76a8bb0b16..fdd2eb32ecc 100644
--- a/src/telegram/bot.create-telegram-bot.test.ts
+++ b/src/telegram/bot.create-telegram-bot.test.ts
@@ -1883,6 +1883,46 @@ describe("createTelegramBot", () => {
     expect(replySpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     fetchSpy.mockRestore();
   });
+  it("notifies users when media download fails for direct messages", async () => {
+    loadConfig.mockReturnValue({
+      channels: {
+        telegram: { dmPolicy: "open", allowFrom: ["*"] },
+      },
+    });
+    sendMessageSpy.mockClear();
+    replySpy.mockClear();
+    const fetchSpy = vi
+      .spyOn(globalThis, "fetch")
+      .mockImplementation(async () =>
+        Promise.reject(new Error("MediaFetchError: Failed to fetch media")),
+      );
+
+    try {
+      createTelegramBot({ token: "tok" });
+      const handler = getOnHandler("message") as (ctx: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<void>;
+
+      await handler({
+        message: {
+          chat: { id: 1234, type: "private" },
+          message_id: 411,
+          date: 1736380800,
+          photo: [{ file_id: "p1" }],
+          from: { id: 55, is_bot: false, first_name: "u" },
+        },
+        me: { username: "openclaw_bot" },
+        getFile: async () => ({ file_path: "photos/p1.jpg" }),
+      });
+
+      expect(sendMessageSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        1234,
+        "⚠️ Failed to download media. Please try again.",
+        { reply_to_message_id: 411 },
+      );
+      expect(replySpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    } finally {
+      fetchSpy.mockRestore();
+    }
+  });
   it("processes remaining media group photos when one photo download fails", async () => {
     onSpy.mockReset();
     replySpy.mockReset();