LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 850 million members worldwide. Many professionals rely on LinkedIn to network, look for jobs, connect with colleagues, build their personal brand, and more. However, sometimes you may need to take a break from LinkedIn without deleting your account permanently.
The short answer is yes, you can temporarily deactivate your LinkedIn account if you need a break but don’t want to lose your profile and connections. Here’s what you need to know about deactivating your LinkedIn account temporarily.
How to Temporarily Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account
Deactivating your LinkedIn account is simple and can be done in just a few clicks:
- Log into your LinkedIn account on a desktop or mobile browser (you cannot deactivate via the mobile app).
- Go to your account settings by clicking on the profile icon at the top right and selecting “Settings & Privacy.”
- Under the “Account preferences” section, click on “Closing your LinkedIn account.”
- Select “Temporarily deactivate my account” and click continue.
- Select a reason for deactivating from the dropdown menu and add any optional comments.
- Click on the “Temporarily deactivate account” button.
LinkedIn will immediately deactivate your account and associated email notifications. Your profile will no longer be viewable to other members.
How Long Can I Keep My LinkedIn Account Deactivated?
You can keep your LinkedIn account temporarily deactivated for up to 14 days before it is automatically and permanently deleted. Within 14 days of deactivation, you can easily reactive your account by logging in with your email and password. After 14 days have passed, your account and all data associated with it will be permanently deleted.
If you try to log in after the 14 day window, you will have to create a brand new account as the old one would no longer exist in LinkedIn’s system.
What Happens When I Deactivate My LinkedIn Account?
Here’s an overview of what happens when you temporarily deactivate your LinkedIn account:
- Your profile will no longer be viewable to other members.
- You will stop receiving notifications and emails from LinkedIn.
- You won’t be able to interact with other members or access LinkedIn services.
- Your connections will remain intact unless you permanently delete the account.
- You can reactive your account anytime within 14 days by logging back in.
- After 14 days of deactivation, your account will be permanently deleted.
Benefits of Temporarily Deactivating Your LinkedIn
Here are some of the benefits of temporarily deactivating instead of fully deleting your LinkedIn account:
- Keep your connections – All of your 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree connections remain intact so you don’t have to start over if you reactive your account.
- Maintain profile visibility – Your public profile URL will remain the same, which preserves SEO value and brand recognition.
- Access old messages/data – You can access previous conversations and your profile data if you reactive your account within 14 days.
- Easy to reactive – Reactivating takes just a few seconds. Just log back in within 14 days.
- Take a break – Deactivating gives you a chance to take a break from networking and focus on other things.
What Are the Disadvantages of Deactivating?
There are a couple potential drawbacks to keep in mind:
- You temporarily lose access to LinkedIn services, messages, and notifications.
- You may miss out on networking, business, or job opportunities that arise while deactivated.
- If you forget to reactive in 14 days, your account will be deleted permanently.
What Happens if I Don’t Reactive Within 14 Days?
If 14 days pass after temporarily deactivating your account and you have not logged back in to LinkedIn, your account will be permanently deleted. This means:
- Your profile, connections, messages, and data will be erased from LinkedIn’s systems.
- Your public profile URL will no longer be accessible.
- You will have to create a brand new LinkedIn account from scratch.
Therefore, if you merely want a temporary break, make sure to log back in within 14 days to avoid accidentally losing your account forever.
Can I Restore a Permanently Deleted LinkedIn Account?
Unfortunately, once your LinkedIn account has been permanently deleted after 14 days, there is no way to retrieve or restore it. The deletion is irreversible. LinkedIn does not have an account recovery option for permanently deactivated accounts.
Your only option is to create a brand new LinkedIn profile using a different email address. However, you will have to start rebuilding your connections and profile from scratch.
Conclusion
Temporarily deactivating your LinkedIn account allows you to take a networking break without losing your profile and connections permanently. Just remember to log back in within 14 days before the deactivation becomes permanent. This prevents you from having to rebuild your presence on LinkedIn from the ground up.
| Deactivation Timeframe | What Happens |
|---|---|
| 0 – 14 days after deactivating | Account remains deactivated but can be restored by logging back in |
| 14+ days after deactivating | Account is permanently deleted and cannot be restored |
Related Questions
Can someone else see my LinkedIn profile if I deactivate my account?
No, once you deactivate your LinkedIn account, your public profile is temporarily hidden and becomes inaccessible to other members until you reactive it. Other users will see a message that your profile is unavailable if they try to view it.
Will deactivating my LinkedIn account hurt my SEO?
As long as you reactive your LinkedIn account within 14 days, deactivating should not negatively impact your overall SEO presence. Your public profile URL will remain intact, which preserves search engine credibility. However, if the deactivation becomes permanent, the URL will be lost and you’ll have to rebuild SEO from scratch.
Can I still see who viewed my LinkedIn profile after deactivating my account?
No, you cannot see who viewed your profile or access any LinkedIn analytics after deactivating your account. However, your viewer data will be restored if you log back in and reactive your account within 14 days.
Will LinkedIn continue to charge me membership fees if I temporarily deactivate my account?
No, LinkedIn automatically suspends all account-related billing and charges when you deactivate, whether temporarily or permanently. You will not be charged any membership fees until and unless you reactive your account.
Can I still use my LinkedIn Learning account if I deactivate my profile?
No, deactivating your LinkedIn account also restricts access to other associated LinkedIn services, including LinkedIn Learning. You cannot access any courses or videos on Learning until you reactive your profile.
Will deactivating remove me from LinkedIn Groups?
Yes, deactivating your account automatically removes you and hides your profile from any LinkedIn Groups you had joined. If you reactive within 14 days you will have to request to re-join any Groups you were a part of previously.
Can recruiters still contact me if I temporarily deactivate my LinkedIn?
No, recruiters will be unable to contact you directly on LinkedIn while your account is deactivated. However, they may still reach out to you via other channels like email if they have that contact information.
What should I do about pending connection invites before deactivating?
It’s best to accept or reject any pending connection requests or messages before deactivating your account. Otherwise, the requests will be canceled when your account becomes disabled. You’ll have to ask those members to re-send a connection invite when you return.
Is there a way to download my LinkedIn data before deactivating my account?
Yes, before deactivating you can go to your account settings and request an archive of your LinkedIn data, including profile info, connections, posts, messages, etc. This can provide a helpful backup if you ever need to recreate your account.
Can I still access LinkedIn on mobile if I deactivate my account on desktop?
No, deactivating your LinkedIn account through the desktop site will also immediately disable access via the mobile apps. You will be logged out of mobile and unable to sign in until you reactive your account.