LinkedIn is a popular social media platform used by professionals and businesses to network, share content, and build their brand. One common way users share content on LinkedIn is by creating photo posts that contain multiple images. However, sometimes you may want to delete a single photo from a post containing multiple photos, without deleting the entire post.
Understanding LinkedIn’s Photo Post Format
When you create a photo post on LinkedIn that contains multiple images, it is published in a specific format. The post will contain a caption and then thumbnails of each uploaded photo. When viewing the post, users can click on any of the thumbnails to enlarge that photo.
This format allows you to include multiple photos in one post, while giving the viewer the option to enlarge the ones they want to see more clearly. The downside, however, is that there is no simple way to delete a single photo from the post later on.
LinkedIn’s Photo Post Editing Options
LinkedIn does allow you to edit photo posts after publishing, but the editing options are limited. When you go to edit a photo post, here are the only changes you can make:
- Edit the caption text
- Reorder the photo thumbnails
- Delete the entire post
There is no option to delete or remove a single photo from the post. You either have to leave it as is, or delete the entire post.
Workarounds to Delete a Single Photo
If you really need to remove a photo from a post with multiple images, there are a couple of workarounds, although they require some effort:
Delete and Re-Upload the Post
One option is to delete the entire existing photo post, and then re-upload it without the photo you want to remove. Here are the steps:
- When viewing your post, click the three dots in the upper right corner and select “Delete this post.” Confirm the deletion.
- Go to your photos and re-select all of the images you originally shared, except for the one you want to remove.
- Write the same caption text and re-publish the photo post.
This is tedious, but will accomplish the goal of removing the single image. Just keep in mind that it will show up as a brand new post, so you will lose any comments, likes, or engagement on the original.
Edit the Post in Another App
Another option is to download the photos from your original post, edit out the image you want deleted, and then re-upload the edited set. Here is one way to do it:
- From your LinkedIn post, download or save each of the photo files from the post to your computer.
- Open a photo editing app and import all of the images except the one you want to remove.
- Edit and export the remaining photos into one new image file with all of the images collaged together.
- Delete the old LinkedIn post.
- Upload the new collaged photo file to LinkedIn as a single image.
This takes some graphic design skills, but you can remove the single photo while keeping all of the other images intact in one new file. Uploading that to LinkedIn will achieve the goal of deleting the one photo from the post.
Third Party Apps Don’t Offer a Solution
You might think a third party social media management platform like Hootsuite or Buffer could offer better editing options, but unfortunately the limitations remain the same when managing LinkedIn posts through these apps.
The only way to delete a single photo from a multi-image post is to manually download the images, edit them yourself, and re-upload. The LinkedIn platform does not allow removing single photos natively.
Why LinkedIn Has This Limitation
The reason LinkedIn doesn’t allow deleting individual photos from a post likely comes down to simplicity. The multi-photo post format is designed to be easy to create and viewable in a standard gallery-style layout. Having the option to delete certain photos would require more complex post editing capabilities.
In addition, allowing users to delete individual images could cause problems if others have already interacted with the post. It could lead to confusion and broken image links. Rather than build in complex photo editing tools, LinkedIn decided to keep multi-photo posts simple and only offer the option to delete everything or nothing.
Best Practices to Avoid Needing to Delete Photos
To avoid having to delete photos from LinkedIn posts down the road, follow these best practices when publishing:
- Carefully review and curate the images you select for a post before publishing.
- Double check that each photo is relevant and that you have permission to share.
- Proofread the caption and text for errors.
- Consider spacing out photo posts over time rather than combining everything into one post.
Putting some extra time into curating and publishing high-quality posts from the start can prevent the need to delete content later on.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn does not provide an easy way to delete individual photos from a multi-image post, there are a couple of workarounds available if you need to remove a specific photo after publishing. The best option is to take time upfront to carefully curate your posts and avoid having to make deletions later. With some strategic planning, you can use LinkedIn’s multi-photo post format to share engaging visual content without any hiccups.
