LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 810 million members globally as of 2022. While having a public profile allows you to connect with more people and be found by recruiters, some users prefer to limit access to their profile information for privacy or other reasons.
What does it mean to have a private LinkedIn profile?
A private LinkedIn profile means your profile is not visible to all LinkedIn members. Only your 1st-degree connections (people you are connected with directly) will be able to view your full profile. Your profile will not show up in searches on LinkedIn and only your name, current position and company, and profile photo (if you have one) will be visible to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.
Benefits of a private LinkedIn profile
Here are some potential benefits of having a private LinkedIn profile:
- Increased privacy and control over who can view your profile information
- Avoid unsolicited outreach from recruiters or sales professionals
- Reduce chances of your current employer finding your profile if you are discreetly job searching
- Prevent competitors or industry contacts from accessing your employment history and connections
Drawbacks of a private LinkedIn profile
Some potential drawbacks of having a private LinkedIn profile include:
- Reduced networking opportunities since you have limited visibility
- Difficult for recruiters to find and contact you about job opportunities
- Unable to showcase your professional brand and accomplishments
- Harder to connect with new people unless they request to connect first
How to make your LinkedIn profile private
Making your LinkedIn profile private is simple though the settings. Here are the steps:
- Go to your profile page and click “View profile” to see how your profile appears to others
- Click the “Edit public profile & URL” button located along the top menu
- Go to the “Preferences” tab
- Under the “Profile viewing options”, click the radio button for “Private mode”
- Click “Save”
Your profile is now in private mode. You can toggle between public and private as needed by returning to the profile viewing preferences.
Who can see your profile in private mode?
When your profile is private, here is who can view your full profile:
- Your 1st-degree connections
- People who are not yet a 1st degree connection but share the same email domain as you, indicating they likely work for the same company
- LinkedIn members who are individually approved to view your profile through relationship management tools
2nd and 3rd-degree connections as well as LinkedIn members who you are not connected with will only see your name, current position/company, and profile photo. They will be unable to view your full profile details, connections list, or activity feed.
Additional ways to increase LinkedIn profile privacy
In addition to setting your profile to private mode, here are some other steps you can take to further limit the visibility of your LinkedIn profile:
Customize public profile settings
Under profile viewing preferences, you can choose to exclude your current position from your public profile so only 1st-degree connections see where you work. You can also opt to customize your public profile URL making it harder to find.
Limit profile photo visibility
You can set your profile photo visibility to “Connections only” so it does not display publicly. Go to the photo privacy settings under the “Photos” tab.
Manage your featured and activity feeds
Restrict access to your featured posts and activity feed to connections only. This prevents public visibility of your posts and profile updates.
Turn off your “People Also Viewed” widget
The “People Also Viewed” widget on your profile shows profiles frequently viewed along with yours. Turn this off as it indicates to others you are looking at their profiles.
Disable search engine indexing
Opt out of allowing search engines like Google to index your public LinkedIn profile so you don’t show up in searches outside of LinkedIn.
Can I hide my LinkedIn profile from my connections?
No, there is no way to completely hide your LinkedIn profile from your 1st-degree connections while remaining active on the platform. Even if you switch to private mode, your 1st-degree connections will still be able to view your full profile.
You can individually block specific connections from seeing your profile, but there is no bulk option to hide from all connections. The only way to do this is to deactivate your account, but you’ll no longer be able to sign in or appear in searches.
Can I see who views my LinkedIn profile?
LinkedIn’s premium Business, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter products include profile view monitoring features to see who has viewed your profile.
On a free LinkedIn account, you cannot see who specifically has viewed your profile. However, you can see aggregated profile view data under the “See stats about your profile” link on your profile page. This shows summary information like how many times your profile was viewed in the past week.
LinkedIn profile stalking and privacy concerns
Some people engage in “LinkedIn stalking” where they excessively view others’ profiles without connecting or interacting. While this might sometimes be done with harmless professional intentions, it can feel like an invasion of privacy.
If you are concerned about someone excessively viewing your profile, consider the following:
- Switch to private mode to limit profile visibility
- Block the person stalking your profile from viewing it
- Disable search engine indexing as mentioned earlier
- Use LinkedIn’s premium features to identify stalkers if needed
- Report serious harassment to LinkedIn customer service
Conclusion
While LinkedIn is designed as a public professional networking platform, users do have options like private mode to limit profile visibility. Carefully reviewing your privacy settings and profile information can help you take control over who can view your LinkedIn profile. Consider both the benefits of being visible versus more hidden when determining if you want a public or private account.