LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 850 million members globally as of 2022. With so many professionals connecting and engaging on the site, a common question that arises is: can other LinkedIn members see who has viewed their profile?
The short answer
The short answer is: in most cases, no. LinkedIn has a feature that keeps profile views private by default. This means that when you look at someone’s profile, they will not be notified or receive any indication that you viewed their profile. There are some limited exceptions where profile views may be visible, but in general, your browsing history remains private.
How profile views work on LinkedIn
When you view another member’s profile on LinkedIn, it does get logged internally as a “view.” However, this data is not shared back to the profile owner by default due to LinkedIn’s private browsing settings.
There are two places where you can see who has viewed your own LinkedIn profile:
- Your “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section – this shows anonymous, aggregated data on who has viewed your profile, such as their industry and location. It does not show actual names or profiles of individual viewers.
- LinkedIn Recruiter package – paid subscribers to LinkedIn’s Recruiter service can see the names of individual people who have viewed their profiles over the last 90 days. This is the only way profile views are visible to others.
In summary, most LinkedIn members cannot see who specifically is looking at their profiles. The “Who’s Viewed” data is intentionally kept anonymous and vague. The only viewers that are identifiable are Recruiter subscribers, and even then, it’s limited to a 90 day window.
When your profile views may be visible
While LinkedIn profile browsing is designed to be private, there are some exceptions where you could inadvertently let someone know you’ve viewed their profile. These include:
- You have a Premium account – Premium subscribers can identify who viewed their profile and when.
- You connect with them – Network connections are notified when you view their profiles.
- You save or download their profile – Saving a profile for later or downloading it as a PDF will notify the member.
- You contact them – If you message someone after viewing their profile, they may be able to infer you looked at their page.
Additionally, if you appear in someone’s “People Also Viewed” section, they may guess that you looked at their profile. But there would be no definitive way for them to know for certain.
Tips for private browsing
If you want to keep your LinkedIn browsing discreet, here are some tips:
- Avoid using Premium – The paid Premium service removes anonymity filters from “Who’s Viewed.”
- Don’t connect right away – Wait a few days after viewing someone’s profile before trying to connect, so they won’t associate the two events.
- Use private browsing mode – Enable your browser’s private/incognito browsing when you want to look anonymously.
- Disable profile notifications – Turn off email alerts about who views your own profile to avoid drawing attention.
Is LinkedIn profile browsing anonymous?
In most cases, yes – LinkedIn browsing is designed to be anonymous. Your individual views will not show up in the profile owner’s “Who’s Viewed” section. This anonymity also applies when you re-visit a profile multiple times.
However, LinkedIn does track your browsing activity internally. This means LinkedIn can use the data in aggregate to serve you more relevant content and recommendations. But the individual viewing data is not shared with other members by default.
Can I see who viewed my LinkedIn profile?
As an individual member, you can only see anonymous, aggregated data in the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section, showing general stats like:
- How many people viewed your profile
- Where they are located
- What industry they work in
- What companies they work for
You cannot see actual names or profiles of individuals who have viewed your profile, unless you pay for the Recruiter package. Recruiters can identify who specifically has viewed their profiles in the last 90 days.
Can I tell if someone viewed my profile multiple times?
No, there is no way for regular LinkedIn members to know if an individual has looked at their profile multiple times. All profile views are anonymous unless a Recruiter account is being used.
At most, you may see slightly higher numbers in “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” data if multiple people are repeatedly viewing your page. But there are no names or statistics tied to individual viewers.
Can connections see your LinkedIn profile views?
Yes, your 1st degree connections on LinkedIn will be notified if you view their profile. This allows existing contacts to know when you have checked them out on LinkedIn.
However, 2nd and 3rd degree connections will not be alerted. You can browse the profiles of your connections’ connections anonymously.
Can you see LinkedIn stalkers?
LinkedIn does not provide any data on “stalkers” or repeat profile viewers. The visibility into who views your profile is very limited as a basic member.
Premium account holders can see more details on repeat visits – like if an anonymous viewer has returned to your profile multiple times in a month. But even with Premium, you cannot see actual names or identities of “stalkers.” Only paid Recruiters can see individual viewers.
Can LinkedIn tell you who viewed your profile?
No, LinkedIn’s default settings are designed to protect privacy. LinkedIn will not proactively notify members or provide data on who specifically is viewing your profile.
The only way to see individual viewers is by paying for a Recruiter account. Recruiters can see the names of people who have viewed their profiles over the last 90 days.
Otherwise, the data is anonymous. At most, you can see aggregate stats on profile views broken down by industry, seniority, location, etc. But no personal identifying information is shared back to the profile owner by default.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn profile browsing is mostly anonymous, due to their private viewing settings. While LinkedIn does track views in aggregate, this data is not shared back with members by name. The only viewers you can identify are 1st degree connections and paid Recruiter subscribers.
As an individual member, you cannot see exactly who has viewed your profile – only anonymous analytics. So you can browse other profiles discreetly in most cases, without them being notified or seeing your name pop up.
However, there are some exceptions, like if you appear in “People Also Viewed” or connect with someone right after viewing their page. Following best practices around privacy settings and private browsing can help keep your browsing history more anonymous.
LinkedIn Account Type | Can See Who Viewed Their Profile? |
---|---|
Basic (Free) | No, only anonymous data |
Premium | No, only anonymous data |
Recruiter | Yes, can see names of viewers in last 90 days |