Quick Answer
No, being in private browsing mode on LinkedIn does not make your profile invisible to others. Your profile visibility settings control who can view your profile, not whether you are in private browsing mode. Private browsing simply doesn’t save your browsing history locally on your device.
Detailed Answer
When you enable private browsing mode in your web browser and visit LinkedIn, your profile visibility remains unchanged. Private browsing prevents your browsing history, cookies, and other website data from being locally stored on your device. However, it does not make you anonymous to websites you visit, including LinkedIn.
Your LinkedIn privacy settings, not private browsing, control who can see your profile and activity. Here are the key factors that determine profile visibility on LinkedIn:
Profile Visibility Settings
In your LinkedIn account settings, you can configure your profile visibility as follows:
- Public: Anyone on or off LinkedIn can see your full profile
- Visible to anyone: Anyone on LinkedIn can see your full profile
- Connections only: Only your 1st-degree connections can see your full profile
- Invite-only: Only people you invite or are connected to can see your full profile
These settings are unaffected by whether you are browsing LinkedIn in private/incognito mode. Your profile visibility remains the same.
Viewer’s LinkedIn Account
If a viewer is logged into their LinkedIn account, they can see your profile up to the visibility limit you have configured. For example, with a “Connections only” setting, any logged-in user who is a 1st-degree connection will have access to the full profile.
Viewers who are logged out or don’t have a LinkedIn account will have limited profile access according to your settings. For instance, with a “Public” visibility setting, logged-out viewers can see your full profile. But with “Connections only” visibility, they can only see your public profile information.
Again, your use of private browsing does not change these dynamics. Your profile visibility settings and the viewer’s LinkedIn access determine what a person can see.
Search Engine Indexing
Public LinkedIn profiles are indexable and searchable on major search engines like Google. This means your public profile could appear in search results on Google or Bing for relevant keyword searches. Having a public setting allows your profile to be discoverable by people searching on major search engines.
However, private browsing does not de-index or remove your public LinkedIn profile from search engine results. Your profile may still appear in results for anyone searching your name or other keywords associated with your profile. Using private browsing does not change your public profile’s searchability.
LinkedIn Mobile App
When you use the LinkedIn mobile app in private/incognito mode on iOS or Android devices, your profile remains fully visible per your configured settings. Mobile private browsing simply means the app won’t store your browsing history and cookies locally on your device. But viewers experience your profile the same as if you were in a normal browsing session.
So on both desktop and mobile, private browsing keeps your LinkedIn activity private on your local device. But it does not extend any special privacy or anonymity to your profile or activity within LinkedIn itself. Your configured profile visibility settings determine what others see whether you browse privately or not.
Can People See My Full Profile If I’m Not Connected to Them?
It depends on your profile visibility settings. Here’s what each setting means for non-connections:
- Public: Yes, anyone on or off LinkedIn can see your full profile.
- Visible to anyone: Yes, any LinkedIn member can view your full profile even if not connected.
- Connections only: No, non-connections can only see your public profile info, not the full profile.
- Invite-only: No, only connections or people you invite can see the full profile.
So with the “Public” or “Visible to anyone” settings, your full profile is viewable by non-connections looking at your profile while logged into their LinkedIn account. For the other options, non-connections only get limited public profile access.
Does Private Browsing Hide My Profile Viewing Activity?
No, LinkedIn still records when you view other profiles regardless of whether you are browsing privately. The list of profiles you have visited remains visible to you and to LinkedIn.
When you view someone’s profile while signed into your account, LinkedIn logs that profile viewing activity. This is true whether you are in private browsing mode or not.
Private browsing simply ensures the profile viewing history isn’t stored locally on your device. But on LinkedIn’s servers, the activity is still recorded and visible to LinkedIn as normal.
Some LinkedIn users choose to turn on profile viewing notifications to see who has looked at their profile. With this notification setting enabled, they may be able to see your profile views even if you viewed them while in a private browsing session.
Overall, private browsing doesn’t hide your profile viewing footprint on LinkedIn itself. The activity is still logged and potentially viewable by others the same as during a normal browsing session.
Is My Private Activity Still Visible to LinkedIn?
Yes, although you browse in private mode, your activity within LinkedIn is still visible to LinkedIn itself. As the service provider, LinkedIn records data about your usage of their platform regardless of your browsing mode.
Here are some examples of activity LinkedIn can still see:
- Pages and profiles you view
- Searches you perform
- Job posts you click or apply to
- Groups you join or post in
- Ads you click or interact with
- Comments you post
- Other engagement with LinkedIn content
Your private browsing history and cookies are not stored locally on your device. But relevant usage data is still sent to LinkedIn’s servers like during a normal session. This allows LinkedIn to track aggregate analytics, serve you relevant content, monitor suspicious behavior, etc.
So generally, any of your activity while interacting with LinkedIn or its members is known to LinkedIn, even with private browsing enabled. Only your local browser history remains private.
Conclusion
In summary, private or incognito browsing on LinkedIn simply eliminates local storage of your browsing history and activity. It does not hide your profile, limit your profile visibility, or anonymize your activity within LinkedIn itself. Your configured profile settings determine what others see when visiting your profile. And LinkedIn still tracks your usage patterns for security and analytical purposes. Private browsing provides local privacy and convenience, but not full privacy or anonymity on social platforms like LinkedIn where you sign into an account.
| Private Browsing On | Private Browsing Off |
|---|---|
| No local browser history stored | Full browser history stored locally |
| No cookies stored locally | Cookies stored and available locally |
| No data saved locally from sites visited | Site data like credentials cached locally |
| Can view sites like normal while signed in | View sites normally while signed in |
| Other people see your normal public profile | Other people see your normal public profile |
| Your account activity is visible to the site/app | Your account activity is visible to the site/app |
| IP address still tracks browsing activity | IP address still tracks browsing activity |
Other LinkedIn Privacy Settings
In addition to your main profile visibility control, LinkedIn provides other privacy settings to manage what’s visible about your activity:
- Profile viewing options: Choose whether your profile views are visible to others.
- Activity broadcasts: Manage whether your profile updates appear in your network’s feeds.
- Visibility of connections: Control whether others can see your 1st-degree connections.
- Visibility of media download: Restrict people’s ability to download your photos/videos.
- Ads preferences: Opt out of certain types of ad targeting if desired.
Adjust these to limit visibility of your activity per your comfort level. But again, private browsing itself does not change these settings or restrict LinkedIn from collecting analytics on usage of their platform when signed in.
Other Ways to Enhance LinkedIn Privacy
Beyond your account settings, you can take other steps to keep your LinkedIn activity more private, such as:
- Be selective in what profile information you provide.
- Limit profile views via settings as desired.
- Unfollow people/groups to reduce visibility of your activity.
- Use an alternate email address not tied to your identity.
- Don’t post content you want to keep private.
- Review privacy on connected apps & sites.
- Monitor who views your profile if concerned.
Can I Be Completely Anonymous and Private on LinkedIn?
Not really, since LinkedIn is fundamentally designed for professional networking and engagement. But here are some steps you could take to keep a lower profile:
– Don’t upload a profile photo of yourself
– Use an alternate name not easily tied to your real identity
– Exclude current employment and education details
– Keep your profile visibility limited to “Connections only”
– Decline requests to connect from people you don’t know
– Avoid commenting or posting content publicly
– Don’t list skills, volunteer work, or other detailed background
This would make it harder for others to identify you or learn about your professional background. However, LinkedIn’s value is in making business connections and building your professional brand. Excessive anonymity defeats those purposes for most people.
At the end of the day, you have to decide how much of your profile and activity you are comfortable revealing on LinkedIn. But private browsing alone does little to hide your identity or activities from LinkedIn itself.
Conclusion
Private browsing in LinkedIn strips away local browser history and cookies but does not hide your account identity or activity from LinkedIn itself. Your configured profile visibility settings, not private browsing mode, control what others can see. LinkedIn still tracks your usage for analytics and security purposes even in private browsing. For full privacy, avoiding logging in or using an alternate anonymous account would be necessary, at the expense of LinkedIn’s networking utility. Most users gain minimal practical privacy from LinkedIn private browsing alone.