Whether someone with LinkedIn premium can see your profile when you are in private mode is a common question for LinkedIn users who want to control their privacy settings. The short answer is no – LinkedIn premium does not allow users to view profiles that are set to private mode.
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn Premium is a paid subscription plan that gives users access to additional features on LinkedIn beyond the free basic account. Some of the key benefits of LinkedIn Premium include:
- Seeing who viewed your profile
- Advanced messaging and inbox filters
- Expanded network with unlimited InMail messages
- Premium profile badges to stand out
- Learning courses and professional insights
However, LinkedIn Premium does not give users the ability to bypass other members’ privacy settings. Your profile visibility and privacy controls will still apply regardless of whether someone viewing your profile has a premium account or not.
What is LinkedIn Private Mode?
LinkedIn’s private mode allows you to control the visibility of your profile and network activity. When you enable private mode:
- Your profile will not appear in search engines outside of LinkedIn
- Your profile photo, name, headline, and badge will not be viewable to other members you are not connected to
- Only your connections will be able to see your activity updates and full profile
Essentially, private mode gives you greater control over who can view and access your full profile. It removes your profile information from public visibility for anyone not already in your network.
Can Premium Members See Private Profiles?
No, enabling LinkedIn private mode means that even premium account holders will not be able to view your full profile if they are not already connected to you in your network. Some key points:
- Premium members can see limited profile information (photo, name, headline) of members outside their network, but not when private mode is enabled.
- When private mode is on, all public profile visibility is turned off regardless of premium status.
- Premium members can pay to send InMail messages to those not in their network, but the recipient must accept the message before their full profile is viewable.
- Searching for your name will not display your profile for premium members when private mode is enabled.
So in summary, no – upgrading to LinkedIn Premium does not allow you to view or access profiles that have enabled private mode. Your full profile visibility remains restricted only to your existing network connections.
How to Enable LinkedIn Private Mode
Enabling private mode is simple if you want to limit your profile visibility on LinkedIn:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Select “Privacy & Settings” in the left sidebar
- Under “How others see your profile”, click “Change” next to “Your public profile”
- Toggle the Private mode setting to “Yes”
- Click “Save changes”
That’s it! Your profile will now be in private mode. You can return to these settings and toggle private mode off at any time if you want to make your profile public again in the future.
Benefits of LinkedIn Private Mode
Here are some of the benefits of using LinkedIn’s private mode feature:
- Enhanced privacy – your profile details are visible only to your existing connections
- Reduced unsolicited contact – recruiters, salespeople cannot view your full profile if not already connected
- Better control of your brand – you decide who can access your profile content rather than it being fully public
- Limit distractions – reduces notifications and unwanted messages from those outside your network
- Reduce spam – decreases contact through InMail or other methods by those you don’t know
For many LinkedIn members, the privacy benefits of private mode outweigh the visibility benefits of a fully public profile. However, you can still toggle it on and off as needed if you want your profile to be visible at any point.
Downsides of Private Mode
Here are some potential downsides to be aware of with LinkedIn’s private mode:
- Less profile visibility – limits ‘passive’ discovery of your profile by those you don’t know but who may be interested in connecting
- Fewer new opportunities – decreases the chance of being contacted by recruiters or business connections outside your existing network
- Unable to stand out – reduces chances of your content going ‘viral’ and reaching a wide audience
- Harder to build network – more challenging to connect with new people organically without existing contacts
For some professionals focused on building their network or audience, the reduced visibility of private mode may not be ideal. It limits the organic growth of your network and chances of connecting serendipitously with new contacts.
Conclusion
In summary, upgrading to LinkedIn Premium does not enable you to bypass other members’ privacy settings and view private profiles. Enabling private mode restricts your public profile visibility to just your existing network contacts, regardless of whether others viewing your profile are premium members or not.
Private mode gives you greater control over your profile content and limits unsolicited outreach. But it also reduces opportunities for passive discovery and network growth. Evaluate your own priorities and preferences for profile visibility vs. privacy to decide if LinkedIn private mode is right for your needs.
| LinkedIn Account Type | Can View Private Profiles? |
|---|---|
| Free Account | No |
| Premium Account | No |
| Recruiter Account | No |
| Sales Navigator Account | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can premium members see who viewed their profile?
Yes, one of the benefits of LinkedIn Premium is the ability to see expanded insights into who has viewed your profile, beyond just the last 5 profiles for free members. Premium provides the last 90 days of profile viewer data.
Is there a way to tell if someone has a premium account?
Yes, premium members have badges displayed on their profile indicating they have a premium subscription. The badge will be visible in the top corner of the profile photo.
Can I limit profile views but allow messages?
Not directly. With private mode enabled, the main way others can message you is if they are already connected in your network. You can also individually customize message permissions in Settings to further limit who can message you.
Does private mode remove you from Google search?
Generally yes – when you enable private mode, LinkedIn also removes your public profile from search engine indexing. So you should not see your profile in Google search results in most cases with private mode on.
Can I turn private mode on and off?
Yes, you can toggle private mode on or off anytime. Just revisit the Privacy & Settings area. There is no limit to how often you can change this setting.
Want to Learn More?
LinkedIn private mode and premium accounts have nuances in how they affect profile visibility. To recap the key facts:
- Premium does NOT override your privacy settings or allow viewing private profiles
- Private mode removes public profile access regardless of the viewer’s account type
- Profile visibility and network growth may be reduced with private mode on
- You can toggle private mode on and off as needed
For more details on getting the most out of your LinkedIn account, visit the LinkedIn Help Center which provides additional articles, tips, and tutorials.
You can also contact the LinkedIn support team directly with any other questions you have around account settings, premium subscriptions, or optimizing your profile.