LinkedIn has become one of the most popular professional networking platforms, with over 800 million members worldwide as of 2022. With its focus on career networking and opportunities, LinkedIn allows you to connect and engage with professionals in your industry or related fields. When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, you are adding them to your professional network and enabling two-way engagement between your profiles.
A common question that LinkedIn users have is – can you check when someone has connected with you on LinkedIn? The platform does provide some options to see connection activity, but with certain limitations. In this article, we’ll explore if and how you can check connection dates on LinkedIn.
Viewing Your Connections List
The most straightforward way to review your LinkedIn connections is by going to your Connections page. This can be accessed by clicking on “My Network” from your top toolbar and then selecting “Connections”.
This will display your full list of LinkedIn connections in alphabetical order. However, there is no visibility into connection dates here – it simply shows all of your connections with no timestamps.
So while the Connections list gives you an overview of your network, it does not provide any historical insight into when each connection occurred.
Filtering by Date Connected
LinkedIn does provide a way to filter your Connections by the date they connected with you. To access this:
- Go to your Connections page
- Click on the “Manage” button next to Connections
- Select “Date connected” from the dropdown filter
You can now sort your connections by date added, in descending order from newest to oldest. This lets you view your connections based on when they were made.
The limitation here is that you cannot see the exact connection date – LinkedIn only shows the month and year when each connection occurred. So while you can broadly filter connections by timeframe, you cannot pinpoint the exact date you connected with a specific individual.
Viewing Individual Connection Profiles
The most detailed view of connection dates is available when you view someone’s profile who you are connected with. To do this:
- Search for the name of the connection in LinkedIn search
- Go to their profile page
- The date you connected will show under their name and headline
This profile view displays the full date, including day, month and year, that you connected with that individual. This is the most granular level of detail available for connection dates.
The limitation here is that you can only view it on a per profile basis – there is no dashboard or overview page that shows all connection dates.
Using LinkedIn Premium to Check Connections
LinkedIn Premium subscriptions do provide some additional insight into your connection activity that may be useful.
With a Premium account, you can see who has viewed your profile recently. While this doesn’t show connection dates, it could indicate if someone viewed your profile around the time you connected.
Premium also allows you to search through your 3rd degree network, which can help you find connections dates for more distant connections that you couldn’t necessarily view directly in your profile.
Lastly, Premium offers analytics about your profile views and interactions, which can provide some useful context into your connection and engagement on LinkedIn over time.
Why Exact Connection Dates Are Not Displayed
LinkedIn intentionally limits the visibility into exact connection dates and historical network activity. There are a few potential reasons for this:
- Privacy – obscuring exact dates reduces transparency into users’ networks and activity over time.
- Reduced social pressure – without precise dates shown, users may feel less pressure to connect with everyone actively.
- Limiting data collection – reducing data collected on users’ connections minimizes monetization and targeting opportunities.
- Clean interface – showing less timestamps and historical data declutters the interface and focuses on presenting current connections.
The lack of exact timestamps could be seen as a compromise between offering users utility around their connections while also maintaining a level of discretion and privacy.
Alternative Ways to Track Your LinkedIn Network Activity
While LinkedIn itself may not show full historical connection data, there are some alternative methods users can leverage to keep better records of their networking activity:
- Personal CRM – Use a CRM system to log connection dates and networking outreach details over time.
- Spreadsheet – Maintain a spreadsheet tracking connection dates, engagement stats and notes on relationships.
- Relationship Management Software – Platforms like Contactually and Nimble let you track and visualize network connections.
- Browser Extensions – Extensions like SocialBro can track LinkedIn activity and connections.
These types of supplemental tools can provide users with more insight into their LinkedIn network growth and engagement over time.
Conclusion
LinkedIn currently does not provide full transparency into connection dates and historical activity. The platform balances utility for users to filter and view connections made, with discretion around showing precise timestamps.
If viewing exact connection dates is highly important, maintaining external records through a CRM, spreadsheet or other tools can be useful. But LinkedIn’s limitations are likely intentional to focus on presenting current connections, while reducing social pressure and maximizing privacy.
So while you cannot derive complete connection insights directly from LinkedIn, you can still get a reasonable view into the growth and timeline of your professional network using the filters and views available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I export my LinkedIn connections with the connection dates?
Unfortunately, there is no way to export your full list of LinkedIn connections with the exact dates connected. You can export your connections list as a CSV file, but it will not contain any information on connection dates.
Where can I see the date I connected with someone on mobile app?
The LinkedIn mobile app provides the same view into connection dates as the desktop site. When viewing a connection’s profile, you can see the date you connected beneath their name. But there is no single page to view all connection dates.
Does downloading my LinkedIn data provide connection dates?
LinkedIn allows you to request an archive of your account data. However, the archive file only contains your current connections list – it does not include any historical timestamps or connection dates.
Can Premium show me who has recently removed me as a connection?
Unfortunately, even with a Premium account, there is no way to definitively tell if someone has removed you as a connection recently. Premium provides insights into profile views and searches, but does not indicate if connections have been lost.
Is there a way to see my oldest LinkedIn connections?
Yes, you can filter your connections by date connected in descending order – oldest to newest. This will let you see the first connections made when you joined LinkedIn.
Connection Date | Connection Name |
---|---|
January 2010 | Mary Smith |
February 2010 | John Jacobs |
March 2010 | Sarah Davis |
May 2010 | Peter Richardson |
Can I tell if someone is ignoring my connection request?
LinkedIn does not directly indicate if someone is ignoring your request. It will continue to show as “Pending” until the user accepts or rejects it. However, after 30-90 days of no response, LinkedIn will automatically withdraw the request.
How often does LinkedIn update connection dates?
Connection dates on LinkedIn profiles update immediately as soon as a new connection is made. So you can view real-time data on when you are connected with someone.
Can LinkedIn notify me whenever I gain a new connection?
Currently, LinkedIn does not proactively notify you when you gain new connections. You have to manually check your profile or Connections list to view updated connection data.
Is there any offline way to track my LinkedIn activity?
Since LinkedIn connection data is only available through their online platform, there is no official offline tracking method. You would need to use external tools like a CRM or spreadsheet to record your LinkedIn networking activity when not logged in.
What is the maximum number of connections you can have on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn has increased the maximum connections limit over time as the network has grown. Currently, the connection limit is 30,000 for standard members and 60,000 for Premium members.
Can Premium members see more connection insights than free members?
Premium provides additional info like profile view analytics and search visibility. However, all members see the same connectivity data like connections lists and connection timestamps on profiles.
Does deleting a connection remove the date they connected?
Yes, when you delete or remove a LinkedIn connection, it completely removes their profile from your network. This also erases the date they were originally connected.