LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for professionals to build their online presence and connect with others in their industry. With over 722 million users, LinkedIn offers unmatched reach and visibility. However, some users may prefer to keep a lower profile and make their LinkedIn information less searchable for various reasons. So can you make yourself unsearchable on LinkedIn if you want to?
Can I remove myself completely from LinkedIn search?
No, there is no way to completely remove your LinkedIn profile from their search engine. LinkedIn needs to have public profiles available to function as a professional networking platform. If users could opt out of search, it would undermine the ability to connect with others in your industry.
However, there are steps you can take to reduce your visibility and limit how much of your information is exposed to public searches.
How to minimize LinkedIn public profile visibility
Here are some tips to make your LinkedIn public profile information more private and restrict searchability:
1. Adjust profile visibility settings
LinkedIn profile visibility is controlled in your settings under “Privacy & Settings.” Go to your profile, click on the “More” menu in the top right, and choose “Settings & Privacy.” Then go to the “Privacy” tab.
There you can choose between 3 profile visibility options:
- Public – default setting, makes your profile visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn
- Visible only to people in your network and recruiters you’ve given access to your profile
- Visible only to people in your network
Changing this to “Visible only to people in your network” will remove you from public searches on LinkedIn. You can still be found by direct profile URL, but will not show up in keyword searches. This is the best option to limit public visibility.
2. Opt out of search engine results
In your profile settings, you can also opt out of having your public profile included in search engine results like Google and Bing. Go to “Privacy & Settings” then “Profile Visibility” and uncheck “Allow search engines outside of LinkedIn to link to your profile.”
This means people will not find your LinkedIn profile if they Google your name. However, it only affects external search engines, your profile will still appear in searches within LinkedIn.
3. Customize your public profile URL
LinkedIn assigns your public profile a unique URL using your name. For example:
www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith-12345
You can customize this in your profile settings to make it less identifiable. Use your initials, nickname or just random letters and numbers. Like this:
www.linkedin.com/in/jds43234
This makes it harder for people to find your profile if they don’t have the exact customized URL.
4. Limit personal info visibility
Double check what personal information you share publicly on your profile. Restrict access to info like:
- Date of birth
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Home address
- Interests and hobbies outside work
Remove anything not strictly required for a professional profile. This gives less identifiable details available in public searches.
5. Turn off profile photo visibility
Having a profile photo makes you much more identifiable in searches. Consider removing your photo altogether or setting it to be visible only to your 1st degree connections.
Go to “Privacy & Settings” then “Profile photo” to change this.
Limits to unsearchability on LinkedIn
While the above steps will dramatically reduce your public visibility on LinkedIn, it’s impossible to remove yourself completely if you want to keep using the platform.
Even with the most private settings, your limited profile will still be visible to:
- Your existing LinkedIn connections
- LinkedIn recruiters and hiring managers you’re connected to
- Anyone who has your direct profile URL
You also cannot entirely remove your name from appearing on other people’s connections lists and interactions. So traces will remain visible to some users.
Should you make your LinkedIn profile unsearchable?
Here are some pros and cons to weigh when considering reducing your LinkedIn visibility:
Potential pros
- Avoid unwanted contact or attention
- Keep personal life separate from professional network
- Maintain privacy and control over public information
- Reduce unsolicited outreach from recruiters/salespeople
Potential cons
- Harder for new professional contacts to find and connect with you
- Lose out on networking, career growth and business opportunities
- Appear secretive to connections who can no longer find your full profile
Overall, the downsides likely outweigh the benefits of being unsearchable for most LinkedIn users. However, there are certain situations where limiting public visibility can be advantageous.
When to reduce LinkedIn visibility
Here are some examples of when you may want to apply the profile privacy settings suggested earlier:
- Job hunting when currently employed – Don’t want your boss and colleagues seeing you’re looking
- Concerned about cyberstalking/harassment – Had issues with harassment or bullying and want to limit personal info available
- Going through a divorce or separation – Restrict access from soon-to-be ex-spouse during proceedings
- Work in a sensitive field – Healthcare, social work, law enforcement, etc. where anonymity is preferred
- Frequently targeted by salespeople – Remove self from searches specifically to avoid unsolicited outreach
In these types of situation, the benefits likely outweigh the costs of being less visible. Once the sensitive period passes, visibility can be restored.
Other privacy risks on LinkedIn
While reducing your public profile visibility limits exposure, there are a couple other privacy issues to be aware of on LinkedIn:
Connection data visibility
Even with a private profile, your list of connections is still visible to your connections’ connections. This expanded network can see who you are linked to for networking intelligence purposes.
So it’s impossible to hide your connections from being leveraged by others on LinkedIn in some way.
Profile scraping
Bots and 3rd-party software can scrape information from LinkedIn profiles to collect professional data and even create profile copies without permission. This is against LinkedIn’s policies but still occurs.
So some basic info and public activity can be captured and stored by outside parties whether you like it or not.
Conclusion
It is possible to dramatically reduce your public visibility on LinkedIn through profile and settings adjustments. However, you cannot make yourself completely unsearchable if you wish to actually use LinkedIn for its intended purpose.
Most LinkedIn users will want to maintain public access to maximize career and networking opportunities. But for certain circumstances like job searching or harassment issues, limiting visibility can be advantageous.
Understand that connection data and scraping remain risks even with a private profile. Weigh the pros and cons carefully before sacrificing LinkedIn utility for increased privacy.