LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 810 million members worldwide. As a professional social media site, LinkedIn profiles are visible to other users by default. This helps people connect with new professional contacts and opportunities.
However, at times you may wish to limit who can view your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn provides settings to customize your profile visibility and turn off public viewing if desired.
In this article, we’ll explain:
- Who can see your LinkedIn profile by default
- How to turn off public profile viewing
- Other ways to control LinkedIn profile visibility
Understanding your LinkedIn privacy settings is important for managing your professional presence online.
Who Can See Your LinkedIn Profile By Default
LinkedIn profiles are visible to others by default as part of facilitating professional networking and connection.
Here’s an overview of who can see your profile and activity under the default public setting:
- All LinkedIn members can view your profile and limited activity such as job changes and education updates.
- Non-members can also see your public profile information without logging in.
- Your connections can view your full profile as well as full activity such as posts, comments, and profile changes.
- LinkedIn Premium subscribers have wider access to view member profiles beyond their own networks.
- Your employer can also see your full profile.
Essentially this means your profile is open and visible to the broader LinkedIn community by default. Public access allows you to be discoverable to new connections outside your existing network.
How to Turn Off Public Profile Viewing
You can easily adjust your LinkedIn settings to turn off public visibility and limit profile viewing to just your connections.
Here are the steps:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings page. You can access this via the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
- Next select “Privacy” from the left menu.
- Under the “Profile viewing options” section, adjust the toggle for “Select who can see your profile”.
- Save your changes by clicking “Review visibility settings” at the bottom of the page.
This will turn off public access so only your existing LinkedIn connections can view your full profile and activity updates.
Non-members and general public users will no longer be able to access your profile information. You can still appear in limited search results and notifications to mutual connections.
Turning off public viewing is recommended if you wish to limit visibility but still maintain an active LinkedIn presence. You remain discoverable within the LinkedIn network for recruiting and opportunities.
Other Ways to Control Profile Visibility
In addition to the overall public/connections visibility toggle, LinkedIn provides other options to fine-tune your profile and activity privacy:
Profile Photo Settings
You can specify if you want your profile photo visible only to connections or to the public. Go to Privacy settings and adjust the “Profile Photo” visibility option.
Activity Broadcasts
Limit notifications about your updates like new jobs or education. Go to Communications tab in settings and disable activity broadcasts.
Blocking Profiles
You can block specific members from viewing your profile. Go to the blocking settings page, enter the profile name, and click “Block”.
Premium Subscribers Visibility
Paying Premium subscribers can turn off the ability for other Premium members outside their network to view their profile. Disable this in Privacy settings.
Job Seeking Visibility
Adjust if recruiters can see your full profile and that you are open to new job opportunities. Toggle this in Privacy settings.
Sensitive Information
You may wish to remove sensitive info like your birthdate or contact info. This can be edited in the About section.
Activity Broadcasts
Limit notifications about your updates like new jobs or education. Go to Communications tab in settings and disable activity broadcasts.
Last Name Visibility
You can also hide your last name on your public profile so it displays just your first name and last initial. Adjust this in Profile settings.
Conclusion
Controlling your LinkedIn profile visibility is important for managing your professional presence. By default LinkedIn profiles are visible to members and public users.
Turning off public profile access and limiting viewing to just your connections provides more privacy. You can customize other settings like profile photo visibility, activity broadcasts, and blocking specific members.
Restricting full profile access also prevents unwanted solicitation and protects your personal information. However you remain discoverable on LinkedIn for networking opportunities.
Understanding LinkedIn’s privacy tools allows you to be selective and intentional with what professional details you share publicly online. Configure your profile visibility in a way that makes you feel comfortable and empowered as you navigate LinkedIn for your career needs.
