LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites, with over 722 million users worldwide as of January 2021. Given how many professionals rely on LinkedIn to network, build their personal brand, and find job opportunities, having an up-to-date LinkedIn profile is crucial for career success.
With so much riding on their LinkedIn presence, many users wonder what happens if they delete their LinkedIn account. Will all traces of their profile disappear from the site forever, or will some data linger? And if a profile is deleted, can it be recovered?
Can You Delete a LinkedIn Account?
Yes, it is possible to delete your LinkedIn account if you no longer wish to have a presence on the platform. LinkedIn provides an account deletion option in the account settings. Deleting your account is permanent and cannot be undone.
Here are the steps to delete your LinkedIn account:
- Log into your LinkedIn account on the website (you cannot delete your account via the mobile app)
- In the top right, click on the “Me” icon (your profile picture)
- Select “Settings & Privacy” from the dropdown menu
- On the left side menu, click “Account preferences”
- Under the “Account management” section, click “Closing your LinkedIn account”
- Follow the on-screen instructions to select a reason for leaving and confirm account closure
LinkedIn will try to convince you not to close your account during the deletion process, but you can continue through to fully deleting it. Once your account is deleted, you will no longer be able to log in.
What Happens When You Delete a LinkedIn Account?
When you delete your LinkedIn account, here is what happens:
- Your profile, including your connections, posts, and media, is permanently removed
- You lose access to Premium features and paid products associated with your account
- Your email address and other personal info is no longer associated with an account
- Third-party apps you’ve connected to LinkedIn no longer have access to your profile data
- You can no longer log into LinkedIn with your account credentials
In essence, deleting your account wipes your presence from LinkedIn entirely. All of your profile information, connections, posts, and data are erased from LinkedIn’s servers.
Profile URL
Your custom LinkedIn profile URL (e.g. linkedin.com/in/yourname) becomes available for anyone else to claim after you delete your account. You will lose your unique URL, and someone else can register it.
Search Engine Listings
Pages from your LinkedIn profile may still appear in search engine results after you delete your account, but they will return 404 errors if clicked on. Search engines like Google can take some time to update their indexes after a page is removed. But your LinkedIn profile data will not be accessible.
Insights and Analytics
All analytics data associated with your account, such as profile views and homepage impressions, is erased when you delete your account. You no longer have access to any LinkedIn insights.
Messages and Notifications
When you delete your account, all LinkedIn messages and notifications associated with your account are permanently deleted. You can no longer access conversations or notifications.
Advertising and Sponsored Content
Any sponsored content or ads you were running through LinkedIn Advertising are immediately paused when you delete your account. You can no longer manage or access those campaigns.
Can a Deleted LinkedIn Account Be Recovered?
No, a deleted LinkedIn account cannot be recovered. The account deletion process is designed to be permanent, and there is no way to retrieve the account or any associated data after it is deleted.
Some key things to know about recovering a deleted LinkedIn account:
- LinkedIn support cannot restore deleted accounts
- You cannot re-register with the same email address after deleting your account
- Your profile URL belongs to LinkedIn and cannot be recovered
- Google and other search engines will eventually remove cached and indexed pages
- Backup services like Wayback Machine only have limited and outdated snapshots
For these reasons, the deletion is irreversible. The only option is to create a brand new LinkedIn account using a different email address.
How Long Until a Deleted Account Is Removed from LinkedIn?
LinkedIn states that it can take up to 24 hours for a deleted account to be fully removed from their systems. However, it is usually much quicker than that.
Here is the typical timeline for LinkedIn account deletion:
| Time Elapsed | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Instantly | You are logged out and cannot sign back in |
| Within 5 minutes | Your profile and posts are no longer visible to other users |
| Within 1 hour | You disappear from search results and suggestions |
| Within 24 hours | Your data is fully cleared from LinkedIn’s databases |
So while LinkedIn gives itself 24 hours for your account to fully deactivate, in reality it occurs much more quickly, usually within an hour. You vanish from the platform almost instantly after clicking that delete button.
Does Deleting LinkedIn Delete Connections?
No, deleting your LinkedIn account does not remove connections from your contacts’ profiles. When you delete your profile, your connections remain intact on other people’s contact lists.
Here is what happens to your connections when you delete your LinkedIn account:
- You disappear from your connections’ “My Connections” list
- Any content you shared remains on their feed unless they delete it
- You no longer show up as a shared connection with contacts
- Your contacts can still message you via your “deleted member” profile
- Contacts retain the ability to endorse you for past skills and roles
In summary, when you delete your account, your connections still have a record of being connected to you. But you disappear from their network, and they can no longer visit your profile or actively engage with you on LinkedIn.
Removing Individual Connections
If you want to remove all traces of a connection before deleting your account, you must manually remove each person first. Here are the steps:
- Go to their profile and click “More” next to the Connect button
- Select “Remove connection”
- On the next screen, choose “Yes, remove connection”
This will fully delete your connection with that person before you delete your account. Repeat for any other connections you wish to remove.
Conclusion
In summary, when you delete your LinkedIn account, your profile and all associated data are permanently removed from LinkedIn’s platform. This cannot be reversed. You immediately become invisible to other users, and within 24 hours maximum, your account is fully wiped from LinkedIn’s systems.
Deleting your account does not remove your connections from your network contacts’ profiles. They maintain a record of being connected to you, even if your profile vanishes. Manually removing connections before deleting your account is the only way to fully break those ties.
Overall, LinkedIn account deletion is designed to be quick and permanent. So think carefully before deciding to erase your presence, as there is no going back!
