LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 810 million members worldwide as of October 2022. On LinkedIn, users can connect with other professionals in their industry, search for jobs, follow companies, and join groups. An important way that connections are made on LinkedIn is through sending and accepting invitations to connect.
How do LinkedIn invitations work?
On LinkedIn, users can send invitations to connect to other members. When you send an invitation, the other member will receive a notification that you want to connect. They can then choose to accept or ignore your invitation.
If the member accepts your invitation, you will become “connected” on LinkedIn. This allows you to view each other’s profiles, see updates, and easily message each other through LinkedIn.
However, if the member ignores your invitation, you will not become connected. Additionally, the member can choose to delete your invitation instead of just ignoring it.
Does LinkedIn automatically delete sent invitations?
LinkedIn does not automatically delete sent connection invitations after a certain period of time. When you send an invite, it will stay in the other member’s inbox unless that member takes action on it.
There is no set timeframe where LinkedIn will automatically delete old invitations. The invitations remain in the receiving user’s inbox indefinitely until that user decides to take action on them.
Ignoring vs. deleting invitations
When a user receives an invitation, they have two options:
- Ignore the invitation – This keeps the invitation in the inbox but dismisses the notification. The sender will not receive notice that their invitation was ignored.
- Delete the invitation – This removes the invitation from the inbox completely. The sender will receive notice that their invitation was deleted.
Ignoring simply dismisses the notice but keeps it in the inbox, while deleting removes it entirely. LinkedIn will only automatically delete invitations if the receiving user proactively chooses the “delete” option.
When might LinkedIn delete sent invitations?
There are a few scenarios where LinkedIn will delete sent invitations without action from the receiver:
- The sender deletes their account – If the sending user deletes their LinkedIn account, any pending invitations they sent will also be deleted.
- The receiver deletes their account – If the user receiving the invitation deletes their account, the invitation will obviously be deleted with it.
- LinkedIn identifies spam behavior – If the sending user is flagged for suspicious spam activity, LinkedIn may proactively delete any invitations they have sent.
In most cases, the invitations will only be deleted if one of the users involved deletes their account. However, LinkedIn may also remove invitations if they deem the sender is abusing invitations for spam purposes.
How long do sent invitations show as “pending”?
When you send an invitation, your LinkedIn connections panel will display the invitation as “pending” while awaiting a response. But how long do these pending invitations remain?
Again, there is no set time limit where LinkedIn will remove a pending invitation. Unless the receiving user acts on it in some way, a pending invitation can technically remain indefinitely.
That said, most experts recommend following up on an outstanding invitation after about 2 weeks. If you still have no response after 4 weeks, it’s safe to say they’re not interested in connecting.
You can choose to withdraw the invitation at that point, which would remove it as pending. But otherwise, LinkedIn won’t put pending invitations on any time limit.
Following up on pending invitations
To follow up on a pending invitation, you have a couple options:
- Send an InMail message – Use LinkedIn InMail to directly message the user and politely ask if they received your invitation.
- Withdraw invitation – You can choose to withdraw your invitation if it’s been too long with no response. This removes it from the user’s inbox.
- Resend invitation – Typically not recommended, but you can resend an invitation if the user may have overlooked it.
Following up once is appropriate, but avoid pestering the user if they clearly aren’t interested. Withdrawing outdated invitations also helps clean up your connections panel.
Does LinkedIn limit sent invitations?
LinkedIn does limit the number of invitations you can send in a given period to prevent spammy behavior. Here are the current limits:
- LinkedIn Free Account: 300 invitations per month
- LinkedIn Premium Account: 500 invitations per month
If you try to exceed these limits, you’ll get an error notification from LinkedIn. It’s advisable to track your invitations within the allotted limits.
Note that this limit is only for direct invitations. If a user imports their email contacts or connects to group members, those do not count towards the invitation limit.
Dealing with reached invitation limits
If you frequently hit your invitation limit per month, here are some tips:
- Be more selective with invitations
- Focus on connecting with engaged users, not just anyone
- Wait until the next month when your limit resets
- Upgrade to a Premium account for a higher limit
The limits are intended to prevent spammy behavior, so focus on quality connections over quantity. But a Premium account can provide more flexibility.
Can you resend a deleted invitation?
If an invitation you sent was deleted by the receiver, you can resend an invitation to that same user again. However, it’s not recommended to repeatedly resend invitations if they’ve already been deleted.
If someone went to the effort to manually remove your invitation, they likely don’t want to connect or are not interested right now. Sending again may come across as pestering them.
You can try resending after some time has passed, or after interacting in a positive way through comments or a group. But avoid harassing the user with connection requests if they have actively deleted your invite.
When resending makes sense
In some cases, it may be appropriate to resend a deleted invitation:
- You have since had meaningful interactions
- You share a significant number of common connections
- They engaged positively with your content or posts
Evaluate the situation to determine if the user may be more receptive to connecting at the current time. But if in doubt, it’s better not to resend unwanted invitations.
Can you see who deleted your LinkedIn invitations?
Unfortunately, there is no way to see exactly who deleted your invitation on LinkedIn. The platform does not expose this level of information to users.
If your invitation is deleted, you will receive a notification that the invitation was deleted. However, it does not specify which user deleted it.
LinkedIn does this to maintain privacy for members. The focus is on enabling professional networking, not calling out individuals for removing invitations.
Uncovering deleted invitations
While you can’t definitively tell who deleted your invitation, you may be able to narrow it down if:
- You have very few pending invitations out
- You receive a deletion notice soon after sending to someone
- You notice someone you recently invited vanished from your list of pending invitations
By process of elimination, you could likely conclude who deleted the invitation. But LinkedIn will not directly indicate who performed the deletion.
Mistakes to avoid when sending LinkedIn invitations
To use LinkedIn invitations effectively, avoid these common mistakes:
- Mass inviting people you don’t know – This comes across as spammy.
- Sending canned invitations – Personalize each request with a customized message.
- Inviting competitors or business rivals – Tread carefully here unless you have an established rapport.
- Repeating invites if previously deleted – Respect the user’s privacy and decision.
- Inviting people who don’t know you – Only connect if you have an existing relationship or common interest.
Follow up pending invitations after a couple weeks. But if the user ultimately ignores or deletes the request, it’s best not to resend multiple times.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn does not automatically delete sent invitations after a set time period. The invitations will stay in the receiving user’s inbox indefinitely unless that user chooses to ignore, delete, or accept the invitation.
LinkedIn will also delete invitations if the sender or receiver deletes their account. And the platform may remove invitations if it detects spam-like behavior.
There are monthly limits on how many invitations you can send. It’s best to be selective and only connect with those you have an existing professional relationship with.
While you cannot see exactly who deleted your invitation, avoid pestering users by repeatedly resending unwanted invites. Focus on building quality relationships on LinkedIn rather than having the most connections.