Does LinkedIn notify when you look at someone’s profile?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 722 million users worldwide. With so many professionals connecting and interacting on the platform, a common question that arises is – does LinkedIn notify you when someone views your profile?

The quick answer is no, LinkedIn does not send any notifications when someone views your profile. LinkedIn does not have any feature that lets you know who has viewed your profile. This allows members to browse freely and connect with each other without worrying about others finding out.

Some key things to know:

• LinkedIn does not notify you when someone views your profile
• There are no alerts or notifications sent out to let you know who viewed your profile
• Your list of profile viewers is not shared with anyone else on LinkedIn
• The identity of who viewed your profile remains anonymous

So you can rest assured that your profile views remain private. The only way you would know if someone has looked at your profile is if they directly tell you or connect with you after viewing your profile.

Why Doesn’t LinkedIn Notify Profile Views?

LinkedIn intentionally does not have profile view notifications for a few key reasons:

1. Privacy – Notifying profile views would infringe on the privacy of members. People want to freely browse without worrying about others finding out.
2. Prevent misuse – Profile view notifications could lead to unwanted soliciting, stalking or other misuse of the feature.
3. Keep the focus on connections – LinkedIn wants to encourage meaningful connections and engagement rather than passive profile viewing.
4. Technical challenges – The sheer volume of profile views on LinkedIn makes view notifications technically difficult to implement.

The lack of notifications creates a lower-pressure environment for members. You can browse and research people without feeling watched or distracted by constant notifications.

What Profile Information is Visible to Others?

Even though LinkedIn does not reveal who viewed your profile, some of your profile information is visible to others:

• Your photo
• Your name
• Your headline and current position
• Your geographic location
• Your summary/about section
• Your experience and education
• Your skills and endorsements
• Your posts and activity

Essentially, any part of your profile that you choose to make public can be seen by other members. You control what sections are visible and what remains private.

Of course, direct connections are able to see more of your profile than strangers outside of your network.

Who Can See Your LinkedIn Profile?

There are 3 main levels of profile visibility on LinkedIn:

1. Public – Anyone on the internet can see your public profile. It appears in Google search results.

2. Connections only – Only people in your 1st-degree network see the full profile.

3. Private – You control specifically who can see your full profile.

So unless you have a completely private profile, people you are not connected to can still find and view your basic profile on LinkedIn.

Does LinkedIn Show Who Viewed Your Profile?

While LinkedIn does not notify you of profile views, it does keep track of some viewer data that remains private.

You have access to the list of people who have viewed your profile over the past 90 days. However, this information is not shared with your connections or other members.

To see who has viewed your profile:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile
2. Click on the number below the ‘Who’s viewed your profile’ section
3. This will show the list of profile viewers from the past 90 days (no names for privacy reasons)

You can toggle between showing all viewers or only showing those outside your network. Note that you will not see exact names, only anonymous summaries of who viewed you.

LinkedIn also shares some aggregate demographic data about your profile views, like the top companies, locations, titles and industries of viewers. But no personal identifiers are shown.

Does LinkedIn Notify When You Look at Someone Else’s Profile?

Just as LinkedIn does not notify others when they look at your profile, you are also not notified if someone views your profile. The process works both ways to maintain privacy.

When you look at other profiles, it remains completely anonymous. The other person will not receive any notification or indication that you viewed their profile.

The profile viewer list only works one way – you can see who viewed your own profile but not who you have viewed.

So you can browse as many LinkedIn profiles as you want without the other person ever knowing. Use this to conduct research before reaching out to make a connection.

How to Know Who’s Viewed You on LinkedIn

While LinkedIn doesn’t directly notify you, there are some signs that can indicate someone has visited your profile:

• The viewer later connects with you on LinkedIn
• They like or comment on your posts and activity
• They message you directly
• Your shared connections increase by one
• You appear in each other’s “People Also Viewed” section
• You notice a spike in profile views

However, none of these signals can definitively confirm that a specific person viewed your profile. They only suggest the possibility based on circumstantial evidence.

The only foolproof way to know for sure is if someone directly admits to viewing your profile. Don’t be afraid to ask connections if they have come across your profile in the past.

How to See Who Viewed Your LinkedIn Profile

While you can’t see exact names, LinkedIn does provide some information about who has been looking at your profile:

1. Go to your profile page and scroll down to the “Who’s viewed your profile” section.
2. This will show the total number of views in the past 90 days.
3. Click “See all” to view the full profile visitor list.
4. Toggle between showing “All viewers” or just those “Outside your network.”
5. Views are sorted chronologically from most recent to oldest.
6. Each entry will show the industry, location, and seniority of the viewer.

Checking regularly can give you an idea of who might be interested in connecting with you. Look out for upticks from particular companies or titles.

But remember – the list provides anonymous summaries, not specific names or profiles.

Does LinkedIn Notify When You Visit Someone’s Profile Too Much?

No, LinkedIn will not notify or flag excessive profile viewing activity. You can view any profile as often as you want without the other person knowing.

However, intentionally stalking or harassing other members would be against LinkedIn’s User Agreement. But in general, benign profile viewing is not limited on LinkedIn.

Some tips for responsibly viewing profiles:

• View profiles one at a time rather than rapidly opening multiple profiles.
• Spread out your views over multiple days or weeks rather than intensely at once.
• Avoid viewing the same profile over and over in a short time period.
• Remember that your identity and activity remains anonymous.

As long as your profile viewing behavior is reasonably spaced out, you should not trigger any alerts or bans. Use common sense and view respectfully.

Does LinkedIn Show Profile Visitors for Free Users?

One limitation is that LinkedIn’s profile viewer data is only available for Premium account holders.

Free members on LinkedIn cannot see the list of who has viewed their profile in the past 90 days.

Upgrading to a Premium account unlocks the ability to see profile visitors as well as advanced filters like viewers by industry and location.

So if you have a Free account, you will not be able to view the list of who has been looking at your profile. Only paid Premium members can access their profile viewer dashboard.

LinkedIn Profile Viewer Feature Comparison

Conclusion

In summary, LinkedIn does not notify you when someone views your profile. Profile browsing happens anonymously without alerts to maintain privacy.

But premium members can see limited data on who has viewed them in the past 90 days. And sometimes there are signs like new connections that indicate who may have visited your profile.

Ultimately, the lack of notifications creates a lower-pressure environment that fosters more authentic relationship building on LinkedIn.