LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 722 million users as of April 2021. With so many professionals using LinkedIn to connect, network, and find jobs, a common question arises – does LinkedIn show when you’re online?
The short answer is: it depends. LinkedIn has a few different settings that control whether your online status is visible to others. Understanding these settings allows you to adjust your privacy and decide who can see when you’re actively using LinkedIn.
Does the LinkedIn mobile app show when you’re online?
If you mainly use the LinkedIn mobile app on your smartphone, your online status is hidden by default. Other LinkedIn members will not be able to see when you are actively using the LinkedIn app on your phone, regardless of your account settings.
This default privacy for mobile app users was implemented by LinkedIn in 2014. Before that, your connections could see when you were accessing LinkedIn on your phone. But now your mobile activity is completely hidden.
So using the LinkedIn app will not reveal your online status or indicate that you’re currently active on LinkedIn’s platform. This remains true even if you have your profile visibility set to “All LinkedIn Members” and your LinkedIn settings allow your connections to see when you’re active. The mobile app overrides those settings.
Does the LinkedIn website show when you’re online?
When you use LinkedIn on your desktop or laptop by visiting LinkedIn.com in your web browser, your online status visibility depends on your account settings.
By default, your connections will be able to see when you are active on the LinkedIn website. But you can control this visibility and who can view your activity through your settings.
Here’s an overview of how your account settings impact whether others see you as online on LinkedIn’s website:
Profile visibility
Your profile visibility determines who can see your entire LinkedIn profile. It also impacts who can see when you are actively using LinkedIn.
– All LinkedIn Members: Everyone on LinkedIn can see when you are online.
– Connections only: Only your 1st-degree connections will see you as online.
– Selected connections: If you limit profile visibility to selected connections, only those connections will see when you are online.
So by default, at least your connections will be able to see when you are active on LinkedIn’s website. But you can narrow it down further or open it up to all members depending on your preference.
Activity broadcasts
Within your account settings, you’ll find options to control activity broadcasts under Privacy & Settings > Your activity.
The available options include:
– Share that you viewed someone’s profile
– Share that you changed your photo
– Share that you customized/edited your contact info
– Share that you viewed someone’s post
Unchecking any of these options will prevent that activity from being shown to your connections. Your online status would still be visible, but viewers wouldn’t get details about which profiles, posts, or info you viewed while active on LinkedIn.
How others see your LinkedIn activity status
The final setting impacting your online visibility is under Privacy & Settings > How others see your LinkedIn activity.
Here you can select:
– Your connections only
– All LinkedIn members
This controls who can see when you are actively using LinkedIn on the website. “Your connections only” is the default, so you’d have to actively change it to “All LinkedIn members” if you want everyone to see when you’re online.
Does LinkedIn show how long you’ve been online?
Some social networks and messaging apps show how long a user has been active or online – for example, displaying “Active 5 mins ago” or “Online for 20 mins.”
LinkedIn does not provide this level of detail. It simply shows other members when you are currently online and using LinkedIn. There is no indicator of how long you’ve been active.
Once you log out of LinkedIn or close your browser, your online status will automatically update from “Online” to offline after a short delay.
So LinkedIn’s online visibility is relatively limited compared to other sites – it’s not tracking and displaying your total time spent online. Only your current online status is shown.
Does LinkedIn show when you view someone’s profile?
As mentioned above, LinkedIn has settings that control whether your connections receive notifications when you view someone’s profile.
By default, a notification is sent when you view another member’s profile stating that you “Checked out [member’s name].”
You can disable these notifications under your activity broadcast settings:
Privacy & Settings > Your activity > Share that you viewed someone’s profile
Unchecking this will ensure your connections don’t receive alerts about which profiles you view on LinkedIn. Your online status won’t reveal profile viewing activity either.
Does LinkedIn show who viewed your profile?
Just as you can see when your connections are online on LinkedIn, they can also see the same status for you. And anyone who views your profile will be indicated as “Online” at that moment.
But LinkedIn doesn’t provide details about who specifically viewed your profile. You can see aggregated data about how many times your profile was viewed over a certain period, but you can’t see the names of individuals who viewed your profile.
There are some exceptions if you have a premium LinkedIn account. The LinkedIn Premium Insights package shows more details about profile views:
– How your profile ranks in terms of popularity/views compared to others.
– Which companies viewed your profile the most.
– Characteristics of members who viewed your profile like job title, location, and industry.
– Individuals who viewed your profile more than once.
So with a premium account, you can get more insights into who is looking at your profile. But you still won’t see every single member who views your profile and when they did so. LinkedIn limits profile viewing data to protect privacy.
Does LinkedIn show when you’re typing or composing messages?
Unlike messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn does not display status indicators when you are typing or composing messages.
There is no real-time notification sent to recipients to let them know you are in the process of crafting a message. LinkedIn’s messaging is more asynchronous – the recipient will only know about the message once you actually send it.
So you don’t have to worry about connections getting typing indicators while you compose long or thoughtful messages. LinkedIn does not reveal any typing activity happening behind the scenes.
Conclusion
To sum it up, here’s what gets displayed to your LinkedIn connections:
– When you are online using LinkedIn’s website (unless your settings hide this)
– Notifications when you view someone’s profile or make other activity updates (can be disabled)
Here’s what stays private:
– Any activity within LinkedIn’s mobile app
– How long you are actively online
– Typing indicators when composing messages
– Individuals who viewed your profile
By understanding LinkedIn’s visibility settings, you can fine-tune exactly what others can see in terms of your online status and activity. Limiting visibility is recommended to maintain professionalism and privacy as you network on the platform.
Visibility Setting | Default Value | Options |
---|---|---|
Profile Visibility | Connections Only |
|
Activity Broadcasts | On |
|
How Others See Your Activity | Connections Only |
|
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off activity broadcasts stop my online status being shown?
No, disabling activity broadcasts prevents notifications about your specific actions on LinkedIn. But it doesn’t hide your overall online status. You need to update profile visibility or “How others see your activity” to hide online status.
Can I see who exactly has viewed my profile?
LinkedIn only shows aggregate profile view data, not individual members who have viewed your profile. Upgrading to premium allows you to see more details about characteristics of viewers, but not their names.
Can I appear offline when I’m actively using LinkedIn?
Not within LinkedIn’s platform itself. If you don’t want connections seeing you as online, the only options are closing the browser tab or logging out of your account. Browser extensions like Incognito Mode can hide your online activity as well.
Do profile stalkers get notified if I visit their profile a lot?
Repeated profile visiting does trigger “superfan” notifications letting the profile owner know someone has viewed their profile multiple times. Use anonymous/private browsing modes to avoid these notifications being linked to your account.
Can I tell if my boss is monitoring when I’m online?
Since LinkedIn shows your online status, any connections, including coworkers and managers, will be able to see when you are active on the platform. If you want to avoid them seeing your activity, use LinkedIn’s privacy settings to customize who can view your online status.
How to Manage LinkedIn Activity and Visibility Settings
Here is a step-by-step guide to updating your LinkedIn settings related to online status and activity visibility:
1. Adjust Profile Visibility
On LinkedIn’s website:
– Click your profile photo > View profile
– Scroll down and click “Edit public profile & URL”
– Under “Visibility, select from the dropdown:
– Your Connections
– All LinkedIn members
– Only people who have the direct link
2. Limit Activity Broadcasts
– Go to your Account settings
– Click Privacy & Settings > Your activity
– Uncheck boxes for any activity broadcasts you want to disable
3. Update “How Others See Your Activity”
– Go to your Account settings
– Click Privacy & Settings
– Under “How others see your LinkedIn activity”, select:
– Your Connections
– All LinkedIn members
4. Use Anonymous Browsing
When you want to view profiles or content privately without indications of your activity:
– Use LinkedIn in an incognito or private browser window
– Set your browser to disable third-party cookies from LinkedIn
This will prevent notifications tied to your account from being generated.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Activity and Privacy
To keep your LinkedIn activity private and professional, here are some recommended best practices:
– Keep your profile visibility limited to direct connections
– Disable activity broadcasts and notifications
– Only connect with people you know and trust
– Use private browsing modes when you don’t want to be seen online
– Be cautious when viewing profiles of coworkers and managers
– Limit idle time on LinkedIn while appearing “Online”
– Log out of LinkedIn if you are going inactive for a while
Conclusion
LinkedIn provides users with granular settings to control what others can see in terms of their online status and activity on the platform. While LinkedIn shows when you are actively using the website by default, restricting this visibility and limiting public activity notifications allows you to keep your activity private.
Understanding LinkedIn’s visibility indicators enables you to shape your professional presence by deciding what connections and members can view about your profile and activity patterns. With the right settings, you can reduce unwanted attention or monitoring and focus on building genuine connections on the world’s largest professional network.