How can I stop notifying my connections that I have new LinkedIn connections?

Having lots of connections on LinkedIn can be great for networking and career opportunities. However, every time you connect with someone new on LinkedIn, a notification is automatically sent to your existing connections to inform them of your new connection. This can potentially become annoying for your connections if you are connecting with lots of new people frequently. So you may be wondering how you can stop LinkedIn from notifying your connections every time you add a new connection. There are a couple of different options for managing your LinkedIn connection notifications.

Turn Off Connection Notifications Entirely

The simplest option is to turn off LinkedIn connection notifications entirely. This way, none of your connections will be notified when you connect with new people. To do this:

1. Go to your LinkedIn account settings (click on the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy)
2. Select the Communications tab
3. Under “Tell your network about changes to your profile,” uncheck the box next to “New connections you make”

Once you’ve unchecked this box, your connections will stop receiving notifications about your new connections. One thing to keep in mind is that with this setting turned off, you also won’t receive notifications when your connections add new connections. So it works both ways.

Selectively Manage Connection Notifications

If you don’t want to turn off notifications entirely, another option is to selectively manage which connections receive notifications when you connect with new people. You can choose to exclude some connections from receiving any notifications about your new connections.

To do this:

1. Go to your LinkedIn Connections list
2. Click on the arrow next to “Manage synced and imported contacts” and select “Manage all”
3. This will bring up a list of all your LinkedIn connections
4. Go through the list and uncheck the box next to “Get notifications” for any connections you want to exclude from getting notifications about your new connections.

With this approach, you can pick and choose which connections will still get notified when you add new connections, rather than turning off notifications for everyone. For example, you may want to exclude your closest coworkers or friends and family members who don’t need to know every time you connect with someone new. But you can still leave notifications on for your wider professional network who you want to stay up-to-date.

Customize Your Connection Notifications

In addition to turning off notifications entirely or selectively managing them, you also have the option to customize your connection notifications. LinkedIn allows you to control exactly what your connections see in the notifications when you connect with new people.

To adjust your connection notification settings:

1. Go to your account settings
2. Select Communications
3. Under “Tell your network about changes to your profile,” click on “Customize” next to “New connections you make”

This will open up notification customization options:

• Recent connections visible to your network – Choose whether connections can see your most recent new connections
• Total number of connections visible – Choose whether the total number of connections in your network is displayed
• Custom message – Write a custom message to include in notifications, such as “I’ve expanded my professional network”

With these settings, you can remove sensitive details like recent connections while still allowing a notification to go out when you connect with new people. Or you can provide additional context with a custom message.

Use LinkedIn Connection Settings Strategically

Thinking strategically about how you configure your LinkedIn connection notifications can help you get the most out of growing your network on the platform. Here are some tips:

• Only turn off notifications entirely if they are truly bothersome – having them on can help grow your network
• Focus on excluding close contacts who don’t need to know about all your connections
• Keep notifications on for your wider professional network to maximize exposure
• Use custom messages to frame your notifications positively rather than just spamming connections
• Periodically review and update your settings as your networking approach evolves

Testing different configurations and tracking the results can help you find the right balance for managing LinkedIn connection notifications effectively.

Other Ways to Control Notifications

In addition to the connection notification settings, there are a couple other ways you can cut down on non-essential notifications from LinkedIn:

Disable newsletter emails

LinkedIn sends out a lot of newsletters and subscription emails by default. You can disable these messages to reduce clutter:

1. Go to settings > Communications
2. Select “Change” next to any newsletter, update or subscription emails
3. Choose “Off” to disable that type of email

Manage notifications on mobile

The LinkedIn app allows granular control over mobile notifications. Disable notifications you don’t need cluttering your phone:

1. Tap profile icon > Settings & Privacy
2. Select Notifications
3. Toggle off any unnecessary notifications

Conclusion

Having lots of LinkedIn connections is great, but the constant notifications about new connections can be annoying. Fortunately, you have options like:

• Turning off notifications entirely
• Selectively managing notifications per connection
• Customizing notification content
• Disabling newsletter emails
• Controlling mobile app notifications

Experiment to find the right approach that reduces unnecessary notifications while still allowing you to effectively grow your network. Focus on reducing clutter for close contacts who don’t need connection updates. With strategic notification settings, you can connect freely without bombarding your LinkedIn network with connection noise.