Determining how long you’ve been connected to someone on LinkedIn is not always straightforward, but there are a few different ways to get an estimate. In this article, we’ll walk through the main methods for figuring out your LinkedIn connection tenure.
Check Your Connection’s Profile
The easiest way to see when you connected with someone on LinkedIn is to look at their profile. When viewing a connection’s profile, look for the section titled “Connected On.” This will show the month and year that you became connected.
For example, if it says “Connected on March 2021,” that means you’ve been connected to that person since March of last year. While this doesn’t give you an exact date, it at least provides the month and year that you became connections.
Pros
- Quick and easy to find
- Gives you a general sense of when you connected
Cons
- Only shows month and year, not exact date
- You can only see it when viewing their profile, not your own
Check Your Contact Info Settings
Another place to find connection dates is in your own account settings. Here are the steps:
- Go to your profile and click “See all settings” at the bottom of the page
- Select “Contact info” in the left sidebar
- Scroll down to the “Connections” section
This will show all of your connections in alphabetical order. For each one, it will display the date that you connected.
Pros
- Provides the full date that you connected
- Easy to see all connections at once
Cons
- Only visible in your own account settings
- Need to scroll to find specific connections
Check Your Connection Anniversary Badge
LinkedIn shows connection anniversary badges on profiles, celebrating each year that you’ve been connected. If you see a badge that says “X Years,” that means you’ve been connected for that many years.
For example, a badge that shows “3 Years” means you’ve been connected to that person for 3 years. This doesn’t tell you the exact initial connection date, but provides a yearly range.
Pros
- Quick visual indicator of connection tenure
- Seen directly on profiles
Cons
- Only shows number of years, not full dates
- Badges only appear once per year on the anniversary date
Check Previous Connections
If you think you may have been connected to someone in the past, you can search your previous connections list to see connection dates.
Go to your profile settings and select “Past connections” in the sidebar. This will show connections that you are no longer linked to on LinkedIn.
If you find the person you’re looking for in this list, it will show your original connection date. This helps if you think you may have been connected before but are no longer directly linked.
Pros
- Lets you find initial connection dates from past connections
- Helpful if you’re no longer connected but want to know when it started
Cons
- Only shows past connections that are no longer active
- Need to remember the name of the person you’re searching for
Check Your Exported Data
If you want the full details of all your connections, you can export your LinkedIn data and look through it.
To do this:
- Go to your account settings
- Select “Get a copy of your data”
- Enter your password and click “Request archive”
LinkedIn will email you a download link when your data file is ready, which may take up to 72 hours. After downloading your data, open the “Connections” file.
This will contain the original connection date for every LinkedIn connection you’ve ever had. It provides the most comprehensive record if you want to dig into your full history.
Pros
- Includes every connection with full dates
- Lets you analyze your entire LinkedIn history
Cons
- Need to wait up to 72 hours to get data
- File contains lots of extra data to sort through
Use Google Search Tricks
This last method is a bit sneaky, but you can uncover past connection dates using Google search tricks.
Try searching Google for:
“John Smith” site:linkedin.com/in/YourName
Replace “John Smith” with the name of the person, and “YourName” with your profile URL.
This searches your profile for mentions of that person. The search results may turn up posts or interactions where you referenced becoming connected.
If you find a post like “Just connected with John Smith!” you can see the timestamp on it within Google.
Pros
- Creative way to surface potential connection dates
- Lets you tap Google’s powerful search capabilities
Cons
- No guarantee you’ll find a definitive connection date
- Have to comb through search results looking for clues
Check Email Records
One final option is looking back through your email history. When you connect with someone new on LinkedIn, it sends a confirmation email.
If you search your email for messages from LinkedIn, you may be able to turn up the original connection notification. This would provide the exact date that you connected.
Some drawbacks are that you may have deleted the message, and it can be time consuming to dig through many emails. But it’s possible you could find the confirmation message and timestamp.
Pros
- Email provides definitive connection date
- Allows you to pinpoint the specific day you connected
Cons
- Need to manually search through many emails
- Easy to accidentally delete connection emails
Third-Party Connection Tracker Tools
In addition to LinkedIn’s built-in options, there are third-party services that can help you track your connection history and tenure.
Tools like Relationer.io, LinkedPals, and MonkeyLearn connect to your LinkedIn account and analyze your profile and connections.
Features may include:
- Connection date tracking
- Profile change monitoring
- Connection analytics
- Bulk messaging tools
The benefit of these tools is getting expanded analytics and automation around your LinkedIn network. The tradeoff is having to grant access to your profile data.
Summary and Recommendations
Figuring out your connection tenure on LinkedIn requires a bit of detective work, but there are several potential approaches:
Method | Pros | Cons |
---|---|---|
Check profile | – Quick to find – General sense of tenure |
– No exact date |
View connections list | – Full dates visible – See all connections |
– Only in your settings |
Check anniversary badges | – Quick indicator – Visible on profiles |
– Years only, not dates |
If you need the specific date for an important connection, exporting your full LinkedIn data is the most comprehensive approach. But in many cases, checking profiles or looking for anniversary badges will provide enough detail on tenure.
Third-party services are another option if you want automated tracking and analytics. But be mindful of granting account access.
Focus first on LinkedIn’s built-in options before resorting to email searches or Google tricks. With a bit of digging in profiles and settings, you can likely piece together an estimate for how long you’ve been connected on LinkedIn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does LinkedIn show how long you’ve been connected to someone?
LinkedIn does not have a single place that definitively shows connection tenure with other members. However, there are several places that provide clues about how long you’ve been connected, including the “Connected On” section of profiles, connection anniversary badges, and your account settings connection lists.
Can you see the exact date you connected on LinkedIn?
The closest option LinkedIn provides to see exact connection dates is downloading your full account data, under “Get a copy of your data” in account settings. This connections file will contain every connection with the specific dates added. Outside of this exported data, you can only see the year or general timeframe of connections.
Why can’t I tell how long I’ve been connected to someone?
LinkedIn purposefully does not show the exact connection date or length of time connected. The reason is likely to prevent people from determining things like employee tenure based on connection duration. The “Connected On” section only displays month and year for this reason. To get the full date, you’d need to download your profile data.
What if I was connected to someone but now I’m not?
If you were previously connected to someone but are no longer connected, you can still find the original connection date. Go to your account settings and view your “Past connections.” This will show the date you originally connected, even if you are no longer linked on LinkedIn.
Can I see a notification history of when I connected with people?
LinkedIn does not have a notification history or feed of connection dates. The only way to see a comprehensive list is to export your account data, which contains a full list of connections with dates added. LinkedIn does not store or show a continuous feed of when you connected with people.
Turning to Other Networks
While this article focused on finding connection tenure on LinkedIn, you can also check for the length of time you’ve been connected to people on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Here are some options:
- View your list of friends and when each was added
- Check for anniversary notifications on your Timeline
- Search your messages for first connections
- Open your profile and go to “Followers” or “Following”
- See the date each person followed you or vice versa
- Use Twitter analytics sites like FollowerWonk
- Tap your profile and view your followers/following lists
- See date next to each follower
- Check notifications for mentions of first connections
The same principles apply across networks – looking for timestamps, anniversary badges, and downloading your full history. Just remember each platform structures data differently.
Conclusion
LinkedIn provides enough information through profiles, settings, and downloads to piece together the approximate tenure of your connections. While not always exact, you can get a reasonable sense of how long you’ve been connected to your network. Use date clues from profiles and lists, and export your data if you need definitive connection dates.