LinkedIn is a great platform for connecting with other professionals, building your network, and advancing your career. However, like any social media site, you may encounter unwanted messages from people you don’t know or don’t want to connect with. Fortunately, LinkedIn gives you control over your messaging preferences so you can block incoming messages from specific members or disable messaging entirely. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the various ways to block or limit messages on LinkedIn to help you take control of your inbox.
Why would you want to block messages on LinkedIn?
Here are some common reasons you may want to block or limit messages on LinkedIn:
- To stop getting messages from people you don’t know or don’t want to connect with
- To avoid unsolicited outreach from salespeople or recruiters
- To reduce spam and unnecessary notifications
- To focus your LinkedIn feed on posts from connections only
- To limit distractions during work or family time
Controlling your incoming messages allows you to customize your LinkedIn experience so it’s most valuable for your professional needs.
How to block an individual LinkedIn member from messaging you
If there is a particular member who is sending you unwanted messages, you can block them directly so their messages no longer reach your inbox. Here’s how:
- Go to the profile of the LinkedIn member you want to block.
- Click More > Block or report.
- Select Block and click Block again to confirm.
Once you block someone, they will no longer be able to:
- Send you messages on LinkedIn
- Add you to a group
- Tag you in posts or comments
- Invite you to events
- Follow your posts
Blocking is reciprocal, so you will be unable to do any of the above actions to them as well. You can reverse the block at any time by going back to their profile and selecting Unblock.
How to stop receiving messages from people you don’t know on LinkedIn
Rather than blocking individuals one by one, you can change your messaging settings to automatically decline messages from LinkedIn members who are not already connected to you. Here’s how:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings.
- Select Communications on the left.
- Under Messaging preferences, change the toggle for Who can send you messages? to Only people I follow or My connections.
With this setting enabled, if someone tries to message you who is not one of your connections, they will get an automatic notification that you are not accepting messages right now. This filters out unsolicited outreach and spam.
How to fully disable messaging on LinkedIn
If you want to completely turn off messaging on LinkedIn to limit notifications and distractions, you can do so under your communication settings:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings.
- Select Communications on the left.
- Under Messaging preferences, change the toggle for Who can send you messages? to Nobody.
With messaging disabled, all incoming messages will be automatically rejected and your message icon will disappear from LinkedIn entirely. You will stop receiving message notifications.
Keep in mind that fully disabling messaging means you won’t get messages even from your connections. It’s a drastic option best used temporarily if you need to completely focus without LinkedIn distractions.
How to remove LinkedIn messaging from your email notifications
Another way to cut down on message clutter is to stop messages from popping up in your regular email inbox. Here’s how to turn that setting off:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings.
- Select Communications on the left.
- Under Email preferences, change the toggle for When I receive a new message to Off.
With email notifications disabled for messages, you won’t get distracted by LinkedIn messages coming through your general email but can still view them on LinkedIn when convenient.
How to hide conversations on LinkedIn to reduce clutter
Over time, your LinkedIn inbox may fill up with conversations that you no longer need cluttering up your message list. You can clean things up by hiding conversations:
- Select the conversation you want to hide.
- Choose More > Hide conversation.
- Confirm that you want to hide the conversation.
This will remove the conversation from your message list. To view hidden conversations, select the dropdown filter in your inbox and choose Hidden.
Hiding conversations is useful for tidying up old message threads so you can focus on more pressing outreach.
How to remove connections on LinkedIn to stop future messages
If someone you are connected with on LinkedIn is messaging you frequently and you want to cease all communication going forward, you have the option to remove them as a connection. Here’s how:
- Go to their profile page.
- Select More > Remove connection.
- Confirm you want to remove the connection.
Once you remove a connection on LinkedIn, all messaging between you will automatically stop. Removing a connection is more permanent than blocking and is best reserved for when you no longer want any type of relationship with that person.
Can I automatically delete LinkedIn messages?
While LinkedIn doesn’t have an automated deletion option for messages after a certain period of time, you can manually clear out your message inbox on a regular basis:
- Select all conversations you want to delete by checking the box next to each one.
- Choose More > Delete.
- Confirm you want to permanently delete the messages.
Getting in the habit of regularly deleting old LinkedIn conversations can help keep your inbox tidy and manageable.
Use LinkedIn’s recipient filters to limit who can message you
For precise control, LinkedIn allows you to filter messages by recipient using these options:
- Your connections – Only people in your network can message you
- Only people you follow – Limits messages to connections you actively follow
- Nobody – Turns off messaging entirely
- Everyone – Allows anyone on LinkedIn to message you
Under communication settings, you can enable these filters as needed to limit your inbox clutter.
Leverage LinkedIn’s spam reporting tools
If someone is sending you inappropriate messages or spam on LinkedIn, you can report them directly to LinkedIn:
- Open the unwanted conversation.
- Select More > Report conversation.
- Choose the reason for reporting: spam, inappropriate, or other.
Reporting conversations helps LinkedIn identify and take action against bad actors misusing the platform.
Use LinkedIn Premium to identify new message senders
LinkedIn Premium accounts have access to a feature that flags messages coming from people who are not connections. This makes it easy to identify unsolicited outreach:
- Messages from non-connections are marked with a special icon.
- You can quickly filter your inbox to view only messages from non-connections.
Upgrading to Premium enables more filtering and insight into who is reaching out to you.
Adjust profile settings to display limited information
To discourage unwanted messages, you can also adjust what’s visible on your public profile:
- Hide your last name, only displaying first name and initial.
- Conceal your email, phone number, and other contact info.
- Show your profile only to connections or vetted followers.
Having a minimal public profile limits unsolicited contact by making it harder for strangers to identify and reach you.
Conclusion
LinkedIn provides robust controls for blocking messages at an account level or limiting contact from specific individuals. By leveraging these options, you can shape an inbox experience aligned with your professional needs and boundaries. Monitor your settings regularly and use LinkedIn’s reporting tools if anyone violates your messaging policies. With a few simple adjustments, you can keep your inbox focused and productive.