Deactivating your LinkedIn account is a great option if you want to take a break from the platform without permanently deleting your profile and connections. LinkedIn allows you to easily deactivate your account, while preserving all of your profile and network information for when you eventually reactivate it.
Why Would You Want to Deactivate Instead of Deleting Your LinkedIn Account?
There are a few key reasons why you may want to deactivate rather than permanently delete your LinkedIn account:
- You want to take a break from LinkedIn without losing your profile and connections
- You are facing burnout or social media fatigue and need a temporary break
- You are starting a new job and want to pause your open job search
- You have too many notifications and want to mute LinkedIn for a while
- You don’t have time to maintain your profile and engage with your network
- You want to evaluate whether LinkedIn is worthwhile for you before deleting
Deactivating pauses your account without removing any of your information. Everything will be waiting for you when you reactivate. Deleting, on the other hand, permanently erases your profile and network.
How to Temporarily Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account
Deactivating your LinkedIn account is simple and only takes a few steps:
- Log into your LinkedIn account on a desktop browser.
- In the top right corner, click on the Me icon (your profile photo or initials).
- From the dropdown menu, select Settings & Privacy.
- In the left sidebar menu, click Account preferences.
- Under the Account status section, click Deactivate your account.
- On the pop-up that appears, select the reason you are deactivating from the dropdown menu.
- Re-enter your LinkedIn password to confirm your choice.
- Click the Deactivate button.
And that’s it! Your LinkedIn account is now deactivated. You will no longer appear in searches, your profile and network are hidden, and you will stop receiving notifications.
How Long Does Deactivation Last?
When you deactivate your LinkedIn account, it will remain deactivated for a minimum of 30 days before you can reactivate. After 30 days have passed, you can easily reactivate your account by logging in with your email and password. All of your profile information and connections will be restored.
If you do not manually reactivate within 365 days (1 year) of deactivating, LinkedIn will automatically and permanently delete your account, including your entire profile and network. So make sure to log back in within a year if you want to keep your account.
What Happens When You Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account?
Here is an overview of what happens when you deactivate your LinkedIn account:
- Your profile will no longer be visible to other members.
- You will stop appearing in search results.
- Other members will no longer be able to view your profile or connect with you.
- You will stop receiving notifications, messages, and emails from LinkedIn.
- You will not be able to interact with other members, groups, or pages.
- Your job seeking preferences and status will be paused.
- Your account and data will remain safely stored by LinkedIn.
- Your profile, connections, and network will be preserved.
- You can easily reactivate your account within 365 days.
What Content and Information Is Preserved When Deactivated?
Deactivating your account preserves all of the following information so it will be there when you reactivate:
- Your profile details, including work experience, education, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and any other added info.
- Your connections and network.
- Your group memberships.
- Job preferences, bookmarks, and saved searches.
- Messages, notifications, and notifications settings.
- Advertising preferences and profile data.
- Content you have shared, posted, or published.
Deactivating essentially just hides your profile and pauses your account while storing everything safely until you come back.
What Content Is Deleted Immediately on Deactivation?
There are a couple of types of content and data that are immediately deleted when you deactivate your account:
- Page likes – Any pages you have liked will be unliked.
- Ad preferences – Your interests and advertiser preferences will be removed so you stop receiving targeted ads.
- Cookie/tracking data – Any tracking cookies or site data will be cleared from your browser.
Besides these couple of items, the rest of your information remains intact but is just inaccessible to others while deactivated.
Can You Reactivate a Deactivated LinkedIn Account?
Yes, reactivating a deactivated LinkedIn account is simple! All you need to do is:
- Go to LinkedIn.com and log in with your account email and password.
- Your account will instantly be reactivated and restored.
- Update your profile if needed, reconnect with your network, adjust settings.
As long as you reactivate within 365 days, the process is quick and seamless. All previous profile details, connections, and account activity will be restored as if you never left!
How Often Can You Deactivate and Reactivate Your Account?
You can deactivate and reactivate your LinkedIn account as often as you want. Some users deactivate several times per year as needed. Every time you deactivate, your account stays deactivated for a minimum of 30 days before you can log back in.
There is no limit to how many times you can go through the deactivate/reactivate cycle. The only limitation is that you must reactivate within 365 days of deactivating before LinkedIn automatically deletes your account permanently.
Should You Delete Your LinkedIn Account Instead of Deactivating?
For most situations, deactivating your account is preferable to permanently deleting it. Unlike deactivating, deleting your LinkedIn removes everything forever including:
- Your entire profile and account history.
- All connections in your network.
- Group memberships, posts, and content.
- Messages, notifications, and settings.
- Job search preferences and history.
- There is no going back! Deleting is permanent.
Only delete your account if you are absolutely certain you never want to use LinkedIn again. Otherwise, deactivating gives you the flexibility to take a break while preserving your valuable profile and network data.
Steps to Permanently Delete Your LinkedIn Account
If you do want to permanently delete your LinkedIn account, use these steps:
- Log into your LinkedIn account in a desktop browser.
- Go to your Settings & Privacy.
- Select Account preferences from the left menu.
- Under Account status choose Close your account.
- Select your reason for leaving from the dropdown menu.
- Enter your account password to confirm account closure.
- Click the Close Account button.
Once you close your account, all your LinkedIn data will be immediately and permanently deleted. There is no way to restore it, so only delete if you are completely sure.
Conclusion
Deactivating your LinkedIn account allows you to take a break while saving all of your valuable profile details, connections, and network data.
It is the ideal option if you need a temporary break from LinkedIn without losing your information and presence. To deactivate, simply go to your account settings and select “Deactivate”. Your account will remain deactivated for a minimum of 30 days before automatically reactivating when you log back in.
You can repeat the deactivation/reactivation process as often as needed. Just make sure to log back in within 1 year before LinkedIn deletes your account permanently.
In most cases, deactivating is a better choice than deleting your account entirely since it is reversible. However, if you are completely done using LinkedIn with no intention of coming back, permanent account deletion is an option.