LinkedIn allows users to connect their accounts from other services like Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. This allows you to easily share content between your LinkedIn profile and these accounts. However, you may wish to unlink these connected accounts at some point, for example if you no longer use one of the services or want to disconnect it from LinkedIn. Fortunately, unlinking a connected account on LinkedIn is a simple process.
Should you delete your LinkedIn account?
Before jumping into how to unlink accounts, it’s worth considering whether you actually want to delete your entire LinkedIn account. LinkedIn can be a valuable professional networking and career development tool used by over 740 million members worldwide. Permanently deleting your account means you lose access to your network and profile details that you’ve built up.
Some reasons you may want to delete your LinkedIn account include:
– You’re leaving the workforce or changing careers where a LinkedIn profile is no longer useful.
– You want a clean break from your professional contacts and network.
– You’re concerned about privacy and want to remove your data from LinkedIn’s servers.
– Your account has been hacked/compromised.
– You have another LinkedIn account you now use and no longer need the old one.
– You don’t use or engage with LinkedIn anymore.
– You want to create a new LinkedIn profile without old history.
If any of those cases apply to you, deleting your LinkedIn account may be the right choice. Just know it is permanent and you lose access to your network and profile. You also can’t create a new LinkedIn account using the same email address after deletion.
How to temporarily deactivate your LinkedIn account
If you want to take a break from LinkedIn without permanently deleting your account, you can temporarily deactivate it. To deactivate your LinkedIn account:
1. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
2. Select `Settings & Privacy` from the dropdown menu.
3. Click on `Account preferences` in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll down and click on `Deactivate your account` under the `Closing your LinkedIn account` section.
5. Select your reason for deactivating from the dropdown menu and click `Continue`.
6. Enter your password to confirm.
Your profile will no longer be viewable and you’ll be logged out. You can reactive your account at any time by logging back in with your email and password. All your data and connections will be restored.
How to permanently delete your LinkedIn account
If you are sure you want to permanently delete your LinkedIn account, here is how to do it:
1. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
2. Select `Settings & Privacy` from the dropdown menu.
3. Click on `Account preferences` in the left sidebar.
4. Scroll down and click on `Close your account` under the `Closing your LinkedIn account` section.
5. Select your reason for leaving LinkedIn from the dropdown menu and click `Continue`.
6. Enter your password and click `Close Account`.
LinkedIn will now begin permanently deleting your account. It may take up to 24 hours for the closure process to fully complete.
Once your account is deleted, your profile and network connections will no longer be viewable. All your data and activity on LinkedIn will be permanently removed. You won’t be able to reactivate or reopen the closed account.
How to unlink connected accounts from LinkedIn
If you simply want to disconnect your LinkedIn profile from accounts on other platforms, you can do so without deleting your LinkedIn account entirely. Here are the steps for each type of connected account:
Unlink Twitter
1. Click your profile picture and select `Settings & Privacy`.
2. Click on `Account preferences`.
3. Scroll down and click `Disconnect` next to the Twitter logo under `Partner Integrations`.
4. Click `Confirm` to complete unlinking your Twitter account.
Unlink Facebook
1. Click your profile picture and select `Settings & Privacy`.
2. Click on `Account preferences`.
3. Scroll down to `Closing your LinkedIn account`.
4. Click `Unlink Facebook connection`.
5. Click `Confirm` to complete unlinking your Facebook account.
Unlink Google
1. Click your profile picture and select `Settings & Privacy`.
2. Click on `Account preferences`.
3. Scroll down and click `Disconnect` next to the Google logo under `Partner Integrations`.
4. Click `Confirm` to complete unlinking your Google account.
How to unlink Microsoft accounts from LinkedIn
Microsoft accounts like Outlook.com and Xbox Live can also be connected to your LinkedIn profile. To unlink them:
1. Click your profile picture and select `Settings & Privacy`.
2. Click on `Account preferences`.
3. Scroll down to `Closing your LinkedIn account`.
4. Click `Unlink Microsoft connection`.
5. A popup will appear, click `Confirm` to complete unlinking your Microsoft account.
How to remove other connected apps
In addition to social media platforms, LinkedIn allows connecting many other apps and services like SlideShare, Meetup, and Bitly. To remove any connected apps:
1. Click your profile picture and select `Settings & Privacy`.
2. Click on `Apps` in the left sidebar.
3. Locate the app you want to remove and click `Revoke`.
4. Click `Confirm` to complete revoking access for that application.
Conclusion
While completely deleting your LinkedIn account is permanent, unlinking connected social media or app accounts lets you selectively disconnect platforms you no longer wish to share data with. Review the above steps to unlink accounts from services like Twitter, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, SlideShare, etc. from your LinkedIn profile. You can do this without having to delete your entire LinkedIn presence.
However, if you truly want to delete your LinkedIn account permanently, be sure that’s the right choice before closing it for good. You lose access to your profile and network contacts forever when deleting a LinkedIn account.