LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social media platforms, with over 300 million users worldwide. While many find it useful for networking and career opportunities, others may wish to delete their account for privacy or other reasons. However, deleting your LinkedIn account can be tricky if you no longer have access to it.
Why You May Want to Delete Your LinkedIn Account
There are a few common reasons why someone may want to delete their LinkedIn account:
- You’re not using it anymore for job searching or networking.
- You want more privacy and don’t want your profile visible.
- You have multiple LinkedIn accounts and want to consolidate.
- You don’t agree with LinkedIn’s terms of service or data practices.
- Your account has been hacked or compromised.
Whatever your reasons, deleting your LinkedIn account can give you more control over your online presence and privacy. However, if you no longer have access to your account, it makes the process more difficult.
How to Delete Your LinkedIn Account If You’ve Lost Access
If you can no longer log in to LinkedIn because you’ve forgotten your password or lost access to your account email, you have a few options to try to delete your account:
Request Account Deletion via Email
You can email LinkedIn directly to request account deletion. Send your request to [email protected] and include as many details as possible, such as:
- Your full name
- Email addresses associated with the account
- Locations where you used LinkedIn
- Companies you worked for or went to school at listed on your profile
Explain that you no longer have access to the account but would like it permanently closed and deleted. LinkedIn may follow up requesting additional verification to confirm your identity.
Fill Out the LinkedIn Account Deletion Form
LinkedIn provides an account deletion request form you can fill out even without logging in. Go to https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/data and click “Request account deletion.”
You’ll need to enter your full name, email address associated with your account, and reason for deleting. LinkedIn will review your request and follow up via email.
Use LinkedIn’s Privacy Assistance Tool
LinkedIn offers a privacy assistance tool to help obtain access to your account if you’ve lost login information. Go to https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/ts-rpa and fill out the form with your info to get started.
Once you regain access through the tool, you can then fully delete your LinkedIn account through the standard account settings.
Other Ways to Try Deleting Your Inaccessible LinkedIn
If you still can’t access your account to delete it, here are a few other options that may work:
- Contact someone you’re connected with and ask them to report your account for removal due to inactivity or inability to access.
- Report your profile photo via LinkedIn’s copyright infringement form to trigger account review.
- File a request with LinkedIn to be forgotten under GDPR data privacy regulations if you’re an EU resident.
- Consult a lawyer to send LinkedIn a formal request and/or legal notice to delete your account.
You can also proactively remove some LinkedIn data even without deleting your account. For example, you can ask LinkedIn to remove your email address, phone number, address and photo via the Privacy tab under settings. This helps limit visibility of your personal info if you cannot fully delete the account.
Steps to Take When Deleting Any LinkedIn Account
If you are able to access your LinkedIn account, here are the steps to permanently delete it:
- Login to your LinkedIn account
- Click on the “Me” icon at the top and go to “Settings & Privacy”
- Select “Account preferences” from the menu
- Scroll down and click “Close your account” under “Closing your LinkedIn account”
- Select your reason for leaving LinkedIn from the dropdown menu
- Re-enter your password to confirm account deletion
- Click “Close Account”
Once you go through this process, your account will be queued up for permanent closure. LinkedIn notes it can take up to 24 hours for your profile and data to be wiped from their systems.
You may also want to double check that your name and profile photo no longer appear in LinkedIn searches after a day or two. If they are still present, you may need to follow up with customer support to ensure full account removal.
What Happens When You Delete a LinkedIn Account
Here’s an overview of what happens after you delete your LinkedIn account:
| What Gets Deleted | What Remains |
|---|---|
|
|
So in summary, deleting your LinkedIn account removes all of the core profile data you’ve added. However, some information may persist if it was shared with others or partners beforehand.
Conclusion
Deleting a LinkedIn account you can no longer access takes a few extra steps but is still possible. The key is reaching out to LinkedIn customer support with as many details as possible and requesting permanent account termination. You may also try reporting your account or utilizing LinkedIn’s privacy tools.
With some persistence, you should be able to have your inaccessible LinkedIn account removed. Just be aware it can take up to 24 hours for the full deletion to be completed once initiated. Taking proactive steps like deleting your personal info is also wise if you cannot fully close the account right away.
In the end, having an unwanted or unused LinkedIn account lingering out there is never ideal. So take the time to close it for good using the various options available even without access. Your privacy and ability to control your online presence is worth the effort.
