How do I delete the number of connections on LinkedIn?

Why Would You Want to Delete the Number of Connections on LinkedIn?

There are a few reasons why someone might want to remove or hide the number of connections they have on LinkedIn:

• Privacy – Some people prefer to keep their network size private and don’t want the exact number viewable.
• Perception – Having a small number of connections can look bad, so deleting the count hides this potential negative perception.
• Irrelevance – For some, the size of their network is not important or relevant to their goals on LinkedIn.
• Cleanliness – Removing the connection count can declutter their profile and keep the focus on other information.

While LinkedIn encourages building your network, not everyone values a large number of connections. The ability to delete or hide your connections count gives users more control over their privacy and how their profile looks.

How to Delete Your Connections Count on LinkedIn

Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not allow users to permanently delete the number of connections directly from their profile. This count is considered a core part of LinkedIn’s functionality.

However, there are a few workarounds that can allow you to hide or obscure your connections number on your profile:

Use a Customized Public Profile

LinkedIn allows users to customize what sections appear on their public profile that other people see. Here are the steps:

1. Go to your profile and click “View profile”
2. Click the “Edit public profile & URL” button
3. This will open your profile in editing mode. Find the “Connections” section and click the X icon to remove it.
4. Click “Save” and your connections will no longer appear on your public profile.

Your connections count will still be visible to you when you are logged in, but is no longer public.

Exclude Connections from your Contact Info

You can also remove your connections from appearing in the Contact Info section of your profile:

1. Go to your profile and click “View profile”
2. Click the “Edit contact info” button
3. This opens your contact info. Delete the text that says “500+ connections” or however many you have.
4. Click Save and the count will be removed from this section.

Again, this only affects your public profile. You’ll still see your actual count when logged in.

List Your Location Only

Another option is to set your Contact Info to only show your location, omitting your industry and connections:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit contact info”
2. Delete your industry, if shown
3. Delete your connections count
4. Leave only your location (city, state/country)
5. Click Save

This provides less information to viewers, including hiding your connections.

Use a Custom LinkedIn URL

You can also mask your connections count by setting up a custom URL for your LinkedIn that does not use your LinkedIn ID:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile
2. Click “Edit public profile & URL” on your intro section
3. Type in a new custom URL, such as your name
4. Check availability and add the URL

This creates a cleaner profile link that doesn’t include your LinkedIn ID number, which is linked to your connections count. People can still find your connections if they navigate to your full profile, but this makes it less publicly visible.

Other Ways to Hide Your Connections Count

In addition to the main options above, there are a few other tricks that can minimize the visibility of your connections:

• Rearrange your profile sections to push connections lower down
• Use other profile sections like About, Experience, and Skills to take up more space
• If you have 0 connections, manually type “500+ connections” to obscure your actual count

While LinkedIn intends connections to be public, using custom public profiles and changing contact info does allow hiding this from your general profile view.

Should You Delete Your Connections Count on LinkedIn?

Here are some pros and cons to weigh when deciding whether to hide your LinkedIn connections:

Pros

• Increases privacy and mitigates oversharing
• Avoids misperceptions based on number of connections
• Keeps focus on skills, experiences, and other info
• Provides a cleaner, decluttered profile

Cons

• Goes against LinkedIn’s community-building mission
• Could be off-putting to some networkers or recruiters
• Makes it harder to size up someone’s network
• Still discoverable if someone looks up your profile

In general, the benefits tend to outweigh the drawbacks, unless actively pursuing partnerships or job opportunities where showing off a large network may be advantageous.

Conclusion

While LinkedIn doesn’t provide an option to permanently delete connections from your profile, using public profile customization and modifying contact info does allow hiding your connections count. This gives users more control over their privacy and public perception on LinkedIn.

Weigh the pros and cons carefully based on your personal brand and goals for the site. In some cases, minimalism and focusing on skills over connections can be beneficial on LinkedIn and other social networks.