How do I disassociate an email from LinkedIn?

LinkedIn allows users to associate multiple email addresses with their account. This can be useful if you have more than one email that you use regularly. However, there may come a time when you want to remove an email address from your LinkedIn account. Perhaps you no longer use or have access to that email. Or maybe you want to clean up and consolidate the emails associated with your profile. Whatever the reason, it is possible to disassociate or unlink an email address from your LinkedIn account. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Why Would You Want to Disassociate an Email?

There are a few common reasons why you may want to unlink an email address from your LinkedIn account:

• You no longer use or have access to that email address – For example, it could be an old work email you no longer use after changing jobs.
• You want to consolidate emails – If you have multiple emails associated with your LinkedIn, you may want to clean it up and just use your primary email.
• You’re getting too many notifications – Each associated email gets notifications from LinkedIn, so you may want to cut down on emails by removing some.
• Privacy/security concerns – If one of the emails associated with your account was involved in a data breach or hacking attempt, you may want to remove it.
• Selling the email address – If you no longer want an email address, you’ll need to dissociate it from accounts before selling or transferring it.

Essentially, if you no longer want an email linked to your account or feel it’s unnecessary, dissociating it can help tidy up and protect your profile.

How to Disassociate an Email from LinkedIn

Disassociating an email from your LinkedIn account is a relatively straightforward process. Here are the steps:

1. Log into LinkedIn on a desktop browser and go to your profile page. Click “View profile” to access your public profile settings.
2. Go to the “Contact info” section and click the “Edit contact info” pencil icon.
3. This will open an editor window where you can modify the contact details on your profile. Under the “Email addresses” section, locate the email address you want to remove.
4. Click the “X” (remove) icon next to the email address to dissociate it from your account.
5. LinkedIn will ask you to confirm that you want to remove that email. Click “Remove” to confirm.
6. The email address should now be removed from your account. Make sure it no longer appears under the “Email addresses” section.
7. Click “Save” to save the changes to your profile’s contact information.

Once you click save, the email address will no longer be linked or associated with your LinkedIn account. It can take 24-48 hours for the change to fully take effect across LinkedIn’s systems, but the email should be dissociated right away.

Important Notes

Here are some important notes to keep in mind when dissociating an email from LinkedIn:

• Verify access to the email address – Make sure you still have access to the dissociated email account. LinkedIn will send a confirmation email when you remove an address.
• Check other services – If you use the removed email for other linked services like Google or Facebook, you may need to dissociate it there as well.
• Can re-add it later – You can always re-add the email address back to your LinkedIn account later if needed. Just go through the add email workflow.
• May still receive some emails – It can take up to 48 hours for LinkedIn to fully dissociate the address across all systems, so you may still get some emails sent to that address temporarily.
• Changes not immediate – Similarly, any changes to your LinkedIn profile associated with that email will take up to 48 hours to take effect across LinkedIn.

So in summary, be patient, check your other accounts, and make sure you still have access to the dissociated email address for a couple days during the transition.

Troubleshooting Issues

In most cases, dissociating an email from your LinkedIn account is quick and straightforward. But here are some troubleshooting tips for common issues that may arise:

Email address won’t detach from profile

If you try removing the email but it still remains stubbornly attached to your account, try:

• Double check you completed all steps in the removal process, including confirming the removal and saving changes.
• Log out and back into LinkedIn to refresh the changes.
• Clear your browser cookies and cache to eliminate any conflicts.
• Try removing the email in a different web browser or on the LinkedIn mobile app.
• Contact LinkedIn customer support if it still won’t detach.

Changed primary email by mistake

If you accidentally removed your primary email thinking it was a secondary address, immediately add it back. You can do this by going through the add email workflow and re-verifying the address.

Can’t sign in after removing email

Your primary sign-in email cannot be removed. If you happen to delete this crucial email, you’ll be signed out of LinkedIn and unable to sign back in. Quickly add the email back to your account so you can sign in again.

Need to recover dissociated email address

If you no longer have access to the dissociated email and didn’t setup forwarding, you likely can’t recover or access it anymore. Make sure you always have backup access to an email before removing it from any account.

Best Practices

To avoid issues when dissociating a LinkedIn email, keep these best practices in mind:

• Don’t remove your primary sign-in email – This critical email cannot be detached.
• Double check it’s the correct address – Confirm you have the right email before removing.
• Setup a forwarding rule – Forward emails from any dissociated address so you don’t lose access.
• Check other accounts – Remove the email from any other linked accounts you may have.
• Change your LinkedIn sign-in email first – If needed, update your primary sign-in email before removing any addresses.
• Remove emails you don’t need – This keeps your profile tidy and reduces notifications.

Following these tips will help ensure a smooth and headache-free process when unlinking an email from LinkedIn.

Warning Signs It’s Time to Remove an Email

Here are some telltale signs that indicate it may be time to dissociate an email address from your LinkedIn account:

• You stop using it or close the account – If you no longer access an email inbox regularly, it’s a sign it’s time to remove it.
• You’re changing jobs or departments – When you leave a company, unlink any work email accounts associated with your profile.
• It’s an old school or university email – Alumni emails often expire so they shouldn’t remain linked forever.
• You’re receiving too many notifications – If an email is bombarded with LinkedIn alerts, dissociate it to cut down on noise.
• It was involved in a security breach – Compromised or hacked emails should be removed from your LinkedIn account.
• You notice suspicious activity – If you see any suspicious logins or behavior related to a linked email, it’s safest to remove it.

Stay vigilant for these signals that it’s time to reevaluate an email associated with your account. Keeping your LinkedIn profile emails current and secure should be an ongoing maintenance task.

Can a Removed Email Still Access My Account?

Once an email address is fully dissociated from your LinkedIn account, it can no longer be used to login, reset your password, or access your account in any way. However, as mentioned above, it can take 24-48 hours for an email removal to fully take effect across all of LinkedIn’s systems and servers.

Until the dissociation process is complete, the removed email could still potentially get into your account if someone has access to it. But after the 48 hour window, that email will have no power over your account anymore.

To be safe, you may want to change your LinkedIn password after removing an email, just in case. Also set up two-factor authentication if you haven’t already. This will fully lock down your account during the email removal transition period.

How to Re-Add a Removed Email Address

If you change your mind later on, you can easily re-add an email address that you previously dissociated from your LinkedIn account. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile and click “Edit contact info”.
2. Under the Email addresses section, click the “+ Add email address” link.
3. Enter the email address you want to re-add.
4. LinkedIn will send a verification code to that email.
5. Enter the 6-digit verification code into LinkedIn to confirm you have access to that email.
6. The email will then be re-added and associated with your account once again.

It’s quick and easy to re-associate a previously removed email. Just be sure you still have access to the email inbox so you can obtain the verification code LinkedIn sends.

And just like when originally adding an email, you can set the re-added email as your primary sign-in email for your LinkedIn account if needed.

Conclusion

While LinkedIn allows you to associate multiple email addresses with your account, there are many good reasons to dissociate or unlink emails you no longer access or want tied to your profile. Removing unneeded emails helps tighten up account security, reduce notifications, and presents your profile more professionally.

The process for detaching an email from your account is generally quick and straightforward. However, be sure to take precautions like checking other linked accounts, verifying continued email access, and allowing time for changes to fully take effect across LinkedIn’s systems.

With a little diligent maintenance, you can ensure your LinkedIn profile only showcases your most current, secure, and active email addresses. Keeping your contact information trimmed down and organized is an important part of maintaining your professional online presence.