You may want to hide your LinkedIn join date for privacy reasons or to avoid revealing how long you’ve been on the platform. While you can’t completely remove your join date, you can hide it from your profile and prevent others from seeing it. There are a few different ways to do this on both desktop and mobile.
Why Hide Your LinkedIn Join Date?
Here are some common reasons people want to hide their LinkedIn join date:
- Privacy – You don’t want people knowing exactly when you joined LinkedIn.
- Appearance – You don’t want to look like you just created your profile recently.
- Career Length – You don’t want your profile to reveal how long you’ve been searching for jobs or open to new opportunities.
- Vanity – You don’t want people knowing you’ve been on LinkedIn for many years.
Whatever your reason, it’s easy to hide your join date if you want to keep it private.
How to Hide Join Date on Desktop
Here are the steps to hide your join date on the LinkedIn desktop site:
- Go to your profile page and click “View profile” to view your public profile.
- Click the “Edit public profile & URL” button on the right side of the page.
- In the right column, click “Edit contact info”.
- Uncheck the box next to “Show my LinkedIn join date”.
- Click “Save”.
Your join date will now be hidden from your public profile. Other LinkedIn members will no longer be able to see when you first joined LinkedIn.
How to Hide Join Date on Mobile
To hide your join date in the LinkedIn mobile app:
- Tap your profile icon at the top of your feed.
- Tap “View profile”.
- Tap the “Edit public profile & URL” button.
- Tap “Edit contact info”.
- Toggle off “Show my LinkedIn join date”.
- Tap “Save” at the top of the screen.
Your join date will now be private in your profile.
What Others Can Still See
Even if you hide your join date, there are still a few places where people may be able to find out when you joined LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn Recruiter – Recruiters who pay for LinkedIn Recruiter can still see your full profile info including join date.
- Mutual Connections – People connected to you who were members before you joined can still see your join date in their contacts.
- Profile Creation Date – While your join date is hidden, your profile creation date is still visible.
So while not completely private, hiding your join date does remove it from public view.
Pros of Hiding Your Join Date
Here are some of the advantages to hiding your LinkedIn join date:
- More privacy and control over your information.
- Presents a consistent image – you won’t appear to be a new or inexperienced member.
- Removes perception biases about when you joined.
- Prevents assumptions about your work and education history timeline.
- Keeps your networking strategies and activity private.
For many members, not openly displaying their join date improves their LinkedIn experience.
Cons of Hiding Your Join Date
Some potential drawbacks of hiding your LinkedIn join date include:
- May seem suspicious or like you have something to hide.
- Reduces transparency about your profile and presence on LinkedIn.
- Misrepresents how long you’ve really been on LinkedIn.
- Not possible to hide it completely – some people can still find out your join date.
- Profile creation date is still visible, which may indicate you changed your join date.
Depending on your goals and preferences, these factors may not matter to you. But they are worth considering.
Who Can See Your Hidden Join Date?
Here are some of the people and groups who can still see your join date even when hidden:
| Who | Can They See Your Join Date? |
|---|---|
| Your connections who joined before you | Yes |
| LinkedIn Recruiters | Yes |
| LinkedIn Premium Subscribers | No |
| Standard LinkedIn members | No |
| Non-members/public visitors | No |
So individuals who were connected to you before you hid your join date can still access it. Recruiters also have full profile access.
How to Permanently Remove Your Join Date
Unfortunately there is no way to permanently delete or completely remove your join date from LinkedIn. The only option is to hide it from your profile.
Even if you delete your account, your join date remains in LinkedIn’s system and will be visible if you reactivate your profile later.
Some members edit their profile to display a more recent join date. But this is against LinkedIn’s terms of service and may result in your account being penalized or banned.
The best official option is simply to hide your join date if you don’t want it displayed on your profile.
Should You Hide Your Join Date?
Here are some pros and cons to weigh when deciding if you should hide your LinkedIn join date or not:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| More privacy and control over your info | May appear like you have something to hide |
| Removes perception biases | Reduces transparency about your profile |
| Keeps networking strategies private | Still partially visible to some audiences |
| Presents consistent professional image | Not possible to fully remove join date |
In general, it’s a personal decision based on your specific motivations and priorities for your LinkedIn presence.
Conclusion
Hiding your LinkedIn join date is easy to do in your profile settings. It prevents the date from being displayed publicly but doesn’t fully remove it. Some connections and recruiters can still access your join date if needed.
Consider both the benefits and drawbacks when deciding if you want to conceal your join date. For many professionals, hiding the date provides more control over their information and public image. But others prefer the transparency of showing their join date.
Evaluate your own preferences, priorities, and goals to determine if hiding your LinkedIn join date is right for your personal situation and needs.
