Putting your LinkedIn profile on hibernate is a way to temporarily pause your activity and visibility on the platform without deleting your profile. There are a few reasons why you may want to hibernate your LinkedIn account.
Why Put Your LinkedIn Profile on Hibernate?
Here are some common reasons for putting your LinkedIn profile on hibernate status:
- You are between jobs or taking a career break – Hibernating your profile means recruiters won’t contact you about new job opportunities.
- You need a social media break – Deactivating your account allows you to take a rest from LinkedIn without losing your connections and profile information.
- You are receiving too many sales pitches or spam – Hibernating stops salespeople from reaching out to pitch their services.
- You want more privacy – Hibernating removes your profile and activity from search results on LinkedIn.
How to Hibernate Your LinkedIn Account
Putting your LinkedIn account into hibernation is simple. Just follow these steps:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings page. You can find this under your profile photo in the top right.
- Select “Privacy & settings” from the menu.
- Click on “Turn on/off your profile’s visibility”.
- Choose to “Make my profile visible only to people I’ve approved”.
- Save your changes. Your profile is now in hibernation mode.
When your LinkedIn profile is hibernated, your connections will no longer be able to view your profile or activity. You will also not show up in LinkedIn search results. Essentially, you have temporarily paused your account without deleting it.
What Happens When Your LinkedIn Profile is Hibernated
Here’s an overview of what happens when you hibernate your LinkedIn account:
- Your profile will not be visible to your connections or in search results.
- You will stop receiving messages and notifications from LinkedIn.
- Other users will not be able to invite you to connect or view your profile.
- You can still sign into your account and access your messages and data.
- Your profile information, connections, and groups will be saved.
- Job seekers will not be able to find and contact you about opportunities.
Essentially, hibernating your account removes your visibility and participation on LinkedIn until you decide to reactivate your profile. Your data remains intact for when you are ready to resume using your account.
How to Reactivate Your LinkedIn Account
When you are ready to start actively using LinkedIn again, reactivating your account is simple. Just follow these steps:
- Log into your LinkedIn account.
- Go to your account settings.
- Select “Privacy & settings”.
- Choose “Make my public profile visible to everyone”.
- Save your changes.
Your profile will now be visible again on LinkedIn. All of your connections, profile details, and activity will be restored. You can start posting updates, connecting with professionals, and engaging on LinkedIn groups right away.
Best Practices for Hibernating Your LinkedIn
To make the most of hibernating your LinkedIn account, keep these tips in mind:
- Let your close connections know you are hibernating your account so they do not think you have unconnected from them.
- Update your profile with a “Currently on hibernation” message so people understand your status.
- Remove your LinkedIn URL from your email signature while hibernated.
- Check your messages every few weeks to ensure you don’t miss anything important.
- Set a reminder to reactivate your account on a specific date if hibernating temporarily.
Pros and Cons of Hibernating Your LinkedIn
Before hibernating your LinkedIn profile, weigh the potential advantages and disadvantages:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Take a break from notifications and messages | Lose out on networking and career opportunities |
| Reduce spam from salespeople | Appear inactive to your professional network |
| Maintain privacy while not job searching | Miss important updates from your connections |
| Prevent recruiters from reaching out | Profiles with inactivity can appear outdated |
Alternatives to Hibernating Your LinkedIn
Other than fully hibernating your profile, you also have these options to reduce your LinkedIn activity:
- Temporary vacation responder – Let connections know you are unavailable for a set period but will respond afterward.
- Restrict notifications – Adjust settings to only get essential notifications and hide others.
- Remove position – Take your job title off your profile to avoid recruiters.
- Selectively hide profile – Use privacy settings to hide your profile from recruiters or salespeople only.
Conclusion
Hibernating your LinkedIn account is the best way to temporarily pause your presence while keeping your profile intact. It can help reduce spam, take a break from messaging, and increase privacy when needed. Just be aware that going into hibernation mode will limit your professional networking and visibility during that time. Set a reminder to reactive your account so you can fully leverage LinkedIn again when the time is right.