Having your LinkedIn account compromised can be stressful, but recovering your account is possible even without access to the authenticator. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through all the steps needed to recover your LinkedIn account access so you can get back to networking and growing your professional brand.
What to Do If You’re Locked Out of LinkedIn
If you find yourself locked out of your LinkedIn account, don’t panic. Here are the steps to take:
- First, try resetting your password. Go to LinkedIn.com and click on “Forgot password”. Enter your email address and LinkedIn will send a password reset link. This allows you to create a new password and regain access.
- If that doesn’t work, try signing in from a device or browser you’ve used to access your account recently. LinkedIn will recognize your device and may bypass additional authentication requirements.
- Double check that you’re using the correct email/username. It’s possible you could have multiple LinkedIn accounts and are trying to sign-in to the wrong one.
- If you have your phone number associated with your account, you can request a sign-in link via text message. Go through the sign-in process and when prompted, choose to sign-in via text.
- As a last resort, you can go through LinkedIn’s account recovery process to regain access without your authenticator.
How to Recover Your LinkedIn Account Through Account Recovery
If you’ve exhausted all other options, account recovery is the last resort to regaining access to your LinkedIn profile. Here is the step-by-step process:
- Go to LinkedIn and click “Forgot password”. On the next page, choose “I don’t have access to these”.
- You’ll be prompted to enter your email or phone number associated with your account. Enter it and click continue.
- LinkedIn will now begin the account recovery steps. First, it will send a 6-digit verification code to your email or phone to confirm you have access.
- Enter the 6-digit code and click verify.
- On the next page, confirm your basic account info – name, estimated time you created the account, connections, etc. Enter as many details as possible to verify account ownership.
- LinkedIn will ask you to explain how you lost access to your authenticator. Provide details of why you don’t have your phone or authenticator app anymore.
- Finally, LinkedIn will prompt you to re-secure your account. Here you can enter a new email address if needed, set a new password, and set up two-factor authentication again.
If you provide sufficient details on the account recovery prompts, LinkedIn will send a confirmation that your account access has been restored. You can then sign-in with your new password.
How Long Does LinkedIn Account Recovery Take?
The LinkedIn account recovery process usually takes 2-3 business days. Here is the typical timeline:
- Day 1 – Submit account recovery request
- Day 2 – LinkedIn reviews request and validates account owner
- Day 3 – Account access restored
However, in some cases it may take longer depending on how quickly LinkedIn can validate your identity and ownership of the account. The best thing to do is be responsive if LinkedIn requires any additional details for confirmation.
What Details Does LinkedIn Require for Account Recovery?
When going through the account recovery process, LinkedIn will ask for various details to confirm you are the legitimate account owner. Here are some of the things you should be prepared to provide:
- Email address or phone number on the account
- Full name on the profile
- Employment history on your profile
- When you created your LinkedIn account (year is sufficient)
- Locations you’ve lived/worked
- Approximate number of connections
- Group memberships
Essentially, LinkedIn wants as many details as possible that only the true account owner would know. The more accurate information you can provide, the better.
What to Do If LinkedIn Denies Your Request
In some cases, LinkedIn may deny an account recovery request if it can’t adequately validate you as the account owner. Some things to do if this happens:
- Double check you are requesting recovery from the email/phone number on your account. Using an alternate one will result in denial.
- Review all account details you submitted for inaccuracies.
- Include more specifics on your employment history, qualifications, and connections.
- Provide explanation if you’ve lost access to the original email or phone number.
- Submit appeals until you can prove account ownership.
Don’t get discouraged if your initial recovery request gets denied. Keep trying and escalate the issue if needed. LinkedIn support can manually review exceptional cases.
How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication Again
Once you regain access to your LinkedIn account, it’s crucial to set up two-factor authentication again to secure it:
- In LinkedIn, go to your Settings and choose Security.
- Under Two-Step Verification, click Add authenticator app.
- Follow the prompts to download an authenticator app like Google Authenticator.
- Scan the QR code in LinkedIn using your authenticator app to sync it.
- Save your recovery codes in case you ever lose access to the authenticator app.
Enabling two-factor authentication requires you to input a random 6-digit code from your authenticator app when signing into LinkedIn. This adds an extra layer of security.
Best Practices for Keeping Your LinkedIn Account Secure
Here are some top tips for keeping your LinkedIn profile and data safe after account recovery:
- Always use two-factor authentication via an authenticator app.
- Don’t use the same passwords on multiple accounts or sites.
- Change your LinkedIn password every 90 days.
- Be wary of phishing emails asking you to sign-in.
- Use strong and unique passwords – mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Pay attention to alerts about unrecognized logins.
- Don’t click suspicious links in messages.
- Review privacy settings and limit account visibility.
Following strong security protocols can prevent you from ever needing to recover your account again.
Can I Retrieve Deleted LinkedIn Messages or Connections?
If your account was compromised and content was deleted, recovering it depends on a few factors:
- Messages – LinkedIn does keep message history for up to 90 days after being deleted. You can request record retrieval.
- Connections – These can’t be recovered once removed. You’ll have to rebuild your network.
- Posts/Content – Posts and content are likely unrecoverable after deletion.
So focus your recovery efforts on messages. For other content, the best option is to re-create it if needed.
What’s the Best Way to Re-Secure My Account?
Here are 5 tips for fully re-securing your LinkedIn account after recovery:
- New password – Always change your password during account recovery.
- Two-factor authentication – Set up app-based two-factor to enable codes.
- Sign-out connected sessions – This signs you out everywhere the account was accessed.
- Remove unauthorized apps – Check for any unknown third-party apps connected.
- Review settings – Double check visibility, security, and privacy configurations.
Following these best practices will help you fully take back control and prevent future unauthorized access.
Should I Contact LinkedIn Support for Account Recovery?
You can contact LinkedIn support for help with account recovery, but the self-service options usually work faster.
Only contact support if:
- You have an urgent need to recover faster than 2-3 days.
- Your recovery request keeps getting denied but you’re certain you own the account.
- You lost access to both your recovery email and phone number.
- You believe the hacker changed your account email and phone number.
In these cases, a support ticket requesting manual review can help. But support should be a last resort in most situations.
Can I Create a New LinkedIn Account?
If you’re unable to recover your original account, creating a new LinkedIn profile is an option. However, this means starting your network over from scratch.
Before creating a new account, exhaust all options to recover your original profile. A new one should only be a last case scenario.
Is There a Way to Notify My Connections?
If your account was compromised, you may want to notify your LinkedIn connections. Unfortunately, there is no mass notification option to message all connections.
Instead, you’ll need to message connections individually to inform them your account was hacked. Send these notifications to your closest connections first.
You can then add a temporary banner or customized message to your profile explaining the situation while you re-secure the account.
Conclusion
Having your LinkedIn account hacked can be disruptive, but taking the right steps will allow you to quickly regain access and take back control.
Focus on utilizing LinkedIn’s self-service account recovery options to verify your identity and ownership. With some patience and the right details, you can typically recover access within 2-3 days.
Use the recovery process to reset your password, re-enable two-factor authentication, and check connected apps. And be vigilant about implementing security best practices going forward.
While an authentication app makes account recovery trickier, enabling it is still highly recommended to keep your account safe. With proper precautions, you can avoid needing recovery again.
Following this guide will help you smoothly navigate LinkedIn account recovery without an authenticator, getting your profile and connections back faster.