LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 740 million members worldwide. As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn allows its members to create profiles to showcase their background, skills, accomplishments and interests. While having a public profile on LinkedIn can help expand your professional connections and opportunities, some users may prefer keeping their profile information private for personal or professional reasons.
Fortunately, LinkedIn offers options to control the visibility and accessibility of your profile. You can adjust your privacy settings to limit public access to your profile and even go anonymous on LinkedIn if needed. Going anonymous prevents your name and photo from being visible and only shows your position and industry instead of full details.
In this detailed guide, we will walk you through the steps to set your LinkedIn privacy to anonymous or private mode to control what’s visible on your profile.
Overview of LinkedIn Privacy Settings
LinkedIn provides granular settings to manage profile visibility and data sharing. Here’s an overview of the main privacy options available:
– Public profile – Your full profile is visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn. This is the default setting.
– Private profile – Your name, photo, connections and work experience details are hidden from public view but visible to your 1st-degree connections.
– Anonymous profile – Only your position and industry are displayed publicly. Your name, photo, education and connections are hidden.
– Profile viewing options – Controls who can view your LinkedIn profile and activity details. Options include: your connections, their connections, all LinkedIn members, everyone or only you.
– Ad preferences – Manage whether your profile data is used by LinkedIn to personalize ads you see.
– Activity broadcast settings – Choose what activities are shared with your connections – profile changes, articles you post, content you follow and more.
– Blocking and removing connections – Prevents specific members from viewing your profile or contacting you.
Adjusting these settings appropriately allows you to take your LinkedIn presence from completely public to fully anonymous based on your needs.
Requirements to Go Anonymous on LinkedIn
To set your LinkedIn profile to anonymous mode, your account must meet the following requirements:
– Profile photo removed – Your profile image must be deleted before going anonymous. LinkedIn does not allow anonymous accounts to have a profile photo.
– Basic profile details added – At minimum, your current job title and industry must be filled out. These two fields will remain visible when anonymous.
– Email address verified – LinkedIn requires email verification before letting accounts turn anonymous. Check your email for a verification prompt after starting the process.
– Real name on profile – You must use your real identity on your account. LinkedIn does not allow anonymous profiles for fictional people or businesses.
Meeting these prerequisites is necessary for LinkedIn to authorize an anonymous account. Attempting the steps without fulfilling the requirements will result in error messages.
Step-by-Step Guide to Go Anonymous
Ready to make your LinkedIn presence private? Follow these simple steps to switch your account settings to anonymous mode:
Remove Profile Photo
Start by removing your profile picture. Here’s how:
– Go to your LinkedIn profile page and move mouse over your existing photo.
– Click on the pencil edit icon that appears below your photo.
– On the Edit Photo page, click Remove.
– Confirm removal in the pop-up dialog.
This will remove your profile picture, leaving a blank silhouette icon. Having no photo is required for an anonymous account.
Enter Current Position and Industry
Next, make sure your current job title and industry are filled out in the Intro section of your profile:
– From profile, click View profile under your name.
– Go to the Experience section and ensure your Current company and Title are complete.
– In the Intro section, enter your Industry if not already added.
– Click Save once done.
These fields will remain visible when your profile is anonymous, so they must be filled in.
Verify Email Address
LinkedIn now requires email verification to turn on anonymous mode:
– Go to your Account settings and open the Email address section.
– If your email is unverified, click Verify email address.
– Check your email inbox for a verification link from LinkedIn.
– Click on the verification link to confirm your email.
This one-time verification is mandatory. You won’t be able to proceed until your email is validated.
Adjust Profile Viewing Settings
Next, configure your profile viewing preferences as follows:
– From the Account settings page, go to Privacy & settings.
– In the How others see your profile and activity section, click Profile viewing options.
– Under Who can see your LinkedIn profile?, select Only people who have your direct contact information.
– For Who can see your public activity on LinkedIn e.g. content you’ve liked, clicked on, and shared publicly?, choose No one.
– Click Save changes.
This hides your profile and all activity from public view and search engines. Only direct connections will be able to see your profile.
Turn Profile to Anonymous
You’re now ready to activate anonymous mode:
– Return to the Privacy & settings page in your account.
– Under How others see your profile and activity, toggle the Anonymous profile setting to Yes.
– Enter your password when prompted to confirm the change.
– Check your email for a verification link and click on it.
Once verified via email, your profile name, photo and other personal info will change to anonymous. Visitors will only see your position and industry.
And that’s it! Your LinkedIn profile is now completely anonymous. The process is quick and straightforward as long as you meet LinkedIn’s prerequisites.
What Visibility Do You Maintain As Anonymous?
Here’s what remains visible and hidden when your LinkedIn profile is set to anonymous:
Visible to public and connections:
– Current position and company
– Industry
– Number of connections
– Number of followers
Hidden from public view:
– Your name
– Profile and cover photo
– Email address
– Location
– Education
– Skills
– Accomplishments
– Detailed work experience
– Recommendations
– Groups
– Interests
– Posts and activity
So essentially just your current role and industry are displayed – nothing personally identifying. Your connections still have access to your full profile details.
Limitations of an Anonymous LinkedIn Profile
While anonymous mode allows limiting public exposure, there are some restrictions to bear in mind:
– You can’t add profile or cover photo.
– Adding connections is disabled.
– Inviting connections via email is disabled.
– Messaging is restricted to existing connections.
– You won’t appear in search suggestions or People You May Know.
– It may be difficult for new people to find and connect with you.
– Previous profile versions can still be visible on search engines until caches refresh.
So weigh the benefits versus limitations before deciding if anonymous mode works for your needs. It completely conceals your personal info but also makes networking and discovery more challenging.
How to Switch Back from Anonymous to Public Profile
If you need your profile to be publicly visible again, reversing to a public setting is easy:
– Go back to Account settings > Privacy & settings.
– Under Anonymous profile, toggle setting to No.
– Enter your password to confirm.
– Add a profile photo back. Having a photo is required for public profiles.
– Adjust your profile viewing options to allow public access.
– Verify via email confirmation link.
Your public profile will be restored instantly. All your info will be visible again. So you can easily switch between anonymous and public presence as needed.
Best Practices for Anonymous Profiles on LinkedIn
Here are some tips to maximize the benefits of an anonymous LinkedIn profile:
– Craft an indistinct job title like “Marketing Specialist” rather than your exact position name.
– Use a broad industry such as “Computer Software” or “Management Consulting” rather than a niche sector.
– Periodically refresh your anonymous profile to clear cached versions from search engines.
– Proactively notify your network about going anonymous to avoid confusion.
– Leverage Groups for networking and discussions without revealing your identity.
– Use anonymous browsing if you want to visit profiles without appearing in visitor logs.
– Avoid sharing identifiable info, locations or employers in posts and discussions.
Being thoughtful about the information you share and proactively managing your settings allows you to network professionally while protecting your privacy.
Conclusion
Maintaining an anonymous presence on LinkedIn is made simple by adjusting your profile visibility settings. Just remove personal info, validate your email, limit viewing access and enable anonymous mode. This hides your identity without severing ties to your established connections. Though anonymity has some trade-offs, it provides greater privacy control over your professional profile and online presence. Use this guide to secure your LinkedIn privacy however suits your needs.
