LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 690 million users worldwide. As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn allows you to display your profile to recruiters, hiring managers, and other professionals in your industry. However, having your profile visible to everyone on LinkedIn can lead to unwanted attention. You may get connection requests from people you don’t know or random messages asking for jobs or other opportunities. Fortunately, LinkedIn gives you some control over your profile’s visibility through profile viewing options. Here’s what you need to know about turning off profile views on LinkedIn.
Can You Completely Turn Off Profile Views on LinkedIn?
The short answer is no, you cannot fully turn off profile views on LinkedIn. LinkedIn does not allow users to make their profiles completely private or invisible to others on the platform. Your LinkedIn profile will always be viewable by your direct connections.
However, you can limit the people who can view your full profile in several ways:
- Adjust your profile visibility settings
- Block individual profiles from viewing you
- Turn off “Who’s Viewed Your Profile”
While you can’t make your LinkedIn profile completely private, these settings allow you to control profile visibility and limit unwanted attention to a degree.
Adjust Profile Visibility Settings
The primary way to limit profile views on LinkedIn is to adjust your profile visibility in your account settings:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings (click on the Me icon and select Settings & Privacy)
- Click on the Privacy tab
- Under the How others see your LinkedIn profile section, click Change
- Adjust the profile visibility according to who you want to be able to view your full profile
Here are the different profile visibility options you can choose from:
- Public: Anyone on or off LinkedIn can see your full profile
- LinkedIn members: Only logged-in LinkedIn members can see your full profile
- Connections only: Only your 1st-degree connections can see your full profile
The more restrictive you make your profile visibility, the fewer people will be able to view the full content of your profile without connecting to you first.
Setting your profile to be visible only to your existing connections greatly reduces the number of people who can access everything on your profile. Recruiters would need to connect with you first before viewing the full profile.
Selectively Block Profiles
In addition to adjusting your overall profile visibility settings, you can also block individual LinkedIn profiles from viewing your profile and posts:
- Click on the Me icon and choose Settings & Privacy
- Go to the Blocking section
- Enter the name or profile URL of the person you want to block
- Click Block
When you block a profile, that person will no longer be able to:
- View your full profile
- See your posts, articles, and activity
- Send you connection requests or messages
Essentially, blocking prevents the person from viewing anything about you or contacting you on LinkedIn.
Blocking specific people is useful if there are some connections, former colleagues, or others that you want to limit access to your profile and posts.
Turn Off “Who’s Viewed Your Profile”
Another way to limit profile visibility is to turn off the setting that shows who has viewed your profile recently.
To disable this:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings
- Click on the Privacy tab
- Under How others see your LinkedIn activity, disable the option for LinkedIn to show who’s viewed your profile
With this setting turned off, others will not be able to see that they have viewed your profile. It adds another layer of privacy.
However, even with this disabled, you can still see the aggregate number of profile views in your account analytics. You just won’t see a list of specific people who have viewed you.
Pros and Cons of Limiting Profile Views
While restricting profile views gives you more privacy, there are some advantages and disadvantages to weigh when considering these profile visibility settings:
Pros
- Limits unsolicited messages and unwanted connection requests
- Prevents misuse of your data and professional information
- Reduces number of random people viewing your full profile and activity
- Focuses visibility on your existing professional network
Limiting your profile visibility reduces the chances of spam messages or recruiters reaching out when you aren’t actively job searching. It helps keep your profile focused on your core connections.
Cons
- Reduces visibility to recruiters when job searching
- Limits ability for new professional contacts to view your full profile
- Makes it harder for colleagues and connections to recommend you for opportunities
- Obscures your brand and professional presence on LinkedIn
Making your LinkedIn profile too private can actually work against you when it comes to your professional brand and résumé. Recruiters may not be able to discover and view your full profile when trying to fill job openings.
Additionally, restricting your profile can isolate you from new professional connections that could expand your network and lead to career opportunities you otherwise may have missed. There is a trade-off between limiting visibility and maintaining accessibility for beneficial connections.
Tips for Controlling Profile Views
Here are some best practices for managing your LinkedIn profile visibility:
- Customize visibility for your name, photo, title, and other profile sections
- Be selective when blocking profiles; avoid blocking recruiters or potential hires
- Turn off profile views during periods when you aren’t job hunting
- Expand visibility when actively looking for a new job or gig
- Review profile views and adjust visibility accordingly
- Use anonymous browsing when you want to view profiles privately
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s granular privacy settings to customize visibility by section. For example, you can make your name and headline public but your experience or recommendations visible only to connections.
Be strategic about blocking profiles, reserving blocking for clear spammers or bad contacts rather than preemptively blocking recruiters.
Keep an eye on your profile view analytics. If you notice spikes in traffic from unrelated third parties, consider restricting visibility. But if you need to boost exposure for a job search, expand access to get back on recruiters’ radars.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn doesn’t allow complete profile privacy, you have tools to control your profile visibility. Adjust your settings to limit access for random LinkedIn members, turn off view tracking, and block problematic profiles. But balance visibility restrictions with the need to showcase your professional brand to legitimate opportunities. With the right privacy settings, you can maintain your professional connections while reducing unwanted attention on LinkedIn.
