How Do You Control Who Can Message You on LinkedIn?

On LinkedIn, you have control over who can send you messages. By default, anyone on LinkedIn can message you, but you can change your settings to limit who can reach you.

Limiting messages to your Connections

The easiest way to control who can message you is to limit messages to only your 1st-degree Connections. With this setting, only people you are connected with can send you messages. People who are not connected to you will not be able to message you.

To limit messages to Connections only:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile
2. Click on the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy
3. Go to Communications in the left sidebar
4. Under Messages, switch the setting for Who can send you messages? to Only people you are connected to

With this setting enabled, you will no longer receive message requests or messages from people unless you are connected on LinkedIn.

Blocking specific members from messaging you

If there are specific members you want to prevent from messaging you, you can block them.

To block a member:

1. Go to their LinkedIn profile
2. Click on the More icon (three dots) next to the Message button
3. Select Block

This will prevent the member from being able to message you or send you connection requests. To unblock the member, go to their profile and select Unblock.

Limiting messages to people who know your email address or phone number

Another option is to only allow messages from people who already know your email address or phone number. This is more restrictive than Connections only, as it prevents people who you are connected with on LinkedIn from messaging you unless they have your contact info.

To enable this setting:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile
2. Click on the Me icon and select Settings & Privacy
3. Go to Communications in the left sidebar
4. Under Messages, switch Who can send you messages? to Only people who know your email address or phone number

With this enabled, even your 1st-degree connections won’t be able to message you on LinkedIn unless they already have your contact information from some other context.

Limiting messages to people outside your organization

If you want to limit messages to only people outside of your company or organization, you can switch your settings to allow messages from Only people outside of my organization.

This will block messages from coworkers, employees, managers, executives, and anyone else in your organization chart. People outside your company will still be able to message you.

To set this:

1. Go to your profile and select Settings & Privacy
2. Go to Communications in the left sidebar
3. For Who can send you messages? choose Only people outside of my organization

Turning off messages

If you want to completely turn off the ability for anyone to message you, you can change your setting to No one.

With messages disabled, you will stop receiving message requests or messages on LinkedIn entirely. No one will be able to reach out to you directly.

To turn off messages:

1. Go to your profile and select Settings & Privacy
2. Go to Communications in the left sidebar
3. For Who can send you messages? select No one

Controlling messages from people you may know

LinkedIn will sometimes show “People You May Know” suggestions to connect with. You can control whether these suggestions are allowed to message you.

By default, people suggested to you are allowed to send you messages. To change this:

1. Go to your profile and select Settings & Privacy
2. Go to Communications in the left sidebar
3. Under Messages, switch Allow messages fromsuggested members you may know to No

This will prevent any message requests or messages from people suggested to you, even if you have connections in common.

Limiting invitations

In addition to messages, you can also control who can send you invitations or connect with you on LinkedIn.

By default, anyone can send you connection invitations. To limit invitations:

1. Go to your profile and select Settings & Privacy
2. Select Communications in the left sidebar
3. Under Relationship settings, choose Only people who know your email address or phone number

This will mean only people who already have your contact info from some other context can connect with you or invite you on LinkedIn.

Reviewing your settings

You can review your current messaging and invitation settings at any time by going to your profile, selecting Settings & Privacy, and viewing the Communications section.

Here you can see at a glance who is allowed to message and connect with you, and make any changes.

Using LinkedIn anonymously

If you want to use LinkedIn without messages or invitations entirely, the anonymous mode allows you to view profiles and posts without interacting with anyone.

To enable anonymous mode:

1. Go to your profile and select Settings & Privacy
2. Go to How others see your profile in the left sidebar
3. Switch Your public profile to Anonymous

In anonymous mode, you can browse LinkedIn privately without messaging. Your name and photo will not show up. You can disable anonymous mode at any time to resume normal use.

Summary

On LinkedIn, you have granular control over who can send you messages and connect with you. By default, messaging is open to everyone, but you can restrict it to only Connections, people with your contact info, or people outside your company. You can also block specific people. For full privacy, anonymous mode lets you use LinkedIn without any messaging or interactions.