LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking platforms, with over 810 million members worldwide as of April 2022. With so many users, it’s common for people to delete their LinkedIn accounts for various reasons. However, deleting a LinkedIn account is not as straightforward as simply clicking a “delete” button. There is a process that must be followed before an account is permanently erased. Here is an in-depth look at how long it takes for a LinkedIn account to be deleted.
The Account Deletion Process
When you request to delete your LinkedIn account, it does not get deleted right away. LinkedIn has a multi-step process for account deletion:
- You submit a request to delete your account through LinkedIn’s privacy settings.
- LinkedIn immediately deactivates your account, but does not yet delete it. Your profile and data are no longer visible to other members.
- LinkedIn waits 30 days before permanently deleting your account data. This is a grace period that allows you to reactivate your account if you changed your mind.
- After 30 days, LinkedIn permanently deletes all your data and account information from its servers. Your profile and network connections are erased.
So in summary, it takes 30 days after you submit a deletion request for your LinkedIn account to be permanently deleted. During this time, your account is deactivated but still retrievable if you log back in.
Why the 30 Day Waiting Period?
LinkedIn does not immediately delete accounts to give users a chance to change their minds. Many people decide to take a break from LinkedIn but don’t necessarily want their accounts permanently gone. The 30 day deactivated period serves as a safety net.
In addition, legally LinkedIn may be required to keep personal data for a certain time period. The 30 day policy ensures they comply with any data retention regulations before deleting.
What Happens During the 30 Days
When your account is deactivated during those 30 days, here is what happens:
- Your profile is hidden and your connections are removed. You appear as “Unavailable” in search results.
- You cannot sign into your account at all. Attempting to log in will prompt you to reactivate the account.
- Your messages and notifications are no longer accessible through your account.
- You stop receiving emails and notifications from LinkedIn.
- Your job applications through LinkedIn are withdrawn.
- You lose access to job ads, Premium content, and other account-based features.
Essentially, deactivating makes your account completely dormant. But LinkedIn still has your data stored in case you want to reactivate within 30 days.
Reactivating During the 30 Days
If you change your mind within 30 days of requesting account deletion, you can easily reactivate your LinkedIn account. Just log in with your email and password. LinkedIn will detect your account is in deactivated status and prompt you to reactivate.
Once you reactivate, your profile, connections, and full account access are restored. It will be like your account was never deactivated in the first place.
After 30 Days
Once the 30 day waiting period ends, LinkedIn permanently deletes all your personal data from their servers. This includes:
- Profile information like photo, career history, education, etc.
- List of connections/network
- Group memberships
- Job applications and searches
- Messages and notifications
- Shares, likes, comments, and posts
- Premium content access and history
- Advertising data and analytics
Permanently deleting an account is irreversible. There is no way to retrieve the data or undo the deletion after 30 days elapse. You would have to start a brand new LinkedIn account from scratch.
Special Cases
While most accounts follow the standard 30 day deletion process, there are some special cases:
- Premium memberships: If you have an active paid Premium subscription, LinkedIn will immediately cancel this when you request account deletion. You lose access to Premium benefits even during the 30 day waiting period.
- Closed accounts: If LinkedIn closes your account due to violations of their User Agreement, deletion happens much faster. Closed accounts are usually permanently deleted within 24-48 hours.
- Inactive accounts: If your account is completely inactive for over a year, LinkedIn reserves the right to delete it sooner than 30 days. Inactive means no logins or use of any kind.
So premium users, closed accounts, and inactive accounts may experience faster or instant deletion compared to active free accounts.
Retrieving Data Before Deleting
Before your LinkedIn account is permanently erased, you may want to download an archive of your personal data for your own records. Here are some key types of LinkedIn data you can download:
| Data Type | What It Includes |
|---|---|
| Profile archive | Info from your profile like work history, education, skills, etc. |
| Connections archive | Your 1st-degree connections list with names and professions |
| Outgoing messages | Copies of messages you have sent to your connections |
| Ads archive | Record of ads you’ve interacted with and advertisers’ targeting criteria |
The downloadable archives allow you to retain data from your LinkedIn account even after it’s been permanently erased. The archives are delivered as downloadable ZIP files.
Conclusion
In summary, here’s a quick rundown of how long until a LinkedIn account is deleted:
- It takes 30 days after requesting deletion for LinkedIn to permanently erase your account.
- During those 30 days, your account is deactivated but still recoverable if you log back in.
- After 30 days, LinkedIn permanently deletes all personal data and the account cannot be restored.
- Premium members, closed accounts, and inactive accounts may be deleted faster than 30 days.
Knowing the multi-step deletion process helps manage expectations if you ever decide to remove your LinkedIn account. Be certain before starting the deletion, because after 30 days there is no going back!
