LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 810 million members worldwide as of October 2021. With its massive user base, LinkedIn puts certain limits on how many connections members can make in a day to maintain the quality of the network.
LinkedIn’s Connection Limits
Here are the key limits LinkedIn enforces for daily connections:
- Free Accounts: Up to 30 outgoing connection requests per day
- Premium Accounts: Up to 90 outgoing connection requests per day
- Recruiter Accounts: No preset connection limit
These limits apply specifically to outgoing connection requests you send to other members. There is no limit on the number of incoming connection requests you can accept from others per day.
LinkedIn explains that restricting the daily volume of invitations helps protect their members from unwanted solicitations and prevents abuse. The limits encourage members to focus on building meaningful connections.
How the Limits Work
When you reach your daily connection limit, you will see a notice that you’ve reached the cap and won’t be able to send further requests that day. The limits reset at 12:00 AM midnight in your time zone.
For example, say you have a free account with a 30 request daily cap. If you send 30 invites on Tuesday morning, you won’t be able to send more that day. But starting Wednesday at midnight, your limit resets to 30 for the new day.
One thing to note is that canceled or rejected requests don’t count towards your limit. For instance, if 10 of your invites get rejected, they won’t deduct from that day’s allotment.
LinkedIn does not publicly share the exact algorithm that determines the connection limits. But in general, here are some key factors that likely impact the caps:
- Type of Account: Free, Premium, Recruiter
- User Location: Limits may vary by country
- Account Tenure: Longer-tenured accounts may get higher limits
- Past Invitation Acceptance Rate: Higher acceptance rates can increase limits
- Invitation Patterns: Mass invites may trigger lower limits
Exceptions to the Limits
While the connection limits apply in most cases, there are some exceptions where you may be able to exceed the caps:
- Group Connect: Inviting multiple people to connect via the Group Connect feature may bypass normal limits.
- Premium Subscribers: Paying for a Premium account boosts the daily cap from 30 to 90.
- Account History: Long-standing accounts with positive linking history may get higher allotments.
- Recruiter Accounts: Recruiters do not have a preset limit.
Additionally, according to some user reports, the limit seems to be enforced less strictly when inviting connections through LinkedIn’s mobile apps rather than the desktop site. But this behavior is not officially confirmed by LinkedIn.
How to Avoid Hitting the Limit
Here are some tips to avoid bumping up against LinkedIn’s daily connection limits:
- Upgrade to a Premium Account: This immediately raises the limit from 30 to 90 connections per day.
- Be Selective: Only connect with professionals you know or have interacted with. Mass connection invites are more likely to be restricted.
- Personalize Invitations: Customized messages have a higher acceptance rate, so you can connect with fewer people.
- Use Saved Invitations: You can save invites as drafts and review them later before sending to pace yourself.
- Track Your Limit: Check your remaining connection allotment regularly so you know how many you have left for the day.
Connection Request Limit FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn’s daily connection limits:
Why does LinkedIn limit connections?
LinkedIn limits daily connection requests to maintain quality, prevent spam and abuse, and ensure meaningful interactions.
What happens if I reach the limit?
You’ll get a notice you’ve reached the cap and won’t be able to send further invites that day. Your limit resets at midnight in your timezone.
Do cancelled requests count against my limit?
No, only accepted invitations deduct from your daily connection allotment.
How do I know how many requests I have left today?
Check the connection limit notice when sending invites to see your remaining allowance for the day.
What are the limits for Premium and Recruiter accounts?
Premium: 90 per day. Recruiter: No preset daily limit.
Statistics on Daily LinkedIn Connections
Here are some interesting statistics on how many connections active LinkedIn users make on a daily basis:
| User Type | Average Daily Connections |
|---|---|
| Active Free Users | 16 |
| Active Premium Users | 23 |
| Active Recruiters | 57 |
| Power Users | 120+ |
As you can see from the averages, most regular users do not exceed the daily free account limit of 30 connections. Premium account holders connect with around 23 people per day, while recruiters using LinkedIn for outreach average 57 new connections daily.
A minority of “power users” try to maximize the limit and connect with 100+ people per day. However, this level of activity often triggers restrictions from LinkedIn to prevent spamming.
Conclusion
To summarize, LinkedIn limits free accounts to 30 outgoing connection requests per day. Premium members can send 90 invites, while Recruiters have no set limit. These caps reset at midnight and help ensure meaningful connections.
The best practices are to customize connection invitations, use saved drafts to pace yourself, and only connect with professionals you have interacted with already. Avoid mass connection requests to prevent your account from triggering lower limits.
Following LinkedIn’s guidelines helps maintain the professional quality of the network while allowing you to steadily build your list of connections each day.
