There are a few different ways to remove a connection on LinkedIn without having to click through to their profile. LinkedIn makes it easy to connect with new people, but removing connections can be a bit trickier. However, there are some simple tricks you can use to discreetly remove someone from your connections list.
Why Would You Want To Remove A Connection?
Here are some common reasons for wanting to remove a connection on LinkedIn:
- You no longer work with the person or need to be connected to them for professional reasons
- You want to limit your network to your closest business contacts
- The connection is no longer active on LinkedIn or you’ve lost touch
- You are changing jobs or careers and want to refresh your network
- The connection has inappropriate content or behavior on their profile
Removing outdated or irrelevant connections helps keep your LinkedIn network focused and optimized for your current professional profile and goals. However, removing connections can be tricky without unintentionally signaling that you want to sever the relationship.
How To Remove A Connection By Email
One of the easiest ways to remove a connection is by using LinkedIn’s “Remove Connections” email feature. Here’s how it works:
- Go to your LinkedIn Connections page
- Check the box next to the connections you want to remove
- Click on the gear icon in the top right and select “Remove Connections”
- Toggle the switch to “Remove without sending email”
- Confirm that you want to remove the selected connections
This will instantly remove the connections without any notification. It is completely discreet and they will simply disappear from your connections list.
The one catch is that you can only remove five connections at a time this way. For removing larger batches of connections, you may need to use a different approach.
Removing Connections In Bulk
If you need to prune a larger number of connections from your LinkedIn network, you can use a Chrome extension tool called Deconnector. Here is how it works:
- Download and install the Deconnector Chrome extension
- Go to your LinkedIn Connections page
- The Deconnector icon will appear at the top right of your browser window – click it
- Select the connections you want to remove by checking the boxes
- Click the trash icon to remove the selected connections
The Deconnector tool lets you remove up to 100 connections at one time. It works quickly and discreetly without sending any emails or notifications. Just install, select the unwanted connections, delete, and they’re gone instantly.
Removing Connections Via LinkedIn Settings
LinkedIn also gives you the option to remove connections via your account settings. Here’s how to do it:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings
- Select “Connections” in the left sidebar
- Choose “Manage my connections”
- Select the connections you want to remove
- Click “Remove connections”
- Confirm that you want to remove the selected connections
This method allows you to remove up to 500 connections at one time. However, it will send a notification email to the removed connections letting them know you are no longer connected. So if you want to remove connections discreetly, use one of the other options.
Removing 3rd Degree Connections
Another way to clean up your network is removing 3rd degree connections. These are connections you are linked to only through a mutual connection and tend to be the most distant in your network.
To remove 3rd degree connections:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under “Connections”, select “Manage my networks”
- Choose “Your 3rd-degree network”
- Click the “X” icon next to “Your 3rd-degree network”
- Confirm that you want to remove all of these connections
This will instantly remove all of the 3rd degree connections from your network in bulk. It’s a quick way to focus your LinkedIn network on only 1st and 2nd degree connections.
Turn On Review/Approve For New Connections
Another way to manage your LinkedIn connections proactively is adjusting your settings for new connection requests.
You can configure LinkedIn so that you have to manually approve all new connection requests. Here’s how:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under “Communications”, select “Receiving messages and invitations”
- Toggle “Approve or dismiss all connections” to “Yes”
- Select “No” for automatically adding shared connections
- Save your settings
Now all new connection requests will be pending until you approve them. You can simply decline any requests from people you don’t want to connect with.
This gives you control over who gets added your network, allowing you to be more selective.
Ask For Introductions For New Connections
If you want to take a more proactive approach, you can change your settings so you have to be introduced to new connections by someone in your network. Here’s how to enable this:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under “Communications”, select “Receiving messages and invitations”
- Toggle “Permit introductions from my network” to “Yes”
- Toggle “Only accept connection invitations if sender knows email address or shared connection” to “Yes”
- Save changes
Now the only way to connect is if an existing connection sends an email introduction or the requester shares a connection. This ensures your new connections are vetted.
Remove Old Email Connections
If you connected your LinkedIn account to your email contacts when you first created your account, you may have connections that were automatically added from your email list. These can include personal contacts that you don’t necessarily want in your professional network.
You can remove these old email-based connections all at once:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under “Connections”, select “Contacts”
- Uncheck the box next to “Add contacts from my email”
- Click “Disassociate connections”
- Confirm removing connections
This will automatically remove any LinkedIn connections that were originally added from your email contacts. It’s a quick way to clear out old or irrelevant connections from the past.
Remove Connections Via LinkedIn Data Download
LinkedIn allows you to download all your account data, including your connections. You can then use this data to prune your connections.
Here are the steps:
- Request your LinkedIn data download
- Select only “Connections” data to download
- LinkedIn will email you the download link when ready (can take up to 72 hours)
- Download your connections data and save connections list CSV file
- Sort through connections data and identify any you want to remove
- Use Deconnector Chrome extension to bulk remove unwanted connections
While this method takes some effort, it allows you to thoughtfully curate your connections list outside of LinkedIn’s interface. You can take the time to really decide which connections to keep and remove.
Change Your LinkedIn Public Profile Settings
In your public profile settings, you can control what connections can see about your connections and activities.
To make your connections list 100% private:
- Go to your public profile settings
- Under “View As”, toggle “Your connections” to “Private”
- Save changes
Now no one will be able to see your connections or activity related to connections. This gives you added privacy if you want to discreetly remove connections.
Regularly Review And Prune Your Connections
Maintaining a focused, up-to-date list of professional connections is an important part of getting the most out of LinkedIn. Set aside time regularly to review your connections list and remove outdated or irrelevant contacts.
Here are some best practices for keeping your LinkedIn connections optimized:
- Audit your list quarterly or biannually
- Sort connections by recency to see inactive ones
- Remove connections you no longer interact with professionally
- Disconnect from contacts with irrelevant job titles or industries
- Prune connections from past jobs or careers
- Focus on cultivating your most valuable connections
Regular pruning gives you a clean connections list full of relevant contacts to help you advance your career goals.
Conclusion
There are many options for discreetly removing LinkedIn connections without interacting with their profiles. The best methods include:
- Using LinkedIn’s remove connections email feature
- Installing the Deconnector Chrome extension
- Changing your connection request settings to be more selective
- Removing all 3rd degree connections in bulk
- Disassociating old email-imported contacts
Along with regularly reviewing and culling your connections list every few months, these tips will help you maintain a focused, professional network on LinkedIn. A curated connections list is critical for keeping your LinkedIn presence optimized for your career growth and goals.