LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 800 million members. As a LinkedIn user, your profile is visible to others by default. This allows you to connect and network with other professionals in your industry. However, you may wish to limit who can view your profile for privacy reasons.
Quick Answers
When you turn off public visibility on LinkedIn:
- Your public profile will no longer appear in Google search results
- Other LinkedIn members will not be able to view your profile unless they are connected to you
- People who are not logged into LinkedIn will not be able to see your profile
- You can still be invited to connect through email and InMail messages
- You will stop appearing as a suggested connection or search result to non-connections
- Your activity, such as liking and commenting, will only be visible to your connections
Limiting Profile Visibility
LinkedIn allows you to control exactly who can view your profile. By default, your profile is set to public, meaning it can be viewed by anyone on or off LinkedIn. Here are the visibility options you can set:
- Public: Your profile is visible to anyone on or off of LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn members: Only logged-in LinkedIn members can view your profile.
- Your connections: Only your 1st-degree LinkedIn connections can view your profile.
To change your profile visibility settings, go to your LinkedIn Privacy & Settings page and look for the “Select who can see your profile and activity” section. From here, use the dropdown menu to select your desired visibility level.
Turning Off Public Visibility
If you want to turn off complete public visibility, choose the “Your connections” setting. This limits profile viewing to only people you are directly connected with on LinkedIn. Your profile will no longer appear in public Google search results or to non-logged in users. People must be connected to you see any part of your profile.
Some key things that happen when you turn off public visibility include:
- Your profile no longer appears in Google search results – it is only visible on LinkedIn to your connections.
- Unconnected LinkedIn members can no longer view your profile. They would have to send you a connection request.
- Non-logged in visitors or people without a LinkedIn account cannot view your profile at all.
- Your profile is hidden from “People You May Know” or other connection suggestions shown to unconnected members.
- Your activity like liking, commenting, etc is only seen by your connections rather than the whole LinkedIn community.
So in summary, turning off public visibility limits access to your profile to just direct connections. This gives you much more control over who can view and access your professional profile on LinkedIn.
Benefits of Limiting Profile Visibility
Here are some of the benefits of turning off public profile visibility on LinkedIn:
- Improved privacy – Your profile information stays between you and your connections rather than being openly available to everyone on the internet.
- Avoid unwanted attention – Limiting visibility reduces unsolicited outreach from recruiters, salespeople, and unnecessary connection requests.
- Manage professional reputation – You have more control over how you portray yourself professionally online when visibility is limited.
- Reduce misuse – Decreased visibility makes it harder for others to misuse your profile, for example by scraping data, stolen photos, etc.
- Stay hidden when job searching – Keep your profile private so current employer is unaware you are looking for new opportunities.
The main benefit is improved privacy and control over your professional online presence. Turning off public access means you decide exactly who can view and interact with your profile on LinkedIn.
Potential Drawbacks
However, there are some potential drawbacks to limiting your LinkedIn profile visibility:
- Fewer people can easily find and connect with you on LinkedIn, limiting networking opportunities.
- It may be harder to demonstrate your professional experience and credentials if recruiters cannot see your profile.
- Reduces chances of being discovered and contacted by headhunters and recruiters about new job opportunities.
- Limits profile exposure that could be useful for reputation management or thought leadership goals.
- Some users expect to find professional profiles through Google search so yours may be harder to find.
The reduced networking and discoverability that comes with private profiles could potentially hinder your career advancement goals. But for many, the privacy benefits outweigh potential drawbacks.
Tips for Limiting Profile Visibility
Here are some tips to manage your professional presence with limited profile visibility on LinkedIn:
- Have a public profile summary so connections get a glimpse of your background.
- Showcase your skills, accomplishments and volunteer experience.
- Display certifications, courses and publications to convey your expertise.
- Get endorsements from connections to validate your skills and strengths.
- Publish long-form posts to share insights and thought leadership content.
- Join relevant LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions.
- Leverage customized LinkedIn URLs on resumes and other platforms.
- Proactively connect with recruiters and those you want accessing your profile.
This allows you to selectively share information while still limiting public access. You control the professional narrative while making valuable connections.
Who Can Still See Your Profile?
With a private profile, the main group that retains access are your 1st-degree connections on LinkedIn. But there are still a few other scenarios where others may still see your profile:
- 2nd and 3rd-degree connections – They have limited access to your profile, including your name, headline, and current position.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator users – Subscribers to this premium LinkedIn service can find and access your profile information.
- LinkedIn Recruiter seats – Companies who pay for LinkedIn Recruiter subscriptions may still find your profile in searches.
- Some corporate account users – Certain company page admins can bypass visibility restrictions in some cases.
In general though, directly connected members will have the most access while others only see limited profile information at most.
How to Evaluate If It’s Right for You
Deciding whether to turn off public LinkedIn visibility depends on your career goals and level of desired privacy. Here are some questions to consider:
- Am I actively searching for a new job opportunity right now?
- Do I want to be discoverable by recruiters and hiring managers?
- Am I comfortable publicly displaying my professional credentials?
- Do I have concerns about my current employer seeing my profile?
- Could completely public access negatively impact my career or personal life?
- Do the networking limitations outweigh the privacy benefits for me?
Your answers will likely guide your ideal privacy settings. Frequently re-evaluate as your career stage and goals change over time.
Toggling Visibility As Needed
Rather than a permanent change, some users toggle their profile visibility on and off as circumstances dictate. For example:
- Turn off visibility while discreetly looking for a new job, then public again after hiring.
- Public when actively networking, private when taking a career break.
- Public visibility for reputation management during a promotion push.
- Private mode to avoid unwanted attention during turbulent times.
Toggling settings gives you flexibility to adjust visibility depending on your needs at the time. Just be aware it takes 24-48 hours for changes to fully take effect across LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Turning off public LinkedIn visibility limits your profile exposure to just direct connections, giving you increased privacy and control. While this limits discoverability, for many professionals the benefits around privacy and career management outweigh the reduced networking potential and access by recruiters.
Evaluate your own career goals, networking needs and privacy concerns when deciding on LinkedIn profile visibility settings. Adjust these settings as needed over time to match your professional needs at each career stage.