LinkedIn offers two privacy settings for premium users – private mode and private profile characteristics. Both allow users to limit who can view their full profile information. However, there are some key differences between the two features. This article will provide a quick overview of private mode and private profile characteristics on LinkedIn premium and highlight the main differences between them.
What is LinkedIn Private Mode?
LinkedIn private mode allows premium users to turn their public profile into a private one. When private mode is enabled, only your direct connections can view your full profile. Others will only see your name, headline, industry, country/region and profile photo. They won’t be able to see your experience, education, skills, accomplishments, interests, groups or any other information.
Some key things to know about private mode:
- It makes your entire profile private, not just selected parts of it.
- You can easily toggle private mode on and off whenever you want.
- When private mode is on, your profile won’t show up in search engines like Google.
- People you aren’t connected to can still send you InMail messages.
- You can choose to exclude some connections from seeing your full profile.
Private mode is ideal for LinkedIn members who want to limit their professional network to only people they know and trust. It gives you full control over who can view your profile.
What are LinkedIn Private Profile Characteristics?
Private profile characteristics allow premium users to selectively hide certain profile sections from public view. You can pick and choose which parts of your profile you want to make private.
Some profile sections that can be made private include:
- Featured
- About
- Experience
- Education
- Skills
- Accomplishments
- Interests
- Groups
When you make a profile section private, it will only be visible to your 1st-degree connections. Others will not be able to see it.
Some key things about private profile characteristics:
- You can select specific parts of your profile to make private.
- The rest of your profile remains public.
- You can change privacy settings anytime.
- Your profile will still show up in search engine results.
- People you aren’t connected to can still message you.
Private profile characteristics allow for more flexibility and customization of privacy settings. You can choose to only make certain professional details private rather than your entire profile.
Main Differences Between Private Mode and Private Profile Characteristics
Here is a comparison of some of the key differences between LinkedIn private mode and private profile characteristics:
Private Mode | Private Profile Characteristics |
---|---|
Makes your entire profile private | Allows you to select individual profile sections to make private |
Toggles between completely private or public profile | Mix of public and private sections in your profile |
Profile won’t appear in search engines | Profile will still be searchable |
All information hidden from non-connections | Only selected info hidden from public |
Can exclude specific connections | All 1st-degree connections see private sections |
One-click to turn private mode on/off | Adjust individual section privacy settings |
In summary:
- Private mode offers complete profile privacy by making everything private.
- Private profile characteristics allow more customization and flexibility in privacy settings.
- Private mode completely removes your profile from public view, while private characteristics only hide selected parts.
When to Use Each Type of Privacy Setting
When should you use LinkedIn private mode versus private profile characteristics? Here are some general guidelines:
Consider private mode when:
- You want your entire LinkedIn presence to be private.
- You only want connections to see any part of your profile.
- You want to limit contact from people you don’t know.
- You don’t want to be found in search engines.
- You are changing jobs and want discretion.
Private profile characteristics may be preferable when:
- You only want to limit access to certain profile sections.
- You want your profile to be discoverable to the public.
- You are selective about sharing parts of your background.
- You want flexibility in what’s shown to your network versus the public.
As you can see, private mode is geared more towards complete privacy, while private characteristics offer more customization and flexibility. Consider which aspects of your profile you want to be public or private.
How to Enable Private Mode on LinkedIn
Turning on private mode is simple for LinkedIn premium subscribers:
- Go to your profile settings.
- Select “Private mode” on the left sidebar.
- Toggle private mode to “On” position.
That’s it! Your public profile is now completely private. Only your direct connections will be able to see it.
To return your profile to public mode, just toggle the private mode setting to “Off”.
How to Make Individual Profile Sections Private
Here are the steps to make specific profile sections private using premium private characteristics:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit profile” to edit your profile.
- Click the icon next to the profile section you want to make private. This brings up privacy settings.
- Choose “Connections only” to make that section private.
- Click Save.
Repeat for any other sections you want to make private. At any time, you can edit a section and change the privacy back to “Public” if you want.
Conclusion
Both private mode and private profile characteristics allow LinkedIn premium users to control privacy settings. Private mode offers full profile privacy by making all info private. Private characteristics provide more flexibility to conceal selected profile sections.
When choosing privacy settings, consider whether you want your full profile hidden or just certain details private to the public. Enable private mode if you want complete privacy. Use private characteristics if you want to pick and choose what’s private. Both give premium users more control over their professional privacy.