Inmails on LinkedIn allow you to directly contact other members, even if you are not connected. However, who can actually see the inmails you send? The visibility of inmails depends on several factors.
Inmail Visibility for Sender
As the sender of an inmail, you will always be able to see the full message you sent in your “Sent” folder. This includes the text of the message, any attachments, and the recipient’s name and profile information.
You can access your sent inmails by going to the Messaging section of LinkedIn and clicking on the “Sent” tab. This allows you to view a history of all the inmails you have sent through LinkedIn.
Inmail Visibility for Recipient
For the person receiving the inmail, the full message will be visible in their LinkedIn inbox. They can read the entire text of the message, view any attachments, and see the sender’s name and profile information.
Recipients can access inmails through the Messaging section of LinkedIn. The inmail will appear along with other messages and notifications they have received.
Visibility in Recipient’s Profile
While the recipient can view the full inmail, there is no indication on their public profile that they have received an inmail. Your inmail will not be displayed or accessible anywhere on the recipient’s public LinkedIn profile.
This means other LinkedIn members visiting the recipient’s profile will not see that you have sent an inmail to that person. The inmail content remains private between you as the sender and the intended recipient.
Exceptions for LinkedIn Recruiter
There is one exception when it comes to LinkedIn Recruiter accounts. Recruiters who pay for a Recruiter seat can see how many inmails a candidate has received from other recruiters.
This is indicated through an “InMails” section on the candidate’s profile. However, the recruiter still cannot see the actual content of those inmails. But they can get a sense of how sought-after that candidate is based on their inmail activity.
Visibility in Searches
Inmails also will not appear when other users search LinkedIn. For example, if someone searches for your name or keywords from your inmail, the inmail content will not show up in the search results.
The content of your inmails remains private and is not searchable or discoverable by other LinkedIn members outside of the intended recipient.
Access Without Recipient’s Consent
In most cases, no one besides the sender and recipient should be able to access the inmail. However, there are a few scenarios where the content could be accessed without the recipient’s consent:
- If the recipient’s employer uses monitoring software on company email systems, they may also have access to LinkedIn messages sent to employee accounts.
- Law enforcement personnel may be able to obtain inmails through subpoenas or court orders during investigations.
- LinkedIn’s own security and legal teams could review inmails sent through their system to ensure compliance with policies.
But under normal circumstances, the only people that can see your inmails are you and the person you sent it to.
Visibility of Responses
If the inmail recipient responds to your message, that response will be visible in the same conversation thread to both parties. You will be able to see their response in your inbox.
This allows you to have an ongoing conversation using inmail messaging. All inmail responses remain private between the two parties.
Inmail Visibility Settings
As the inmail sender, you do have a bit of control over the visibility timeframe. Under your account settings, you can choose to automatically expire inmails after a certain window of time.
For example, you may want inmails to only remain visible for 30 days after you send them. After that window, the inmail conversation disappears from both your inbox and the recipient’s.
This can be useful if you only need to communicate with someone for a short period. You can set an expiration that removes the message trail after that timeframe.
Visibility of Drafts
If you start composing an inmail but save it as a draft without sending, that draft will only be visible to you. No one else will be able to see your unsent inmail drafts.
Drafts are accessible through the “Drafts” tab in your LinkedIn Messaging section. You can continue composing drafts until you are ready to send them as completed inmails.
Linking to Your Profile in Inmails
You do have the option to include a link to your LinkedIn profile within inmails you send. This allows the recipient to easily view your profile information.
However, including this link does not make any part of the inmail visible on your profile. It simply provides a way for the recipient to learn more about you as the sender.
Visibility of Inmail Engagement
While inmail content remains private, LinkedIn does track some generic engagement metrics. This includes:
- Number of inmails sent and received
- Click-through rate on inmails
- Number of inmail responses
This data allows LinkedIn to analyze how frequently you use inmail and your overall response rates. However, actual inmail text is not visible in these metrics.
Closing an Account
If you choose to close your LinkedIn account, your past inmail conversations will be permanently deleted and become inaccessible to you or your recipients.
So while inmails remain private during the course of your LinkedIn membership, they will be removed if you decide to terminate your account.
Reporting Inappropriate Inmails
If you receive an inmail that violates LinkedIn policies or is otherwise inappropriate, you can report it directly to LinkedIn.
Simply click the “Report” link within the inmail message. LinkedIn’s Trust & Safety team will review the inmail and take any necessary enforcement actions.
Reporting allows LinkedIn to maintain the professional integrity of communication on their platform while keeping your identity private.
Inmail Best Practices
To maximize the effectiveness of your inmails and maintain privacy:
- Personalize each message with the recipient’s name and profile details.
- Use a clear subject line that conveys the reason for your outreach.
- Focus on professional, cordial language and tone.
- Follow up any inmails with customized connection requests.
- Target inmails to recipients who share common interests or business needs.
With the right strategy, inmail can be an invaluable LinkedIn communication tool while keeping conversations discreet.
Key Takeaways
- Inmails are only visible to the sender and recipient.
- Inmail content does not appear anywhere on member profiles.
- Inmails are not searchable or discoverable outside of the Messaging section.
- Responses remain private within the inmail conversation thread.
- Expiration settings allow you to control visibility timeframe.
- Report any policy violations directly to LinkedIn.
In summary, inmails allow for confidential communication between LinkedIn members. Besides the involved parties, the content remains private and inaccessible to other users or connections.
