Your LinkedIn home page, also known as your profile page, is your digital resume and online presence on LinkedIn. It displays key details about you, such as your photo, headline, summary section, work experience, education, skills, accomplishments, interests, and recommendations. Understanding who can view your LinkedIn profile is important for managing your professional brand and online privacy.
Your Connections
Your 1st-degree LinkedIn connections have full access to view your profile. These are people you have directly connected with on LinkedIn, either by sending them an invite to connect or accepting their invitation. When someone becomes a 1st-degree connection, they can see all the information on your profile page, unless you customize your settings to limit exposure.
You can control what your 2nd and 3rd-degree connections can view on your profile. 2nd-degree connections are people connected to your 1st-degree connections. 3rd-degree connections are connected to your 2nd-degree connections, and so on. By default, 2nd and 3rd-degree connections can see your photo, headline, current position, and industry. You can edit your settings to expand or limit what they see.
LinkedIn Members Outside Your Network
LinkedIn members who are not connected to you in any way have limited access to your profile information by default. They can only see your photo, name, headline, and industry. However, if your profile is set to “public”, anyone on LinkedIn can view your full profile even if they are not connected to you. This allows your profile to be visible in LinkedIn search engines and gives you exposure outside of your immediate network.
LinkedIn Group Members
If you join any LinkedIn Groups, your profile visibility settings for that Group will determine what fellow Group members can see. By default, only 1st-degree connections in that Group will have full access to your profile. But you can change your Group privacy settings to allow all Group members to view your full profile or just your limited public profile.
People Outside of LinkedIn
People who do not have LinkedIn accounts have very restricted access to LinkedIn profile information. They would only be able to see your photo, name, and headline if you have a public profile. To see any other details, they would have to sign up and connect with you on LinkedIn first. The only exception is if you provide a public link to your LinkedIn profile and share that link with people outside of LinkedIn.
Your LinkedIn Contacts
If you sync your email contacts with LinkedIn, then connections that also have you in their contact lists will have increased access to your profile. They can send you messages and view certain profile areas even if they are outside of your network. You can control which LinkedIn contacts can view your full profile under Contact Settings.
Job Post Viewers
When you apply to jobs posted on LinkedIn, recruiters and hiring managers can access your full profile, regardless of whether they are connected to you or not. They need to see all the details in your profile to evaluate you as a candidate. You agree to this exposure when applying for roles on LinkedIn. The same level of access is given when you signal interest in jobs posted.
Followers
Any LinkedIn members who follow your profile will be able to see all public updates and posts you share. They can view your profile according to the usual access rules based on degrees of connection. You can see a list of your LinkedIn followers under your profile Followers tab.
Search Engine Crawlers
Search engines like Google can crawl and index LinkedIn public profiles. This allows your profile to appear in search results on Google and other search engines. The parts of your profile that search crawlers can see depends on your privacy settings. A fully public profile gives search engines the most access.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator Users
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium sales tool that allows for targeted searching and tracking of LinkedIn profiles. If someone is using Sales Navigator, they may be able to see more of your profile than your settings would normally allow. For example, 2nd-degree connections that have Sales Navigator can upgrade their access and see your full profile. Sales Navigator also alerts users when you update your profile.
Your Employer
If you list your employer on your LinkedIn profile, representatives from that company can see your full profile regardless of whether they are connected to you or not. Employers want to monitor how their company and employees are presented on LinkedIn.
Miscellaneous Profile Visitors
There are a few other scenarios where people outside of your network may be able to access parts of your profile:
- Someone who received a profile share link directly from you
- Paid LinkedIn services like Recruiter Lite allow added profile visibility
- Some corporate account administrators can view additional employee profiles
- Private browsing modes may bypass some profile privacy restrictions
Controlling Your LinkedIn Profile Visibility
LinkedIn gives you many options to control precisely who can view and access your profile. Here are some tips:
- Edit your default profile visibility in Settings & Privacy.
- Customize visibility settings for your positions, education, skills, etc.
- Check who has viewed your profile with Premium Insights.
- Toggle your profile between public and private mode.
- Block specific members from viewing your profile.
Balancing profile exposure to boost your professional brand while still maintaining privacy can be tricky. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s customization features to find the right balance for your needs.
Conclusion
In summary, the level of access others have to your LinkedIn profile depends on several factors:
- Their degree of connection with you
- Your personal privacy settings
- Whether they are LinkedIn members or non-members
- Paid LinkedIn services like Sales Navigator
- If you have a public profile or shared a public link
- If they are hiring managers viewing your application
Understanding these factors allows you to better manage your professional brand and online presence on LinkedIn. Balancing visibility with privacy is key to getting the most out of your profile.