LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform used by over 700 million members worldwide. As one of the largest professional networks, LinkedIn connects users to career opportunities, business contacts, and industry insights. With so much personal and professional information available on LinkedIn profiles, it’s important to understand who can view your profile and manage your privacy settings accordingly.
Who can see my LinkedIn profile?
By default, your LinkedIn profile is visible to all LinkedIn members. However, you can manage your profile visibility and limit access in your settings. Here’s an overview of who can see your LinkedIn profile:
- All LinkedIn members: Any registered LinkedIn user can view your profile by default. They will see your name, headline, photo, current position, education, skills, and endorsements.
- Connections only: You can limit profile access to only your 1st-degree connections. 2nd and 3rd-degree connections will no longer be able to view your full profile.
- Connections of connections: This option allows access to your 1st-degree connections as well as connections of your connections (2nd-degree).
- Only you: The most private setting restricts profile viewing to just you. Your public profile will only display your name, headline, and photo.
In your account settings under “Privacy,” you can modify these options to control full profile viewing access. Note that some information like your name, profile photo, current position, and company will remain public even with the strictest privacy settings.
Who can see my LinkedIn activity?
Beyond your profile, LinkedIn members can also potentially see some of your activity on the platform. Here’s a look at who can view different types of activity:
- Connections: Your connections can see your activity updates, comments, likes, and shares by default.
- Network: If you select the “Your Network” setting, connections as well as 2nd-degree connections can see your activity.
- Public: With the public visibility option, all LinkedIn members can view your activity on posts, articles, and profiles.
You can adjust these settings in your account under “Privacy & Settings.” For each type of activity, choose who can see it – your connections, your network, or everyone. Restricting settings enables you to limit visibility.
Who receives notifications about my LinkedIn activity?
When you perform actions like updating your profile, posting content, commenting, liking, sharing, etc. certain connections may receive notifications alerting them. Here’s an overview of who may receive notifications:
- Connections mentioned: Any connections mentioned in your posts or activity will receive notifications alerting them.
- Original poster: If you comment on someone’s post, the original poster will be notified.
- Connections who shared the same post: Connections who also shared a post you interact with will receive an update.
- Group members: Other members of shared groups will get notifications about your group activity.
- Company followers: Followers of your company pages will get notifications about your company updates.
Beyond these automatic notifications, you can also control who receives notifications about your broader LinkedIn activity in your settings. You can turn off notifications to specific connections or groups of connections.
Who can see my LinkedIn network?
Your LinkedIn network refers to your list of 1st-degree connections. By default, here’s who can see your network:
- Your connections: Your 1st-degree connections can see your full list of connections.
- Connections of your connections: 2nd-degree connections can see your connections in common.
- All members: Any LinkedIn member can see a preview of your contacts including selected connections across industries and locations.
You can further limit access to your network in your account privacy settings. Options include allowing only your connections to see your contacts or restricting your connections list to just you.
Who can see my LinkedIn search history?
Your LinkedIn search history contains the profiles, companies, groups, and content you’ve searched for while signed into your account. By default, here’s who can view your search history:
- You: You can always view your complete search history in your account settings.
- Your connections: Your 1st-degree connections cannot see your full search history but may receive notifications if you view their profile.
- LinkedIn: As the platform provider, LinkedIn has access to usage data including search history to improve services.
You can fully clear your search history at any time in your account privacy settings. LinkedIn also allows toggling search history on or off. When off, your searches are not saved to your account at all.
Who can see my LinkedIn page visits?
LinkedIn registers when you visit another member’s profile page. By default, here is who can see records of your page visits:
- You: You can view your full history of page visits within your account settings.
- Profile owner: When you visit a member’s profile, they receive a notification indicating you visited.
- LinkedIn: As the platform owner, LinkedIn has access to data on your page visits and browsing activity.
There is no setting to limit notification to other members that you visited their page. However, you can clear your full history of page visits in your account at any time.
Who can see my posts, articles, and activity on LinkedIn?
When you post content such as updates, articles, links, images, etc. your connections and network can view this activity. Here’s a summary of who can see your posts and activity:
- All members: With the default public visibility, any LinkedIn member can view and engage with your posts.
- Your connections: If you limit visibility to connections only, your 1st-degree connections can see your posts.
- Your network: This includes 1st-degree connections and their connections (2nd-degree) who can see your posts.
You can control post visibility on both desktop and mobile apps in your settings or at the point of publishing content. You can target posts to connections, your network, or the public depending on your preference.
Who receives notifications when I post?
Certain members may automatically receive notifications when you publish new posts and content on LinkedIn:
- Connections you mention: Any connections mentioned in the post get notified.
- Original poster: Comments on another member’s post triggers a notice to the original poster.
- Shared connections: Connections who also shared the post are notified when you engage.
- Group members: Other members of shared groups get notifications of your group activity.
Beyond these automatic alerts, you can also control broader notifications from your account settings. Here you can limit notifications your activity triggers to specific connections or groups.
Who can message me on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn members can send you messages depending on their connection status. Here’s an overview of who can message you:
- 1st-degree connections: You can exchange messages with any of your directly connected contacts.
- 2nd and 3rd-degree connections: You can receive messages from connections of your connections if you allow it in settings.
- Group members: Fellow members of shared LinkedIn groups can message you according to group settings.
- Anyone: If enabled, all LinkedIn members can message you regardless of connection status.
You can control who can message you directly in your LinkedIn account settings. The strictest setting is only allowing messages from your 1st-degree connections.
Who can see my email address on LinkedIn?
You can choose to display your email address on your LinkedIn profile. This allows connections and members viewing your profile to see it. Here’s an overview of who can view your email if displayed:
- All members: With the default setting, your email is visible to anyone viewing your profile.
- Connections only: You can limit your displayed email to just your 1st-degree connections.
- Only you: Choosing to hide your email entirely means only you can view it on your profile.
You can select your preference for displaying your email address in your profile settings. Restricting visibility keeps your email more private. Remember connections can also contact you directly through LinkedIn messaging without an email address.
Who can download my LinkedIn profile data?
LinkedIn allows you to request a download of your account information and profile data at any time. This includes your profile, network connections, search history, messages, posts, and other account activity. By default, access is limited to:
- You: You can download your full LinkedIn data anytime through account settings.
- LinkedIn: As the platform owner, LinkedIn has access to user data but does not share or sell personal member data.
No one besides you and LinkedIn has access to download your full account data. Your privacy settings control what portions of your information specific members or connections can see on the platform itself. But they cannot export your profile data.
Who can see my LinkedIn groups?
Your LinkedIn groups include the professional groups you have joined. Your membership in these groups is visible to others on LinkedIn as follows:
- Your connections: Your 1st-degree connections can see all the groups you have joined.
- Group members: Other members of your shared groups can obviously see your membership status.
- All members: Any LinkedIn user can see a preview of your group memberships, but not a full list.
While group memberships are generally public, you can choose to hide certain groups from your profile if desired. Your full list remains visible to direct connections regardless of hidden groups.
Who can endorse or recommend me on LinkedIn?
Receiving endorsements and recommendations from connections can improve your LinkedIn presence. Here is who can endorse or recommend you:
- 1st-degree connections: Only your direct connections can endorse your skills or write you a recommendation.
- You: You can request endorsements or recommendations from connections, but they must opt-in to provide them.
2nd and 3rd-degree connections cannot endorse you or give recommendations – only your confirmed 1st-degree connections. However, their own connections may see the endorsements or recommendations they provide you.
Who can follow me on LinkedIn?
Following a LinkedIn member means their activity appears in your news feed. Here is who can follow you:
- Your connections: Your 1st-degree connections automatically follow you and see your activity.
- All members: Anyone on LinkedIn can follow you unless you block them.
You cannot limit followers only to your connections. It’s an all-or-nothing approach – either everyone can follow you or you block specific members. You receive notifications when new members follow you on LinkedIn.
Who can share my LinkedIn content?
When you post content on LinkedIn, other members can share it to their own feeds and connections. Here is who can share your posts:
- Your connections: You 1st-degree connections can share your posts to their feeds.
- Their connections: Your posts can then be reshared by 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.
- All members: Anyone who can see your posts can share them depending on visibility settings.
You cannot limit sharing to only your direct connections. However, you can control visibility of the original post using privacy settings. This indirectly limits the potential for sharing the post since it restricts who can see it.
Who can view my LinkedIn job applications?
When you apply for jobs through LinkedIn, your application activity and history remains private. Here’s who can see your job applications:
- You: You have full access to your application history and can download records any time.
- Employers: The employers you apply to can obviously see your specific application.
No other LinkedIn members including connections or LinkedIn itself can access your full job application history. Specific applications are only visible between you and the receiving employer.
Who can see my LinkedIn product analytics?
LinkedIn provides analytics about visitor traffic and engagement for products like pages, posts, and showcases. Access to analytics includes:
- Page owners: If you own a LinkedIn page, you can view traffic and visitor analytics.
- You: For your own content and products, you can access detailed analytics.
- LinkedIn: The platform provider has access to aggregated analytics data.
Other regular members do not have access to traffic data or analytics for content that is not their own. Traffic details are exclusively for owners and creators of pages, posts, and showcases on LinkedIn.
Who can save or bookmark LinkedIn content?
You can save or bookmark updates, articles, posts, and profiles on LinkedIn to refer back to later. Here’s who can see bookmarked content:
- You: All your bookmarked posts, articles, and profiles are visible only to you.
- Original poster: If someone bookmarks your post or profile, you do not receive any notification.
Other members cannot see if you have bookmarked their posts or profile. Your reading list remains private and only visible to you within your account settings.
Conclusion
On LinkedIn, your privacy settings and account options largely dictate who can see your profile information, activity, network, groups, job applications, and other data. While your profile and some activity is publicly visible by default, you can restrict access through your account settings.
Connections generally have the greatest access to your account details and activity. But customized privacy settings let you limit visibility of your posts, profile details, endorsements, email address, connections list, and more only to your directly connected network.
Understanding the visibility and access different types of LinkedIn members have allows you to better manage your professional presence and privacy on the platform.