Why does my LinkedIn URL not work?

Having issues with your LinkedIn URL not working? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. There are a few common reasons why a LinkedIn URL can stop functioning properly.

Your LinkedIn profile is not public

For your custom LinkedIn URL to work, your profile needs to be public. If your profile is set to private, the custom URL will not direct people to your profile.

To check if your profile is public:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile
2. Click on the “Me” icon at the top of your feed
3. Select “View profile”
4. Look for the “Public profile” setting under your profile photo. If this is set to “No”, your custom URL will not work.

To make your profile public:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
2. Under privacy settings, switch “Make my public profile visible to anyone ” to Yes
3. Click Save. Your custom URL should now work.

You changed your LinkedIn username

LinkedIn URLs are tied to your username. If you change your username, your old custom URL will no longer work.

For example, if your URL was www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith and you changed your username to john Smith (removing the hyphen), your old URL would break.

To fix this, you need to set up a new custom URL tied to your new username. Here’s how:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
2. Enter a new custom URL in the designated field
3. Make sure your new URL matches your current username
4. Click Save

Your new custom URL will now work while your old one will be broken.

You changed the vanity name in your URL

If you customized the ending of your LinkedIn URL (the vanity name), changing this later on will break your old URL.

For example, if your URL was www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith-marketing and you changed the vanity name to socialmedia, your old URL would no longer direct to your profile.

To fix this, set up a new URL with your new vanity name:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
2. Enter a new custom URL with your new vanity name
3. Click Save

Your new vanity URL will work while the old one will be outdated.

You have duplicate profile URLs

It’s possible to unintentionally create duplicate LinkedIn profile URLs. This can happen if you set up multiple custom URLs over time.

If you have duplicate profile URLs, one will work while the others will be broken. To fix this:

1. Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
2. Delete any duplicate URLs
3. Make sure you only have a single custom URL set
4. Click Save

Deleting the duplicate URLs will leave just your current custom URL active.

There was a problem generating your new URL

In rare cases, there may be an error when you update your LinkedIn URL. The new URL could fail to generate properly even if you followed the correct steps.

If this happens, try the following:

1. Log out of LinkedIn and log back in
2. Try setting your new custom URL again
3. If it still fails, contact LinkedIn customer support

A LinkedIn rep can look into any issues creating your new URL.

Your LinkedIn account is restricted

If your LinkedIn account has been restricted for violations of LinkedIn’s user agreement, your custom URL may cease to work properly.

To restore functionality, you will need to address the issues that led to the restriction. This may involve removing inappropriate content or changing behaviors that violate LinkedIn’s policies.

Once your account is back in good standing, your custom URL should begin working again. If not, contact LinkedIn support.

There’s a typo in your URL

Any small typos when entering your custom LinkedIn URL will break the link. Double check your URL for accuracy.

Common typos include:

• Spelling the username incorrectly
• Adding or missing periods
• Swapping letters accidentally
• Having incorrect capitalization

Catching any typos and correcting them in your profile settings will fix the issue.

Your URL contains special characters

LinkedIn URLs can only contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. Any special characters will cause them to break.

If your custom URL has special characters like exclamation points, ampersands, or emoji, remove these to restore functionality.

Your LinkedIn account is hacked or spammed

Hacked or spammed LinkedIn accounts often have profile problems that can break URLs. The damage from hacking/spamming can prevent your URL from working properly.

To fix it:

1. Secure and regain control of your account
2. Clean up any inappropriate or spammy content
3. Reset your profile to undo changes by hackers
4. Change your URL to a new custom URL

With your account back under your control, generate a fresh URL free of any hacking/spamming side effects.

You shared an incomplete URL

To function properly, LinkedIn URLs need to contain the full path including the domain.

Sharing an incomplete or abbreviated URL will cause it to break. For example:

• linkedin.com/in/john-smith – Broken
• www.linkedin.com/john-smith – Broken
• www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith – Works

Always share your full LinkedIn URL including “www” and “in/” to prevent issues.

Your LinkedIn profile is temporarily down

In rare cases, your LinkedIn profile itself may be temporarily inaccessible due to technical issues. This can cause your custom URL to not work.

If this occurs:

1. Try accessing LinkedIn from a different browser or device
2. Check LinkedIn’s status page for any known outages
3. Wait a short while and try again later

Technical problems are usually resolved within a few hours. Once your profile is back up, your URL should work.

LinkedIn’s servers are down

Major outages with LinkedIn’s servers can cause all LinkedIn URLs to stop working properly. This is rare but does happen on occasion.

Check LinkedIn’s status page at https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin to see if there are any ongoing site issues. If so, wait for LinkedIn engineers to resolve them before your URL will function again.

Your LinkedIn account is permanently closed

If your LinkedIn account has been permanently closed and deleted, your custom URL will cease to work. This can occur if you request account deletion or violate LinkedIn’s terms severely enough to warrant permanent closure.

In this case, there is no way to restore your old URL, since the account it was tied to no longer exists. You will have to sign up for a new LinkedIn account if you wish to create a fresh functional profile URL.

You’re trying to use a Premium URL after your subscription lapsed

LinkedIn Premium accounts offer access to custom URLs with the shorter lnkd.in domain instead of the longer linkedin.com.

However, if your Premium subscription lapses, any lnkd.in URLs will stop working shortly thereafter. You’ll need to renew your Premium status to use them again.

Conclusion

With the right troubleshooting, you can get your faulty LinkedIn URL working again in most cases. The problem is usually something simple like an incorrect privacy setting, typo, or minor technical glitch. But if not, you may need to create a brand new URL from scratch.

Check each possibility methodically to identify what is breaking your specific LinkedIn URL. With a clear diagnosis, you can take targeted steps to fix it. And as a last resort, LinkedIn customer service can lend a hand resolving more complex issues.

A custom LinkedIn URL is important for promoting your professional brand. Take the time to troubleshoot and restore yours if it starts sending visitors to error pages. With a functioning profile link, you’ll ensure others can easily connect with you on LinkedIn.