Having a professional photo as your LinkedIn profile picture is an important way to put your best face forward and make a strong first impression on connections and recruiters. However, sometimes a profile photo may not show up properly on your LinkedIn profile for a variety of reasons.
LinkedIn Picture Size and Format Requirements
One common reason a LinkedIn profile picture may not be displaying correctly is because it does not meet LinkedIn’s size and format requirements. LinkedIn requires profile pictures to be:
- At least 400 x 400 pixels
- No larger than 20,000 x 20,000 pixels
- JPG, PNG, or GIF format
Uploading a photo that is too small, too large, or in an unsupported format can prevent it from rendering properly on your profile. Always check your chosen photo meets LinkedIn’s specifications before uploading.
Using the Wrong Image URL
Another technical issue that can prevent your photo from appearing is using the wrong image URL when editing your profile. To change your LinkedIn profile picture:
- Click on your current profile photo and select “Change photo.”
- Choose to upload a new photo from your computer or use an existing URL.
- If using a URL, be sure you are using the direct image address that ends with .jpg, .png, or .gif, not just the webpage where the image is located.
- Double check that the URL is entered correctly without any typos.
- Click “Save photo.”
Entering in the wrong URL for your chosen image can lead to a broken link on your profile where the photo should be.
Privacy Settings Blocking the Photo
If you have customized your LinkedIn privacy settings, it’s possible your profile photo visibility is limited without you realizing it. To show your photo publicly:
- Go to your LinkedIn Settings.
- Select “Privacy & Settings.”
- Go to “Profile photo visibility” and make sure the toggle is switched on to “Your profile photo is visible to everyone.”
- Save changes.
With restricted visibility, your photo will only be seen by your direct connections or no one at all, depending on settings. Review your configuration to make sure your photo can be viewed publicly as desired.
Photo Pending Review by LinkedIn
For photo uploads that may violate LinkedIn’s professional photo guidelines, such as inappropriate content or excessive retouching and filters, the platform will place photos under review before publishing them to your profile. If your photo is awaiting review:
- You will see a generic silhouette placeholder image instead of your photo.
- You will receive an email from LinkedIn informing you your photo is under review.
- The review usually takes 24-48 hours.
- If rejected, LinkedIn will indicate why and you will need to upload a new professional photo that meets their standards.
Be sure your profile picture is workplace-friendly to avoid delays getting your photo live due to mandatory reviews.
Recently Uploaded Photo Still Processing
It can take some time for a newly uploaded LinkedIn profile photo to process and publish across LinkedIn’s systems. Typically you can expect your photo to go live within 10-15 minutes. However, peak usage times and very large image files can extend the processing time upwards of a few hours.
Be patient and periodically refresh your public profile to check if your newly uploaded photo has gone live yet. If it has been more than several hours, you may want to try reuploading the image.
Browser Cache Needs Clearing
In some cases, your LinkedIn profile photo may have updated successfully but your web browser is still caching and showing your old photo due to stored browser data. To refresh the cache and clear the old photo, try:
- Closing and reopening your browser completely.
- Pressing Shift+F5 to hard refresh the LinkedIn webpage.
- Viewing your profile in an incognito/private browsing window where caches are cleared.
- Clearing your browser cache and cookies directly through browser settings.
After refreshing your browser’s cache, your new profile photo should display correctly.
Temporary LinkedIn Profile Photo Glitch
In rare cases, a technical problem on LinkedIn’s end may cause profile pictures to temporarily stop working across some accounts. This has happened in the past due to minor site bugs or data synchronization issues:
- User reports seeing generic silhouette placeholder images instead of their photos.
- The issue appears intermittent, affecting some profiles but not others.
- LinkedIn eventually resolves the problem on their end and photos restore.
If you are experiencing this, try waiting a day or two for LinkedIn to fix it before troubleshooting further. You can check LinkedIn’s status page to see if they have posted any known issues with photos.
Accidentally Deleting the Photo
It’s easy to accidentally delete your LinkedIn profile photo when editing your profile. A few ways this could happen:
- Choosing “Remove photo” when changing your picture.
- Using the “Discard changes” option after uploading a new photo.
- Hitting “Reset to default” which reverts your profile back to the default silhouette placeholder image.
If you have inadvertently deleted your profile picture, simply reupload your preferred photo again. Just be careful when managing changes to your profile photo within the LinkedIn UI.
LinkedIn Mobile App Photo Syncing Issue
Updating your profile photo using the LinkedIn mobile app can sometimes cause syncing issues leading to your new photo not appearing properly on the desktop website. Workarounds include:
- Also updating your photo directly through the desktop website.
- Force syncing your mobile app by fully logging out and back into the app.
- Clearing the app’s cache and data before syncing the profile change.
Make sure to double check both the mobile app and desktop site after changing your photo to confirm the new image is live across all platforms.
Corrupt Image File Causing Display Issues
In rare cases, an image file itself may get corrupted leading to it either not displaying at all or appearing distorted when uploaded. Possible causes include:
- Image data getting damaged or lost during upload.
- Underlying issue with the image encoding or pixels.
- Photo editing process corrupting certain aspects of the image.
If this occurs, try editing and re-exporting your photo file before reuploading. Switch to a fresh backup copy if available. The new image file should display properly without glitches.
Conclusion
A blank or missing LinkedIn profile photo is usually just the result of a simple technical issue that can be easily fixed. Run through the potential solutions above until your photo reappears as it should. Some common steps are checking the image format and size, reuploading the picture, adjusting visibility settings, and clearing your browser cache. With a bit of focused troubleshooting, you can get your profile photo back up quickly.
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Photo is wrong size or file type | Use an image that is 400×400 pixels, JPG/PNG/GIF format |
| Entered incorrect image URL | Double check URL points directly to image file |
| Visibility settings are limiting photo | Enable your profile photo to be seen publicly |
| Photo pending review by LinkedIn | Wait 24-48 hours for review process |
| Recently uploaded photo still processing | Give 10-15 minutes for new photo to publish |
| Browser cache needs updating | Refresh cache and clear stored photo data |
| Temporary LinkedIn glitch | Wait a day or two for LinkedIn to resolve issue |
| Accidentally deleted photo | Reupload desired photo to profile |
| Mobile app sync issue | Also update photo via desktop site |
| Corrupt image file | Retake photo or use backup copy |
Preventing LinkedIn Photo Issues
You can sidestep many common LinkedIn profile photo problems by taking proactive steps when first uploading your image:
- Review size/format requirements – Use an image that is 400×400 pixels, JPG/PNG/GIF.
- Check visibility settings – Configure your photo to be publicly visible.
- Use direct image URLs – Directly link to the image file, not just webpages it appears on.
- Maintain a professional photo – Avoid inappropriate or heavily edited photos that may get flagged.
- Clear browser caches – Refresh your browser data to see new photos instantly.
- Double check mobile syncing – View profile on both mobile and desktop to confirm.
Taking measures to upload an optimized profile photo and keeping tabs on its visibility will help you avoid many of the headaches associated with LinkedIn pictures not showing up correctly.
Getting LinkedIn Support
If you continue having unresolved issues getting your LinkedIn profile photo to appear properly after exhausting the troubleshooting tips above, you can reach out to LinkedIn Customer Service for additional support:
- From LinkedIn’s help page, select Contact Us > Get account help
- Choose the option for Photo/Profile help
- Select Profile Photo then No Photo Displaying
- Complete the form detailing your specific photo issue
- Include steps taken trying to fix the problem yourself
- A LinkedIn representative will follow up via your email on file
LinkedIn’s customer service can provide personalized help getting your profile photo back up and running if needed.
Key Takeaways
- Double check your LinkedIn profile photo meets size and format requirements.
- Use the direct image URL pointing to the photo file itself.
- Make sure visibility settings allow public viewing access.
- Give recently uploaded photos time to process and publish.
- Refresh browser caches to clear any outdated image data.
- Confirm photo syncing properly between desktop and mobile.
- Contact LinkedIn support if issues persist after troubleshooting.
With the right troubleshooting approach, you can swiftly diagnose and resolve any problems with your LinkedIn profile picture not displaying. Follow the solutions outlined here and you’ll get your photo up and running again in no time.