In this article, you will find out how to delete a LinkedIn Account. LinkedIn allows you to delete your account, completely erasing your profile from the website. If you’d rather leave your account open and just make those annoying emails stop, you can put a stop to LinkedIn’s emails—but this is the truly nuclear option.
Once you delete your account, you’ll lose access to all the data in your account. Your profile will disappear from the LinkedIn website and will shortly disappear from Google, Bing, and other search engines. You can change your mind within twenty days and reactivate your old account.
However, you’ll lose all your group memberships, followings, ignored and pending invitations, endorsements, and recommendations. Before you delete your account, you might want to download a copy of your LinkedIn data. To do this, visit the Request Your Data Archive page on the LinkedIn website and click the “Request Archive” button.
Things You Need to Know About How to Delete a LinkedIn Account?
- If you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium, cancel your membership first to avoid future charges.
- If you own any LinkedIn Groups, you won’t be able to delete your account until you’ve closed them.
- The option to delete your account is in the “Account Management” section of your settings.
Method 1 On a Computer:
Step 1: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Go to https://www.linkedin.com in a web browser. If you’re not signed into your account, go ahead and down that now.
Step 2: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Cancel your Premium subscription (if you have one). If you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium, you’ll want to cancel your subscription before deleting your account.
To cancel LinkedIn Premium:
- Click the Me tab at the top and select Access My Premium.
- Click Manage Premium account.
- Click Manage subscriptions.
- Click Cancel subscription.
Step 3: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Close any groups you own. If you own a LinkedIn group, you will have to delete it before you can delete your account. To delete your group:
- Go to your group on LinkedIn.
- Click Edit to the right of your group.
- Click Delete this group and then Delete this group again to confirm.
Step 4: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Click the Me tab. It’s the option with your profile photo at the top of the page. A menu will expand.
- If your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have a picture uploaded, this icon will be a silhouette of a person’s head and shoulders.
Step 5: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Click Settings & Privacy on the menu.
Step 6: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Click the Account preferences tab. It’s at the top of the left column.
Step 7: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Click the Account management tab. This option is near the middle of the left column.
Step 8: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Click Change next to “Close account.” You may have to scroll down to find this option at the bottom of the right panel.
Step 9: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Choose the reason for closing your account and click Next. You can type some details into the field if you’d like, but it’s not required.
Step 10: Method 1 On a Computer:
- Confirm your password and click Close account. This deactivates your LinkedIn account. If you log back in within 14 days of closing your account, your account will automatically reopen.
- If you just want to deactivate your account temporarily, you can log back in within 14 days.
- Deleting your account will permanently delete all endorsements, recommendations, invitations, followings, and group memberships, even if you decide to reactivate within 14 days.
Method 2 On the Mobile App:
Step 1: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Cancel your LinkedIn Premium subscription (if you have one). If you subscribe to LinkedIn Premium, you’ll want to cancel your subscription before you can delete your account.
- If you’re using an iPhone or iPad, open your Settings app, tap your name, select Subscriptions, tap your LinkedIn subscription, and then tap Cancel Subscription.
- If you have an Android, go to the page and follow the on-screen instructions to cancel.
Step 2: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Delete any LinkedIn Groups you own. If you are the owner of a LinkedIn group, you’ll have to delete it before deleting your account. LinkedIn Groups can only be deleted when you’re using LinkedIn on a computer.
To delete a group on a computer:
- Log in to https://www.linkedin.com on a computer and go to your group.
- Click Edit next to your group.
- Click Delete this group and then click Delete this group again to confirm.
Step 3: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Open the LinkedIn mobile app. It’s the blue icon that says “in” in white letters. You’ll find it on your home screen or in your app list.
- If you aren’t logged in, tap Sign In, enter your email address and password, and tap Sign In.
Step 4: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Tap your profile photo. You’ll see it at the top of the screen. A menu will expand.
Step 5: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Tap Settings on the menu.
Step 6: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Tap Account Management. Additional options will appear.
Step 7: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Tap Close account. Some information about closing your account will appear. If you still want to close your account, continue to the next step.
Step 8: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Tap Continue.
Step 9: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Select a reason for closing your account and tap Next. You can also enter some details about the reason you no longer want to participate in LinkedIn.
Step 10: Method 2 On the Mobile App:
- Confirm your account password and tap Done. This deactivates your LinkedIn account. If you log back in within 14 days of closing your account, your account will automatically reopen.
- As long as you don’t sign in again within 14 days of closing your account, your account will be permanently deleted.
- Deleting your account will permanently delete all endorsements, recommendations, invitations, followings, and group memberships, even if you decide to reactivate within 14 days.
How to Reactivate Your Account?
If you’d like to reactivate your account within twenty days, head back to the LinkedIn website and sign in with your account’s email address and password.
You’ll see a “Reactivate” button that will reactivate your account, although you’ll lose those group memberships, followings, ignored and pending invitations, endorsements, and recommendations.
What Happens When You Delete Your LinkedIn Account?
So, now that you know how to delete a LinkedIn account easily, you may wonder what happens after. Well, to help you out here, we’ve summarized all the things you can expect after closing your account:
- You’ll lose access to all your networks or connections.
- Your LinkedIn profile won’t be visible to your connections or LinkedIn users.
- You’ll lose all the saved information, recommendations, and endorsements on your profile.
- If you’re subscribed to LinkedIn’s premium membership, you have to cancel the membership first. You have to continue with a basic membership to delete the account.
- LinkedIn lets you download a copy of your data.
How Long Does It Take for a LinkedIn Account to Close?
Once you close your LinkedIn account, your data will stop appearing to other users on LinkedIn within 24 hours. However, it will take around 30 days for LinkedIn to close all your account data completely.
Here, you should note that your account may appear on search engines like Google and Bing even after a specific period.
The apparent reason behind this is, search engines update slower than other individual websites. So, make sure to give it at least 14 days to clear all the caches and permanently delete your account.
Can You Deactivate LinkedIn Without Deleting it?
Unfortunately, LinkedIn doesn’t have an option to deactivate your account temporarily. Instead, what you can do is, pause or hibernate your account while keeping all your network and data intact.
The LinkedIn Hibernate feature will help you to do that. Here’s what the LinkedIn hibernate feature can do:
Profile visibility:
Your LinkedIn profile will be hidden. It won’t be visible to any of your connections.
Recommendations and endorsements:
All the recommendations and endorsements you’ve given to your connections will stay the same. However, your profile will be shown as “A LinkedIn Member” until you reactivate your profile.
Messages:
Messages you’ve sent or exchanged with others will remain unchanged. But your profile will be visible as “A LinkedIn Member.”
Searches:
When you hibernate your account, it won’t appear in searches on LinkedIn. It won’t be visible even on other LinkedIn products like Recruiter.
Posts and Comments:
Your posts and comments will remain the same, but your profile photo will be replaced with a generic icon, and you’ll be identified as “A LinkedIn Member”.
Here’s how you can hibernate your LinkedIn account:
Step 1:
Click on the Me icon located at the top of your LinkedIn feed and tap on Settings and Privacy
Step 2:
Select the Account preferences option.
Step 3:
Now, tap on the Account Management option.
Step 4:
Next, select Change located right next to Hibernate account.
Step 5:
Now, LinkedIn will ask you to describe why you want to hibernate your account.
Step 6:
Lastly, enter your LinkedIn password and select Hibernate account to deactivate your account temporarily.
Note:
If you’re an admin of a LinkedIn group, LinkedIn may ask you to take additional steps before hibernating your account. So, make sure to follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
Can You Get Your Deleted LinkedIn Account Back?
Once you’ve deleted your LinkedIn account, you can get it back within the 14-day limit. Beyond the time limit, reactivation will fail. LinkedIn will permanently erase all your saved data like endorsements, pending invitations, group memberships, and followings.
And you’ll not be able to get your profile back. You can follow the below-mentioned steps to get back your deleted account:
Step 1:
Log in to your LinkedIn account with the registered email address and password.
Step 2:
Once logged in, tap on the Reactivate option.
Step 3:
LinkedIn will send you a confirmation email to your registered email account.
Step 4:
After receiving the email, confirm it to reopen your deleted account.
Wrapping Up
There you go! We helped you to learn how to delete your LinkedIn account, how to deactivate it, and re-open it if needed. Before wrapping up, we’ll also suggest you not completely close your LinkedIn account.
After all, the platform can work like a wonder if you know how to use it, make sure to give little time and patience to understand LinkedIn.
However, if you’ve already made up your mind to delete your account permanently, we hope this step-by-step guide was helpful to you. We would love to hear your thoughts about this blog. So, make sure to leave a comment.
