LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 722 million users as of April 2022. Many professionals use LinkedIn to connect with colleagues, find jobs, market themselves and their businesses, and stay up to date on industry news. However, some users decide they want to deactivate or delete their LinkedIn account entirely.
Reasons for deleting a LinkedIn account can include:
- Wanting more privacy and less public exposure of your career history and connections
- Concerns over data privacy and how LinkedIn uses your information
- Too many notifications and LinkedIn messages to keep up with
- An outdated profile you no longer want potential employers or clients to see
- Leaving the workforce or changing careers and no longer needing networking
Whatever the rationale, deleting a LinkedIn account is possible but not straightforward. LinkedIn does not make account deletion simple, in hopes you will reconsider and remain an active user.
Can You Delete a LinkedIn Account?
Yes, it is possible to delete a LinkedIn account permanently. However, LinkedIn has made the account deletion process somewhat difficult:
- There is no “delete account” option. You must first close the account, and then after 30 days it can be deleted.
- Even after an account is closed, some data may remain in LinkedIn’s systems for up to 90 days before being erased.
- If you log back into LinkedIn during the 30-day waiting period, the account closure is canceled.
So account deletion is possible, but requires following LinkedIn’s policies precisely to ensure the account and data are fully removed.
How to Permanently Delete a LinkedIn Account
Here are the steps to completely delete your LinkedIn account:
Close the LinkedIn Account
First, you need to close the account. This can only be done on the desktop LinkedIn website:
- Go to LinkedIn.com and log into your account
- Click on the Me icon at the top of your homepage
- Select Settings & Privacy
- Click Account preferences under Account
- Select Close your account at the bottom
- Follow the on-screen instructions to confirm account closure
Closing the account deactivates your profile and removes you from the LinkedIn network, but does not yet erase data.
Wait 30 Days
After closing the account, LinkedIn requires you wait 30 days. This is a grace period in case you change your mind.
Do not log back into LinkedIn during this time, or it will cancel the account closure.
After 30 days, your profile and network connections will be permanently removed.
Request Account Deletion
Once 30 days have passed, you can request full account deletion. This will erase most personal data from LinkedIn’s systems.
To do so:
- Go to LinkedIn.com and click “Join now”
- On the registration page, click “I want my data erased”
- Enter the email address associated with your closed account
- Confirm you want the account and data permanently deleted
LinkedIn claims deletion requests can take up to 90 days to complete, but are usually processed much sooner.
What Data Does LinkedIn Delete?
If you successfully close your account and then request permanent deletion after 30 days, LinkedIn states they will remove the following:
- Your profile, connections, groups, and social activity on LinkedIn
- Your direct messages and notifications
- Any comments you made on LinkedIn
- Photos you uploaded to your account
However, any comments you made on other people’s posts may remain, though not associated with your account.
And some data may persist in backups or logs after deletion. You may wish to contact LinkedIn afterwards and request removal under the GDPR “right to be forgotten” if you are a UK or EU resident.
What Data is Retained by LinkedIn?
LinkedIn’s privacy policy states that some data from closed accounts may be retained where necessary. This includes:
- Your name, email address, and profile URL (to prevent re-registration)
- Communications between you and LinkedIn about employment opportunities
- Aggregate data and analytics from your usage of LinkedIn
So remnants of your personal data may continue residing in LinkedIn’s systems. But your public profile and visibility in their network will be eliminated.
Can a Closed Account be Reactivated?
Possibly, but only within the 30-day waiting period. If you log back into your closed account within 30 days, all previous data will be restored and the account becomes active again.
However, after 30 days and requesting permanent account deletion, reactivation is highly unlikely. LinkedIn will have removed your profile and connections, making it difficult to reinstate them.
You would essentially have to open a new account and start building your network again from scratch.
Conclusion
While account deletion takes effort, patience, and comes with caveats, the process lets you permanently remove your LinkedIn presence and some personal data. This option makes sense for those no longer needing to network professionally online.
Keep in mind LinkedIn may retain some usage data even after deletion. Weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to close your longtime LinkedIn account.
Summary
- LinkedIn makes it difficult, but possible, to permanently delete your account
- First close the account, wait 30 days, then request deletion
- Some data remains in LinkedIn’s systems for up to 90 days
- Your profile and connections will be removed after following the deletion steps
- You cannot reactivate an account after permanent deletion
Deleting your LinkedIn presence requires patience but can be done. Be sure it makes sense given LinkedIn’s retention policies and inability to restore accounts post-deletion.