LinkedIn has become one of the most popular professional networking platforms, with over 800 million members worldwide as of 2022. With its massive userbase, LinkedIn profiles have become an important part of people’s professional online presence. This has led many LinkedIn users to wonder – can everyone see when you view their LinkedIn profile?
How LinkedIn Notifications for Profile Views Work
When you view someone’s LinkedIn profile, they do not automatically get notified about it. LinkedIn does not send notifications every time someone views a profile. Instead, it periodically aggregates profile view data and sends summary emails to users to let them know who has been viewing their profile.
By default, LinkedIn members receive a weekly notification email summarizing who viewed their profile in the last week. This email includes the names and positions of viewers, but not the company names. LinkedIn states they do this to protect privacy. Members can adjust the frequency of these notification emails in their account settings.
In addition to the weekly summary emails, LinkedIn also has two other types of notifications related to profile views:
- Recipients of messages and connection requests get notified when the sender views their profile.
- When someone views your profile after looking at one of your posts or content, it shows up as a “post view” notification.
So in summary, regular profile views do not trigger instant individual notifications. The profile viewer remains anonymous until LinkedIn bundles those views in the weekly recap email.
Who Can See Your LinkedIn Profile Views?
By default, your LinkedIn connections can see when you view their profiles in the weekly notification email they receive. However, there are ways to view LinkedIn profiles more privately:
- Anonymous browsing – You can enable anonymous browsing via the desktop site to view profiles without the view being included in notification emails. This is available by clicking on the “Me” icon, going to “Settings & Privacy”, then under “Privacy,” change “Browse Anonymously” to “Yes.”
- Private mode – LinkedIn’s mobile app and mobile site have private mode options that function similarly to anonymous browsing on desktop. This prevents views via mobile from showing up in notifications.
- Restrict profile visibility – As a LinkedIn user, you can restrict who can see your own profile and activity under settings. Restricting to “Only people who know your email address or are in your contacts” will exclude your views from others’ notifications.
In addition to connections, LinkedIn says profile views from recruiters and hiring managers who have a recruiting account will also be included in the viewer notifications, even if they are not directly connected. So if anonymity is a priority, using the options above is recommended.
Who Can See Your LinkedIn Profile Views?
Viewer Type | Able to See Your Views? |
---|---|
Direct connections | Yes |
2nd-degree connections | No |
Recruiters/hiring managers with Recruiter account | Yes |
Non-connections without Recruiter account | No |
As shown in the table above, the main groups that will be notified of your profile views are your 1st degree connections and recruiters with paid talent/recruiting accounts. 2nd degree connections and regular non-connections will not receive notifications when you look at their profiles.
Does LinkedIn Notify When You View Someone’s Profile Multiple Times?
LinkedIn’s notifications only count unique profile views within the summary period. That means if you view someone’s profile multiple times within the same week, it will only show up once in the notification email rather than each time.
However, viewing that same profile again in a different week would result in that person seeing two view notifications – one for each separate week period.
So you do not need to worry about connections receiving multiple notifications if you viewed their profile more than once in a short period. The duplicate views only count as one view in the weekly summary.
Can You Tell Who Viewed Your Profile on LinkedIn?
As the profile owner, you can see who has been viewing your LinkedIn profile in the weekly notification emails. However, there are a couple limitations:
- You can only see the names and positions of viewers, not their email addresses or company names.
- Anonymous viewers and views from restricted profiles are not included.
So while you can see a list of people who have viewed you, it will not include identifying details or views from people using private modes. The notification just gives you a general sense of who has been looking at your profile recently.
Getting More Insights on LinkedIn Profile Views
There are some third-party tools and browser extensions that can provide more details about who is viewing your LinkedIn profile:
- LinkedIn Profile Tracker – Browser extensions like this show you real-time notifications when someone views your profile, along with additional details like company, location, job title, etc. Useful for more insight on viewers.
- Premium Subscriptions – Upgrading to premium LinkedIn subscriptions like Job Seeker or Sales Navigator lets you see full viewer info including company/name.
- Social Selling Index and lead generation forms – Business users can also get more analytics on their profile viewers via LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index and lead capture options.
While the native LinkedIn notifications are limited, there are ways to get enhanced visibility through third-party tools or upgrading your account.
Pro Tips for Viewing LinkedIn Profiles Privately
Here are some recommended best practices for viewing LinkedIn profiles more privately:
Use Anonymous Browsing and Private Modes
Enable LinkedIn’s anonymous browsing setting from a desktop browser or use private mode on mobile apps when you want to view profiles without leaving a notification footprint. This prevents views from showing up in weekly notifications.
Restrict Your Own Profile Visibility
Limit your own profile visibility to “Only people who know your email address or are in your contacts.” That way, your views will not be disclosed to others regardless of browsing mode used.
Avoid Viewing Profiles of Close Connections
Since 1st degree connections have visibility into your views, consider using anonymous mode whenever viewing profiles of people you are closely connected with.
Space Out Views Over Time
Rather than viewing someone’s profile multiple times in a day, space out your views on different weeks. LinkedIn’s notifications only register unique weekly views.
Use an Alternate or Private Browser
Tools like incognito mode in Chrome allow private browsing that does not record history or cookies in your main browser. Viewing through alternate browsers can provide more separation from your main LinkedIn activity.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn does notify users of who viewed their profiles, the visibility is limited to weekly summary emails rather than instant alerts per view. There are also various options to view profiles anonymously or privately without triggering notifications. In general, exercising caution around viewing direct connections’ profiles, spacing out views over time, and using private modes can help keep your LinkedIn profile viewing activity more discreet.