LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 810 million members worldwide as of February 2022. With so many users, LinkedIn profiles are public by default, allowing anyone to view your profile information. This level of visibility is great for networking and career opportunities, but some users prefer to limit their public exposure on LinkedIn.
While you can’t make your entire LinkedIn profile completely invisible, there are steps you can take to increase your privacy settings and limit what recruiters, colleagues, and other users see when they look up your profile.
Make Your LinkedIn Profile Photo Private
By default, your profile photo on LinkedIn is public. Anyone who views your profile will see your photo. To make it private:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL” on the right rail
- Under the Profile Photo section, click the gear icon and select “Change privacy settings”
- Choose “Only visible to you”
This will remove your profile photo for anyone viewing your profile. You can still upload a photo that you can see, but no one else will. A generic silhouette placeholder image will display on your profile to other viewers.
Show Your Connections Only to 1st Degree Connections
The list of connections on your LinkedIn profile is publicly visible by default. This allows viewers to see who you’re connected to on the platform. To make your connections list private:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Under the Privacy section, change “Show your connections to:” to “Only 1st degree connections”
Now only people directly connected to you will see your connections. Other users won’t be able to browse your network.
Hide Your Current Company
Your current employer is displayed prominently on your LinkedIn profile. You can choose to hide where you currently work:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Under the Experience section, click the gear icon next to your current position
- Uncheck the box for “Show company name”
This will replace your current company with “Private” so your employer is not visible to the public. You can still display past positions.
Turn On Profile Viewer Notifications
While you can’t see exactly who is viewing your profile, LinkedIn does allow you to get alerts when your profile is viewed. To enable viewer notifications:
- Go to your Settings & Privacy page
- Under the Privacy tab, check the box for “Let me know when people view my profile”
Now you’ll get alerts anytime someone views your full profile. Note that this doesn’t notify you when someone views your profile in search results or clicks your name in a post.
Remove Your Last Name
Displaying your full name makes it easier for people to find and identify you. If you want to be harder to search for, you can remove your last name:
- Go to your public profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Delete your last name from the name fields
Just having a first name and middle initial makes your profile harder to find outside of your direct connections. But keep in mind removing your last name also diminishes your personal brand.
Turn Off Public Profile Notifications
There are several notifications automatically enabled that announce profile changes to your networks. This draws attention to your profile. To limit public notifications:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Communications
- Uncheck boxes for options like “Notify your network via email” and “Share profile edits”
Disabling these makes edits to your profile more discreet to your wider network. Changes will still show to 1st degree connections.
Remove Your Featured Skills & Endorsements
Highlighting your top skills on your profile makes you easier to find in searches. Removing them makes you less discoverable:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Under the Skills & Endorsements section, delete your skills by clicking the X icon
Without featured skills, you’ll be less likely to appear in results when people search those keywords. You can also hide endorsements to remove that social proof.
Make Your LinkedIn Activity Private
By default, any content you post or interact with is visible. Your network can see the articles you like, comments you post, and content you share. To make your activity private:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > How others see your LinkedIn activity
- Change the toggle for “Show activity to:” to “Only me”
Now your interactions are only visible to you. Others will no longer get notifications or see your LinkedIn activity.
Remove Past Positions
Displaying previous jobs and education helps build your professional brand. But removing some of your past positions makes your profile history shorter:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Delete old positions you no longer want public under the Experience section
Keep in mind this could create employment gaps or make your background unclear. But it does reduce your public information.
Turn Off Profile Suggestions
LinkedIn automatically suggests profiles for you to connect with. Turning this off provides more privacy:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Preferences
- Uncheck the box for “Show suggestions for profiles to connect with”
You’ll no longer get prompts to connect with people you may know. This prevents exposing your interests and relationships.
Restrict Old Posts and Mentions
Older posts and mentions can reveal information you’d rather not be public. You can hide past activity:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Under the Posts section, click the gear icon next to a post
- Select “Restricted”
Now only your direct connections will see those posts. You can also delete old posts entirely if you don’t want them visible at all.
Turn Off Your Activity Broadcasts
LinkedIn automatically generates and displays “Recent Activity” updates on your profile. This publicly broadcasts your actions. To turn it off:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Preferences
- Uncheck the box for “Share career updates to improve your profile”
Disabling this will remove the dynamically generated activity notices from your profile.
Use More Private Messaging Settings
Adjusting your messaging settings also boosts privacy:
- Don’t display your LinkedIn inbox email publicly
- Set messages to only come from people in your network
- Turn off read receipts and typing indicators
Messaging is a major way people connect on LinkedIn. Tighter settings prevent unsolicited outreach.
Conclusion
While you can’t completely remove all presence from LinkedIn, using more private settings gives you greater control over your visibility and exposure. Evaluate each profile element and interaction to determine what you want public and what should remain private.
Keep in mind highly restrictive settings also limit your ability to connect and network on LinkedIn. There is a tradeoff between privacy and utility. But adjusting preferences, turning off notifications, and hiding public information lets you curate what’s visible to provide some increased privacy.