Yes, you can remove someone who is following you on LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows you to control who can see your profile and activity by managing your connections. There may be several reasons why you would want to remove a connection, such as maintaining privacy, reducing clutter, or severing ties with someone. Removing a connection is easy to do through LinkedIn’s interface.
Reasons to Remove a LinkedIn Connection
Here are some common reasons you may want to remove a LinkedIn connection:
They can see too much of your profile and activity
When someone is connected to you on LinkedIn, they can see more detailed information about your work history, education, skills, and endorsements. They can also see your full feed of activity, including posts you share, comments you make, and content you engage with. If you don’t want someone to have access to these details, removing them as a connection limits what they can see.
The connection is no longer relevant
Over time, you accumulate LinkedIn connections that you may no longer interact with or find useful. For example, you may add coworkers from a previous job or classmates from long ago. Doing occasional “clean up” of your connections list can remove irrelevant connections and declutter your network.
You want to limit company snooping
If you are job searching, you may want to be cautious about your current employer seeing that activity. Removing co-workers from your connections list can prevent them from being tipped off or notified about your job searching efforts.
The contact is now a competitor
If a former colleague has moved to a competing company, it may be best to remove them from your connections to limit any potential conflict of interest. You can always re-connect with them if you change roles or companies in the future.
You had a negative experience with the contact
If someone has exhibited unprofessional behavior or you had a bad experience working with them, you may wish to sever the LinkedIn ties. Removing them prevents any uncomfortable interactions or unwanted communications going forward.
You suspect a fake or spam account
Fake LinkedIn profiles do pop up from time to time. If you believe someone who connected with you is not who they claim to be or may be a bot or spam account, it’s best to remove them to maintain the integrity of your connections.
How to Remove a LinkedIn Connection
Removing a LinkedIn connection is a simple process that can be done via LinkedIn’s website or mobile app. Here are step-by-step instructions:
On the LinkedIn Website
1. Go to the profile page of the connection you want to remove. You can search for their name and click on their profile photo or headline to access their profile.
2. Click on the “More” dropdown menu located near the top right of their profile (it looks like three dots stacked vertically).
3. Select “Remove connection” from the dropdown menu.
4. You will be prompted to confirm you want to remove the connection. Click “Remove”.
The user will be immediately removed from your connections list. They will no longer be notified of your activity and their access to your profile will be limited.
On the LinkedIn Mobile App
1. Go to your own profile page within the LinkedIn app.
2. Tap on “My Network” along the top.
3. This will show your connections list. Find the name of the person you want to remove.
4. Tap on their name to access their profile page.
5. Tap on the “More” icon (three dots stacked vertically) near the top right.
6. Select “Remove connection” from the dropdown menu.
7. Confirm you want to remove the connection when prompted.
The mobile app process is very similar to the website steps. The connection will be removed right away.
What Happens When You Remove a LinkedIn Connection
Here is what happens when you remove someone from your LinkedIn connections:
- They will no longer appear in your connections list.
- Any shared groups or companies you had in common will be removed.
- They will no longer be able to view your full profile, including your activity feed, endorsements, recommendations etc.
- They will no longer be notified when you post content or make any profile updates.
- They may still be able to find and view your public LinkedIn profile through search, but it will be more limited.
- Any messages between you will remain in your LinkedIn inbox, but they can no longer contact you.
Essentially, removing a LinkedIn connection severs the online professional relationship. It’s as if they are no longer part of your network. However, the process can easily be undone by sending a new connection invitation which the other party would have to accept.
Can They Tell if You Remove Them?
When you remove someone from your LinkedIn connections, they will not receive any type of notification or alert informing them of this. The change occurs silently behind the scenes.
In most cases, the removed connection will have no idea you deleted them from your network unless they try to view your profile and see your limited public view. Even then, they may not put two and two together and may just assume you adjusted your account’s privacy settings.
The one exception is if you both share membership in the same LinkedIn groups. In this case, when you remove the connection, that person will be automatically removed from the shared groups. They will be notified of removal from the groups, so it may tip them off that you deleted the connection.
Overall though, removing a connection is a discrete process and in most cases impossible for the other party to detect. You can prune your network without having an uncomfortable conversation about it.
Pros and Cons of Removing a LinkedIn Connection
Here are some pros and cons to weigh when considering removing a LinkedIn connection:
Pros
- Limits someone’s ability to view and track your professional activity and profile.
- Prevents unwanted communication and contact.
- Maintains your privacy and protects your job search activity if looking for new opportunities.
- Removes irrelevant or inactive contacts from your network.
- Limits possibility of uncomfortable interactions or conflict of interest.
- Discrete action without need for explanation or confrontation.
Cons
- Permanently severs professional relationship which could be useful again someday.
- Potentially socially awkward or uncomfortable if they find out.
- Cuts off a channel of communication which could have value if salvaged.
- Can create impression you harbor ill will or have something to hide.
The pros seem to outweigh the cons in most scenarios. However, it’s smart to give careful thought to removing connections that could become professionally important contacts again down the road.
Mistakenly Removed Someone?
Don’t panic if you remove someone by accident. Reconnecting with them is easy.
On LinkedIn’s website or mobile app, go to the profile page of the person you removed. Near the top will be a blue “Connect” button. Click this and send them a connection invitation just like you would with any new contact.
If they accept, your connection will be fully restored.
The only slightly awkward possibility is if the person is surprised to receive a new connection request from you. But in most cases they will simply accept it and move on without giving it a second thought. Just explain you must have accidentally removed them if they do ask.
Alternative to Removing – Mute Instead
Rather than removing connections completely, you may want to consider muting them instead. Muting is like a middle ground between staying connected and disconnecting entirely.
If you mute a connection:
- You stay visible in each other’s network and can still message.
- But you will no longer see their posts and activity in your feed.
Muting allows you to avoid clutter and reduce unwanted contact without severing the connection. It’s an option if you think totally removing them would be too extreme.
Conclusion
Removing LinkedIn connections is a simple task that can be done discretely in just a few clicks on the website or mobile app.
Do it periodically to declutter your network and protect your privacy. But exercise some caution when connections could have future value professionally. Muting them instead is an option that preserves the tie.
If you make a mistake, reconnecting is easy through sending a new connection invitation. Overall, don’t be afraid to prune your LinkedIn network to keep it relevant and beneficial.