LinkedIn is a popular professional networking platform used by millions of people around the world. On LinkedIn, users can connect with other professionals, search for jobs, join industry groups, and much more. One of the ways users can interact on LinkedIn is through direct messaging and chat.
Does LinkedIn delete chat history?
The short answer is yes, LinkedIn does delete chat history after a certain period of inactivity. LinkedIn states in their Privacy Policy that they may retain user content and communications for a limited period of time after it is posted, and then delete it.
Specifically, LinkedIn says:
“We retain your personal data while your account is in existence or as needed to provide you services. This includes data you provide through your account, like your profile information and the content of your communications.”
And:
“We also retain some of your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements, to support business operations, and to continue to develop and improve our Services.”
So LinkedIn keeps chat history and messages for active users who are regularly engaging with the platform. However, for accounts that have been inactive for a certain stretch of time, LinkedIn will eventually delete the chat history.
For how long does LinkedIn store chat history?
LinkedIn does not provide exact details on how long they store chat history before deleting it. However, based on their policies, it seems that chat history could be stored for at least a few months after the last activity.
Some users have reported that their years-old LinkedIn chat history was still available, while others have found their chats were deleted after just a month or two of no activity. So the exact retention period seems to vary.
In general, it seems that as long as you are actively using LinkedIn, your chat history will be retained. But if your account becomes inactive for an extended period, LinkedIn will clear out old chats and messages to free up storage space on their servers.
Why does LinkedIn delete old chats?
There are a few reasons why LinkedIn chooses to delete old, inactive chat history:
- Storage limitations – LinkedIn has millions of users, so storing years worth of chat history for every account would take up massive amounts of server storage space. Deleting old chats helps free up space.
- Privacy – By deleting inactive chats after a certain time period, LinkedIn helps protect user privacy and reduces the amount of personal data they have to secure.
- Relevance – Old chats likely have little relevance to current LinkedIn users who have not logged in for months or years. Removing outdated messages declutters the experience.
- Legal obligations – LinkedIn’s privacy policy states they keep data only as needed to provide services and comply with legal requirements. Deleting old chats may help satisfy privacy laws.
So in summary, removing old inactive chats after a certain time allows LinkedIn to save storage space, protect privacy, stay relevant, and meet legal data retention obligations.
Is there any way to recover deleted chats?
Unfortunately, once LinkedIn deletes chat history, there is likely no way for users to recover or access those deleted chats again. The messages are permanently removed from LinkedIn’s servers.
A few options to potentially preserve chats include:
- Screenshotting or copying important message text while still active on LinkedIn
- Using LinkedIn’s data download tool to download a copy of chats before account becomes inactive
- Using a third-party LinkedIn chat backup service before chats are deleted
But there is no way to retrieve the deleted chats from LinkedIn itself once they have been removed after inactivity. So if you want to preserve important messages, you need to save them externally before that inactivity period kicks in.
Does LinkedIn warn before deleting chats?
LinkedIn does not directly warn users before deleting old chat history due to inactivity. The chats are removed automatically after a certain inactive period based on their retention policies.
However, LinkedIn does provide general notice in their privacy policy that inactive data may be deleted. Here is the key line:
“We retain your personal data while your account is in existence or as needed to provide you services. This includes data you provide through your account, like your profile information and the content of your communications.”
So they inform users that chat history will be kept while the account is active. Once the account becomes inactive for too long, the chat history can be removed without direct notice.
Users are also given the option to download their LinkedIn data which includes chat history. So downloading this data may serve as an indirect warning that chats could eventually be deleted.
Tips to preserve LinkedIn chats
To make sure you have a record of important LinkedIn conversations before they are potentially deleted, here are some tips:
- Download your LinkedIn data regularly or set reminders to do so. This will capture a copy of your chats.
- Screenshot or copy the text of meaningful messages right after the conversation.
- Use a third-party archiving service that saves your LinkedIn messaging history.
- Maintain regular LinkedIn activity so your account and chat history stays active.
- Export LinkedIn conversations to an email or document to retain copies.
Does deleting chat history affect chat backups?
If you used LinkedIn’s data download tool or a third-party app to backup your LinkedIn chat history before the conversations were deleted, deleting the chats from LinkedIn will not affect those backups.
Those chat history backups create a separate copy that is stored externally from LinkedIn’s servers. So even once the chats are deleted from LinkedIn, your archived chat data is retained in those backups that exists outside of LinkedIn’s platform.
The only risk to external chat backups would be if you deleted the backups yourself. As long as you maintain your archived chat data, it will remain available for reference even if LinkedIn deletes the live history.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn does automatically delete chat history and conversations after an account has been inactive for a certain time period. The exact length of time before deletion is unclear, but is likely a few months or more.
LinkedIn does this to save storage space, protect privacy, stay relevant, and comply with data retention laws. Once chats are deleted, there is likely no way to retrieve them from LinkedIn directly.
To preserve important conversations, proactively save chats via screenshots, copying text, downloading your LinkedIn data, or using a third-party backup service. With a little forethought, you can make sure you have a record of LinkedIn chats even after the live history is removed.
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Does LinkedIn delete old, inactive chat history? | Yes, LinkedIn will eventually delete old chats and messages after an account becomes inactive for a certain time period. |
How long does LinkedIn store chats before deleting? | LinkedIn does not provide an exact timeframe, but it seems chats may be stored for a few months after last activity before deletion. |
Can you recover deleted chats from LinkedIn? | No, once LinkedIn deletes chat history, it cannot be recovered directly from LinkedIn. |
Does LinkedIn warn before deleting chats? | No direct warning is given, but their privacy policy states data will be kept while an account is active. |
Do chat backups remain if LinkedIn deletes history? | Yes, any external chat backups you download or archive will remain available even if LinkedIn removes the live history. |
Key Points
- LinkedIn deletes chat history after an account becomes inactive for a certain time period
- Exact deletion timeframe is unclear but is likely a few months minimum
- No way to recover deleted chats from LinkedIn directly
- Backups remain available even if LinkedIn deletes live chats
- Take proactive measures like screenshots and downloads to preserve important chats