When viewing other profiles on LinkedIn, a common question that arises is – does LinkedIn notify the profile owner that you viewed their profile? The short answer is no, LinkedIn does not directly notify users when their profile has been viewed by others. However, there are some exceptions and caveats to be aware of.
LinkedIn does not send an email, notification, or alert to let users know who has been looking at their profile. This allows people to browse and research other profiles discreetly without notifying the profile owner. So you can rest assured that simply viewing someone’s profile will not trigger any notification to that individual.
LinkedIn Profile View Notifications for Premium Account Holders
One exception to this rule is for LinkedIn Premium account holders. As part of the Premium service, users can see which other members have viewed their profile within the last 90 days. This information is available in the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section under the My Network tab.
So if you view the profile of someone who has a Premium account, they will be able to see that you viewed their profile through this feature. However, it does not notify them immediately, but rather gives them a list of who has recently viewed their page that they can check periodically.
Seeing Who Has Viewed Your Profile
In addition to Premium account holders being able to see who viewed their profile, there are a couple other ways LinkedIn users can see who has been looking at their profile:
- Recruiter Accounts – Recruiters and other talent acquisition professionals often have access to more detailed analytics through their LinkedIn Recruiter program. This can sometimes allow them to identify who has viewed their profile.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator – Similarly, LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers tracking and lead intelligence analytics that may give insight into who is viewing your profile.
- “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” Insights – All LinkedIn members have access to summary profile view insights that show how many times your profile was viewed and by what type of audience, even without a Premium account. However, it does not specify the exact members who viewed you.
So while LinkedIn does not directly notify profile views, Premium subscribers and sales/recruiting account holders have greater visibility into their page traffic that may indicate when specific individuals have been viewing their profiles.
Seeing Who Has Viewed You on Mobile
The LinkedIn mobile app offers additional options for seeing profile views that are not available on the desktop site. On iOS and Android devices, there is a “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section that gives more detailed analytics.
Here you can see pie charts breaking down the industry, seniority, location, and functions of people who have viewed your profile. It also shows a timeline of days/weeks and how many views you received. For Premium subscribers, this mobile view also identifies the specific members who looked at your profile within the last 90 days.
So the LinkedIn mobile app does provide greater transparency into your profile viewers, though it still does not trigger real-time notifications when an individual views your page.
When LinkedIn Does Send Notifications
While simply viewing someone’s profile does not generate a notification, there are some LinkedIn activities that do trigger notifications:
- Endorsing Skills – If someone endorses you for a new skill, both you and your connections receive notifications about the endorsement.
- New Connections – When someone sends you an invitation to connect/network, you will be notified so you can choose to accept or ignore the request.
- Messages – Direct messages through LinkedIn trigger notifications to alert you of the new message.
- Mentions – If someone mentions you in a post or comment, you will be notified.
- Recommendations – When someone gives you a recommendation, you receive a notification to review it.
- Shares/Likes – Your posts being liked or shared trigger notifications.
So while simple profile viewing does not create a notice, many other common LinkedIn activities do notify the receiving user. This allows members to stay up-to-date on messages, mentions, new connections, and engagement with their content.
Will They Know You Viewed Their Profile?
A common concern is that even though you don’t trigger an immediate notification by viewing someone’s profile, will the other user still know you were there somehow?
The short answer is maybe. Beyond Premium account holders that can see their visitors, there is no definite way for someone to know their profile was viewed.
However, LinkedIn does display profile view analytics showing audience demographics and traffic sources. So an observant profile owner may notice an uptick in profile views from a certain company or industry after connecting with someone new there. But there is no foolproof way for them to pinpoint exactly who viewed the profile.
There are also browser plugins and other software that can potentially track LinkedIn activity, which could identify profile viewing in some cases. But within LinkedIn itself, your individual profile views remain anonymous and impossible to trace back to you.
Does Looking at Profiles Show Up in Your History?
You may also wonder if the profiles you view get logged in your account history or activity. The answer is no. Your LinkedIn account activity and browsing history does not keep track of which individual profiles you look at.
The “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section will count total views, but does not store data on which specific profiles you looked at. Your profile browsing remains private and is not recorded in your account history or analytics.
Can You Tell Who Views Your Profile Anonymously?
LinkedIn also offers an anonymous browsing option that allows you to look at profiles privately without them appearing in searches or suggestions. So can someone still tell if an anonymous viewer checked out their profile?
When browsing anonymously, you are completely untraceable to the profile owner. Your views will not show up for Premium account holders, Recruiters, or any other visibility tools. It will be like you were never there.
The caveat is that while they cannot identify you specifically, anonymous viewers still contribute to the overall viewer demographic data they see. So they may notice a view from someone in your company or industry, but will not be able to tie it directly back to your account. But anonymous browsing prevents your personal account from being associated with the viewing activity.
Limits to Profile Viewing Activity
It is also important to note that while LinkedIn does not notify profile views, they do limit how frequently you can view the same profile. This is to prevent harassment or stalking-type behavior.
If you try to view the same profile an excessive number of times within a short timeframe, LinkedIn will temporarily block you from viewing that profile again for a period of time. This is just something to be mindful of as you browse the platform.
Ethical Considerations
While you may have legitimate professional reasons for viewing someone’s profile discreetly, keep in mind the ethical implications if you are checking out connections, colleagues, or recruits excessively. Just because LinkedIn doesn’t notify them directly doesn’t mean people won’t notice or find it strange.
As with all online activity, moderation and ethical judgment are still important – even if the tools allow you to be anonymous. Think carefully about respecting people’s privacy and keeping your viewing activity reasonable and professional.
In Summary
In most cases, people will not receive notifications or indications that you viewed their LinkedIn profile. This allows for discreet research and browsing of connections and colleagues on the platform.
However, Premium subscribers can identify who visited their profile within a 90 day period. And mobile apps provide additional analytics to clue people into their audience demographics. So while not completely invisible, standard profile viewing should not raise direct red flags for the account holder.
Overall, you can browse most profiles without triggering alerts as long as you do so in moderation. Just be cautious viewing Premium subscribers, maintain professional ethics, and observe limits on repeated profile views to keep your activity discrete.