LinkedIn is a popular social media platform used by professionals to network, build their personal brand, and find new job opportunities. As you use LinkedIn over time, your profile accumulates a significant amount of data and activity, including posts, comments, connections, interests and more. While this information can be useful in establishing your professional presence, some users may eventually want to delete their past LinkedIn activity for privacy or other reasons.
Can I delete all my LinkedIn activity at once?
Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not offer an option to delete all your activity and data in one step. LinkedIn only allows users to delete their account entirely, which erases everything. If you want to selectively remove certain information or history from your profile while keeping your account, you have to go through and manually delete items one by one.
How to delete your LinkedIn activity
Here are some steps to help you remove the main types of activity and information from your LinkedIn profile:
Delete LinkedIn posts and articles
To remove posts and articles you’ve published on LinkedIn:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile and click on the “Posts & Articles” section
- Hover over the post or article you want to delete and click on the three dots icon that appears
- Select “Delete post” or “Delete article”
- Confirm the deletion in the pop-up window
Repeat this process for every individual post and article you want removed. There is no bulk delete option. You have to delete posts one by one.
Delete LinkedIn comments
To delete comments you’ve made on other posts and articles:
- Go to the post or article where you commented and find your comment
- Hover over your comment and click on the three dots icon
- Select “Delete comment”
Again, LinkedIn does not let you mass delete comments. You have to go through each one separately.
Remove LinkedIn likes
LinkedIn does not provide a direct way to unlike posts and content. But you can use a workaround:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile and click “Interests”
- Locate the post you want to remove a like from and click the three dots icon
- Select “I don’t like this” which will unlike the post
This is a tedious process as you have to find each liked post manually. There is no way to bulk unlike content.
Delete LinkedIn connections
To remove a connection on LinkedIn:
- Go to your connections list and search for the contact you want to remove
- Hover over their name and click on the three dots icon
- Select “Remove connection”
Again, no bulk option here. Each connection has to be removed individually.
Remove LinkedIn groups
To leave or unjoin groups on LinkedIn:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile and click on “Groups”
- Click on the group you want to leave
- Find and click the “Leave group” button
You’ll have to repeat this for every group you’re currently a member of and want to leave. No bulk leaving allowed.
Delete LinkedIn interests
To remove interests from your profile:
- Go to your profile and click “Interests”
- Hover over the interest you want gone and click the “X” icon
Again, no way to bulk remove interests. They have to be deleted one by one.
Remove LinkedIn certifications
To delete certifications from your profile:
- Go to your profile and click “Certifications”
- Hover over the certification and click the three dots icon
- Select “Delete certification”
You’ll have to do this individually for each certification.
Delete LinkedIn courses
To remove completed courses:
- Go to your profile and click “Licenses & certifications”
- In the Courses section, hover over the course and click the three dots icon
- Select “Delete course”
No option for bulk course deletion either. Each one must be removed manually.
Remove LinkedIn skills
To delete skills from your profile:
- Go to your profile and under “Skills”, find the skill
- Hover over the skill and click the “X” icon
Skills have to be removed one by one. No bulk delete capability.
Clear LinkedIn search history
To remove your LinkedIn search history:
- Go to your account settings
- Click “Privacy”
- Under “Clear account activity”, click “Clear”
This will wipe your entire search history. Note that it can take up to 48 hours for the data to be fully cleared.
Remove LinkedIn apps
To unlink apps you’ve connected to your LinkedIn account:
- Go to your account settings
- Under “Partner integrations”, click “Manage”>
- Find the app you want to remove and click “Disable”
You’ll have to disable each third-party app individually.
Delete your LinkedIn account
If manually deleting all your LinkedIn activity one element at a time seems too daunting, the nuclear option is to delete your entire account. Here’s how:
- Go to your account settings
- Under “Account management”, select “Close account”
- Select your reason for leaving and confirm account closure
Closing your account will begin the process of permanently deleting all your data from LinkedIn within 30 days. There is no way to undo this, so only delete your account if you are absolutely certain.
Does deleted LinkedIn activity disappear forever?
When you delete something from your LinkedIn profile or account, it does not immediately vanish from LinkedIn’s servers. The data is soft-deleted, which means it is simply marked for removal but still exists in LinkedIn’s system for a period of time before being permanently erased.
Here are the timeframes for how long deleted LinkedIn data sticks around before being completely purged:
- Posts, articles, comments, likes – 30 days
- Connections – 30 days
- Groups – 30 days
- Interests – 30 days
- Certifications – 14 days
- Courses – 14 days
- Skills – 30 days
- Search history – 48 hours
- Account deletion – 30 days
So while your deleted profile activity won’t be visible on LinkedIn after removing it, traces of it still exist behind the scenes for up to 30 days before vanishing permanently.
Tips for deleting LinkedIn activity
Here are some tips to make removing your LinkedIn data easier:
- Do it in batches – Trying to delete everything at once will take ages. Break it up into smaller chunks.
- Start with recent activity – Removing your newest activity first means there’s less old content lingering.
- Use filters – Filter by date ranges and categories to narrow down what needs deleting.
- Be patient – Manually removing each item takes time. Pace yourself to avoid burnout.
- Consider alternatives – Archiving content is faster than deleting if you still want access to the data.
Conclusion
Removing all your past LinkedIn activity takes effort since deleting has to be done manually item by item. But with patience and perseverance, you can clear out your old posts, comments, connections and other profile data.
Take breaks, set goals for what to tackle each day, and work your way back through your LinkedIn history until your profile reflects the professional image you want today. With no bulk delete options, cleaning your LinkedIn slate requires diligence, not speed.
The nuclear option is closing your account entirely, which wipes the slate completely clean. But this is irreversible, which could be problematic if you want to maintain access to certain professional contacts and content.
In the end, self-curating your LinkedIn presence is the only way to truly control your profile history. So roll up your sleeves and get manual deleting – it’s the necessary nuisance required to keep your online professional reputation intact.
Here is some sample data to demonstrate using a table:
LinkedIn Activity | Deletion Method | Time to Full Delete |
---|---|---|
Posts | Individual deletion | 30 days |
Comments | Individual deletion | 30 days |
Likes | Unlike individually | 30 days |
Connections | Remove individually | 30 days |
Groups | Leave individually | 30 days |
Interests | Remove individually | 30 days |
Certifications | Delete individually | 14 days |
Courses | Delete individually | 14 days |
Skills | Remove individually | 30 days |
Search History | Clear all at once | 48 hours |
This table summarizes how to delete the main types of LinkedIn activity, the deletion method required, and the timeframe until permanent removal from LinkedIn’s systems.
As you can see, nearly all LinkedIn data has to be individually deleted one item at a time, which is a slow and tedious process. But with patience and perseverance, you can gain control over your LinkedIn presence.