LinkedIn is a popular social media platform used primarily for professional networking and career development. Many people use LinkedIn to connect with colleagues, employers, clients and build their professional brand.
While having a public profile allows you to connect with more people, sometimes you may want to limit who can view your profile and activity on LinkedIn. Making your LinkedIn profile private gives you more control over your privacy and what information you share publicly.
On the LinkedIn mobile app for iPhone, you can easily make your profile private and limit visibility to only people you connect with. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make your LinkedIn profile private on an iPhone.
Benefits of Making Your LinkedIn Profile Private
Here are some of the benefits of making your LinkedIn profile private:
- Controls who can view your profile and activity – Only your connections will be able to see your full profile once you make it private. Others will only see your name, headline and industry.
- Limits unsolicited outreach – Making your profile private reduces random connection requests and unsolicited messages from people you don’t know.
- Reduces chances of identity theft – A private profile makes it harder for bad actors to misuse your personal information and photos.
- Maintains privacy – A private profile gives you more privacy as you get to control who sees details about your work history, education, skills etc.
- Customizable visibility – You can customize visibility settings to allow certain info like profile photo and headline visible to wider audience.
So in summary, a private LinkedIn profile allows you to manage your professional presence while maintaining privacy boundaries.
How to Make LinkedIn Profile Private on iPhone
Follow these simple steps to make your LinkedIn profile private on the iPhone app:
Step 1) Open the LinkedIn app and go to your profile
Launch the LinkedIn app on your iPhone. Log into your account if you aren’t already signed in.
Tap on the “Me” tab at the bottom right corner of your screen. This will take you to your LinkedIn profile page.
Step 2) Tap on the “Edit public profile & URL” button
On your profile screen, tap on the pencil icon button on the top right. This button says “Edit public profile & URL”.
Step 3) Scroll down and tap “Private mode”
This will open your profile settings. Scroll down and toggle the switch next to “Private mode” to the right.
Step 4) Choose profile visibility settings
Once you enable private mode, you can customize your profile visibility settings:
– Profile photo: Choose if you want your profile photo visible to the public, only connections or no one.
– Headline & positions: Select if you want your headline, current position and past positions visible to the public or only connections.
– Country & industry: Decide if you want your country and industry to be seen by everyone or only connections.
– Profile viewing options: Disable profile viewing options to limit profile views to only your 1st degree connections.
Tap “Save” once you finalize the visibility settings.
Step 5) Confirm making your profile private
LinkedIn will ask you to confirm making your profile private. Tap “Yes” to confirm.
And that’s it! Your LinkedIn profile is now fully private. Only people connected to you will be able to see your full profile and activity.
Who Can See Your Private Profile?
When your LinkedIn profile is set to private, here is who can see it:
- Your 1st degree connections – People you are directly connected to on LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn members with a shared 1st degree connection, if you allow this in settings.
- LinkedIn members who are part of the same LinkedIn Group as you.
- Some profile info visible to wider audience if you choose so in visibility settings.
Essentially, only your direct connections will have full access to your profile once it is made private. Others will only see limited info based on the visibility settings you choose.
How to Allow Others to View Your Private Profile
If you want to allow specific people to view your private LinkedIn profile, here are a couple options:
Connect with them on LinkedIn
The easiest way is to simply connect with them directly on LinkedIn. Once they accept your connection request, they will be able to access your full private profile.
Share a direct profile link
You can generate a direct link to your profile and share it with anyone you want to grant access. Here are the steps:
- Go to your profile and click “Edit public profile & URL”.
- Copy the link next to “Your public profile URL”.
- Share this link directly with anyone you want to view your profile.
Sharing your profile link gives temporary access without needing a connection. But you can remove access anytime by resetting the link.
Adjust privacy settings
You can tweak your privacy settings to allow your Profile, Name and Headline, Positions, Country and Industry to be visible to wider audience beyond just your connections.
How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Public Again
If you want to make your LinkedIn profile public again, here are the steps:
- Go to your profile and tap “Edit public profile & URL”.
- Toggle the switch next to “Private mode” to turn it off.
- Under visibility settings, select “Public” for any sections you want visible publicly.
- Tap “Save” to confirm and make your profile public.
Once you save the changes, your profile will revert to being fully public again. Everyone will be able to view your full profile as before.
Pro Tips for Managing LinkedIn Profile Visibility
Here are some additional tips to help you manage your LinkedIn profile visibility:
- Customize visibility settings – Use the granular visibility options when you turn on private mode.
- Reset Share profile link often – Change the shared link periodically to revoke access.
- Review your connections – Remove any unwanted connections.
- Block unwanted followers – Use the block feature to stop someone from following you.
- Turn off notifications – Disable notifications to limit profile views.
- Use anonymous browsing – View profiles anonymously without leaving a footprint.
Carefully customizing visibility settings and regularly reviewing connections/followers helps maintain your desired level of privacy on LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Making your LinkedIn profile private is an easy way to get more control over your professional presence on the platform. With just a few taps, you can limit your profile visibility to only people you are connected with.
The LinkedIn app for iPhone makes it very simple to toggle between a public or private profile anytime. You also get granular control over what individual profile sections are visible to wider audiences.
Restricting access to your profile reduces unsolicited outreach while still allowing you to strengthen your professional network through new connections. With these helpful tips, you can comfortably manage your privacy on LinkedIn.