LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites with over 700 million users worldwide. It allows professionals to connect with each other, find jobs, promote their business, and more. While LinkedIn can be very useful for networking and career advancement, some users may eventually want to delete their LinkedIn account permanently.
Deleting your LinkedIn account permanently is not straightforward. LinkedIn does not allow you to directly delete your account – it only allows deactivating it. Also, to deactivate your account, you need to enter your account password which can be an issue if you don’t remember it.
Fortunately, there are a few methods you can use to delete your LinkedIn account permanently without your password. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to delete your LinkedIn account permanently without entering your password.
Method 1: Delete LinkedIn Account Through Account Settings
The easiest way to delete your LinkedIn account without your password is by going through LinkedIn’s account settings. Here are the detailed steps:
- Go to LinkedIn’s website and log in to your account. If you don’t remember your password, use the “Forgot password” option to reset it.
- Once logged in, click on the “Me” icon at the top right and select “Settings & Privacy” from the dropdown menu.
- On the “Settings & Privacy” page, click on the “Account preferences” tab.
- Under the “Closing your LinkedIn account” section, click on the “Close your account” button.
- On the account closure page, select the reason for closing your account from the dropdown menu.
- Enter your account password to confirm closure. If you don’t remember your password, click on “Forgot password?” to reset it.
- Check the box to agree to the terms and click “Close Account”.
This will immediately and permanently delete your LinkedIn account and all its data. The downside is you need access to your account and password for this method.
Method 2: Send Account Deletion Request
If you don’t remember your LinkedIn password, you can send an account deletion request directly to LinkedIn as follows:
- Go to LinkedIn’s account deletion form.
- Enter your registered LinkedIn email address and click “Send”.
- Check your email inbox for a message from LinkedIn.
- Click on the link provided in the LinkedIn email to confirm your account deletion request.
- On the confirmation page, select a reason for deleting your account.
- Enter any additional details about why you want to delete your account permanently.
- Click “Submit Request”.
After submitting the request, LinkedIn will take 7-10 days to review and process your request. Once approved, your account will be permanently deleted along with your profile data, network connections, messages, etc.
Method 3: Contact LinkedIn Customer Service
The last option is to directly contact LinkedIn’s customer service and request deletion of your account. Here are the steps for this method:
- Go to LinkedIn’s Help Center.
- Click on “Contact Us” and select “Request Account Closure” as the topic.
- Briefly explain why you want to delete your LinkedIn account permanently.
- Provide your registered email address and any other details to identify your account.
- Click “Submit” to send your request to LinkedIn’s customer support.
- LinkedIn will respond to your request via email within 5 business days.
- Follow any additional instructions from the customer service to permanently delete your account.
This process may take longer depending on LinkedIn’s response time but guarantees account deletion without your password.
Things to Do Before Deleting LinkedIn Account
Before you permanently delete your LinkedIn account, it is recommended you take the following steps:
- Download a copy of your LinkedIn data for your records. You can do this from LinkedIn’s account settings.
- Notify your connections that you are deleting your LinkedIn account.
- Remove/Disconnect LinkedIn integration or login from other websites and services.
- Cancel any paid LinkedIn subscriptions like Job Seeker premium.
- Archive any important messages or contacts from your account.
Taking these steps will allow you to preserve any important data before deleting your account permanently.
Pros of Deleting LinkedIn Account
Here are some of the pros of deleting your LinkedIn account permanently:
- Your profile and all personal data is removed and can no longer be viewed or accessed.
- You don’t have to worry about maintaining your profile or network connections.
- It frees you from having to regularly check notifications and messages.
- Removes worries about other users misusing your profile or data.
- Eliminates distractions and wasted time from engaging with the platform.
Cons of Deleting LinkedIn Account
Some potential cons of permanently deleting your LinkedIn account include:
- Lose access to your professional connections and network.
- Miss out on job opportunities only advertised on LinkedIn.
- Unable to get recommendations or endorsements from connections.
- Lose access to saved messages, contacts, and groups.
- LinkedIn benefits for branding and promoting business are gone.
Recovering Deleted LinkedIn Account
Generally, once your LinkedIn account is permanently deleted either by you or by LinkedIn, it cannot be recovered. LinkedIn deletes all your personal data from its servers during account termination.
However, if your account was accidentally or wrongfully deleted, you may be able to have it reinstated within 10-14 days of deletion. To do this:
- Contact LinkedIn customer service immediately after deletion.
- Provide details to identify yourself as the account owner.
- Explain why you want your account restored.
- LinkedIn may be able to recover accounts marked for deletion that have not been purged from their systems.
- If your account data is still available, LinkedIn will restore your profile and connections.
But keep in mind – beyond 10-14 days after deletion, permanent recovery of deleted accounts is typically not possible.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn does not allow you to instantly delete your account, there are a few methods you can use to permanently delete your LinkedIn account without your password. This includes using LinkedIn’s account settings, sending an account deletion request, and contacting customer service.
Before deleting your LinkedIn, remember to download your data, notify connections, remove integrations, and cancel subscriptions. While deleting your LinkedIn has benefits like increased privacy, it also means losing access to your professional network and resources.
Overall, if you are sure you want to delete your LinkedIn account permanently, use one of the password-free methods explained in this article. Act fast if you change your mind to increase chances of recovering your deleted account.