LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms used by professionals and companies to network, connect with colleagues, share content, and discover job opportunities. With over 850 million members worldwide, LinkedIn provides a wealth of opportunities to build relationships and advance careers.
An important part of networking on LinkedIn is messaging – connecting directly with other members through the LinkedIn messaging system. Messaging allows you to establish contacts, ask questions, and have one-on-one conversations.
But over time, those message threads can build up, becoming cluttered and distracting. You may wish to clear out old messages that are no longer relevant or useful. So, is there a way to delete old LinkedIn messages?
Can You Delete LinkedIn Messages?
The short answer is yes, it is possible to delete old LinkedIn messages. However, LinkedIn does not have a built-in feature that lets you mass delete or bulk delete messages.
Instead, you have to delete LinkedIn messages one at a time. To delete a LinkedIn message:
- Open the LinkedIn message thread that contains the message you want to delete.
- Hover over the specific message and click the “More” button (the icon with three dots).
- A dropdown menu will appear. Select “Delete message.”
- A popup will ask you to confirm that you want to delete the message. Click “Yes.”
The individual message will be removed from the conversation thread. However, the other person will still be able to see the message on their end.
Why You May Want to Delete LinkedIn Messages
Here are some of the top reasons you may want to delete old LinkedIn messages:
- Remove clutter: Over time, long back-and-forth conversations can build up and clutter your LinkedIn inbox. Deleting old messages helps keep things clean and organized.
- Delete irrelevant conversations: You may have LinkedIn messages with connections from years ago that are no longer relevant. Deleting them focuses your inbox on current conversations.
- Remove sensitive information: You may have accidentally sent personal contact info, pricing details, or other private information that you now want removed from the message history.
- Sever past business ties: If you are no longer working with a client or contact, you can delete old conversations to symbolically close the partnership.
- Free up storage space: Though LinkedIn offers unlimited storage, deleting old messages can free up space and prevent slow downs.
Drawbacks of Deleting LinkedIn Messages
While deleting LinkedIn messages can be useful in many cases, there are some downsides to be aware of:
- It takes time – You have to manually delete each message one at a time.
- The other person still has the conversation – Deleting a message only removes it from your end. The recipient still has access to the full conversation thread.
- You could lose important information – Accidentally deleting relevant messages means that information is gone for good.
- It could hurt relationships – Deleting portions of a conversation without explaining why to the other person may confuse or upset them.
When You Should Not Delete LinkedIn Messages
In some cases, it may be best not to delete LinkedIn messages:
- When required for legal reasons – Such as compliance with company policies or regulations.
- If the messages contain important records – Like work projects, plans, research, or other useful information.
- When messages are part of ongoing partnerships – They serve as a record of your relationship.
- If you think you may need them later – Whether for recollection or accountability purposes.
Use your best judgment based on your individual situation and the nature of the messages. If in doubt, consider archiving messages rather than permanently deleting.
How to Archive LinkedIn Messages
Archiving LinkedIn messages allows you to clear them from your main inbox while still retaining them in a separate storage area if you need to reference them later.
Unfortunately LinkedIn does not have a built-in archiving system for messages. But you can effectively archive LinkedIn messages by using tags:
- Select the conversation you want to archive.
- Click the “Tag” icon (a folder symbol) to bring up tagging options.
- Enter a tag like #archived and click Save.
- The conversation will now be tagged as archived.
- You can view archived conversations by clicking “Archived” under the tags area of your inbox.
This method allows you to clear out your primary message inbox while still being able to access archived conversations if needed.
How to Delete LinkedIn Messages in Bulk
As mentioned previously, LinkedIn does not have a native bulk delete function for messages. But there are some Chrome extensions and third-party tools that offer bulk or mass deletion capabilities:
- Social Book Post Manager – This paid tool ($27/year) lets you mass delete LinkedIn messages based on filters like date, sender, keyword, etc.
- LinkedIn Mass Delete Connections & Messages – A free Chrome extension that deletes all your LinkedIn messages or connections in a couple clicks.
- LinkClump – A Chrome extension that can combine multiple browser tabs/windows and delete them together, allowing you to bulk delete groups of LinkedIn messages.
However, use caution with bulk deletion – removing messages en masse increases the risk of inadvertently deleting important conversations.
Other LinkedIn Message Management Tips
In addition to deleting and archiving messages, here are some other LinkedIn techniques to help organize your inbox:
- Use filters – Take advantage of LinkedIn’s sorting tools to filter messages by sender, date, unread status, etc.
- Mute conversations – Mute message threads instead of deleting if you may need them later but want to reduce notifications.
- Turn off email notifications – Disable emails about new LinkedIn messages to keep your regular email organized.
- Report spam – Use LinkedIn’s “Report as spam” function to have unsolicited messages removed for you.
- Add senders to your network – Move important conversations out of Messages by connecting with those users as LinkedIn contacts.
Conclusion
Keeping your LinkedIn messages clear of clutter while still maintaining important information is key for an organized and productive account. Deleting individual LinkedIn messages can help remove outdated or irrelevant conversations.
However, bulk deleting lots of LinkedIn messages increases the chances of removing information you wanted to keep. Use caution when mass deleting, or instead archive conversations using LinkedIn’s tagging tool. With the right strategy, you can effectively organize your inbox while keeping useful messages handy.