LinkedIn’s active status feature allows you to share with your network if you are actively using LinkedIn or not. When enabled, it displays a green dot next to your name and photo across the LinkedIn platform to signify you are actively online and available for messaging or connecting. However, sometimes this active status indicator does not work as expected and fails to update your status properly. There are a few reasons why your LinkedIn active status may not be working and some troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve the issue.
LinkedIn Active Status Basics
First, it helps to understand how the LinkedIn active status feature works. Active status relies on you having the LinkedIn mobile app installed and signed into your account. The app periodically sends status updates to LinkedIn servers to show if you are actively using the app or have been inactive for a set period of time. On the website and in the app, you can control whether your active status is displayed publicly or only to your connections.
Active status updates occur when you do things like view profiles, share updates, message connections, etc. If no activity occurs for around 10 minutes, your status will switch to inactive and the green dot disappears. On your profile and messages, “Active now” or “Active today” will be displayed if you are actively online or have been recently. So for active status to work properly, you need to have regular app activity that triggers status updates.
LinkedIn App Needs Access to Update Status
One common reason your LinkedIn active status fails to update is that the mobile app does not have permission to run in the background on your device. For active status to work, the LinkedIn app needs to be able to run and send status updates even when you are not directly using it. On both iOS and Android devices, you need to enable background app refresh and allow notifications from LinkedIn for this to occur properly.
On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and make sure it is enabled globally or for the LinkedIn app specifically. You can also go to Settings > Notifications > LinkedIn and check that Allow Notifications is toggled on. Doing this will let the LinkedIn app update your active status whenever you get a notification from LinkedIn.
On Android, go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > LinkedIn. Make sure Show Notifications is enabled and that you have given LinkedIn permission to run in the background under Mobile Data & WiFi. Some Android devices also have battery optimization settings that can restrict background activity, so you may need to add LinkedIn to the unrestricted battery list as well.
Check Your LinkedIn Privacy Settings
Another possible reason your active status isn’t working properly is if you have restricted who can view your status in your LinkedIn account settings. To check your active status privacy settings on the LinkedIn website:
- Go to your Profile and click the Me icon in the top right
- Select Settings & Privacy in the dropdown menu
- Go to the Privacy tab
- Under Your Dashboard, click Who can see your activity and connections?
Here you can configure who can see your active status. The options are:
- Your connections only
- All LinkedIn members
Make sure this is not set to Only You, which will prevent your active status from displaying publicly at all. You want to choose either Your Connections or All LinkedIn Members based on your preferences.
On the LinkedIn mobile app, you can also adjust these settings by going to your profile, tapping the More button in the top right, choosing Settings & Privacy > Privacy, and then changing Who can see your activity and connections. Make sure this is set to either Your connections or Everyone so active status will work correctly.
Check LinkedIn Website or App for Issues
Sometimes issues with the LinkedIn platform itself can prevent your active status from updating properly. Check LinkedIn’s help pages and Twitter account to see if there are any reported problems with active status or notifications not working. If many other users are also experiencing issues, it may be a temporary problem on LinkedIn’s end rather than your device settings.
Try force quitting and reopening the LinkedIn mobile app if you are not seeing your status refresh after activity. Also attempt logging out and back into your LinkedIn account on the website and mobile app. Clearing the app cache and data could help reset your status as well. These basic troubleshooting steps may resolve the issue if it is just a glitch with LinkedIn’s systems.
Unlink and Reconnect LinkedIn App
If your active status has stopped working entirely and none of the above fixes help resolve it, unlinking and reconnecting the LinkedIn mobile app to your account may be necessary. Here are the steps to try this:
- On your phone, open the LinkedIn app and go to your profile
- Tap the More button in the top right and choose Settings & Privacy
- Go to Accounts Center > Manage Apps
- Tap the three dots next to LinkedIn and choose Unlink App
- Confirm removing app access when prompted
- Log out of the LinkedIn app on your phone
- Log back into the LinkedIn app using your username and password
Relinking the app will require you to re-enter your login credentials and re-enable notifications and background activity. But this often fixes connection issues that may be preventing your active status from updating correctly. Be sure to also toggle your active status settings back on in your LinkedIn account settings after reconnecting the app.
Check Your Internet Connection
Of course, one obvious reason your LinkedIn active status may fail to update is if you have a poor internet connection. If you are offline or your connection is spotty, the LinkedIn app cannot communicate with LinkedIn’s servers to refresh your status. Make sure that both your mobile device and computer have a strong WiFi or mobile data connection to ensure your status remains accurate.
Try disabling WiFi and switching to mobile data, or vice versa, to see if that resolves any connection issues. Restarting your device, modem, or router can also help reconnect if you have been offline for a while. Confirm that other apps and websites are loading properly to rule out a general internet connectivity problem.
Update the LinkedIn Mobile App
An outdated version of the LinkedIn mobile app may be the culprit if your active status is on the fritz. LinkedIn regularly releases new versions of its iOS and Android apps with bug fixes and performance improvements. If it has been a while since you updated the LinkedIn app on your device, you may be running an old version prone to issues with notifications and background functionality.
On an iPhone or iPad, open the App Store and pull down to refresh your installed apps list. If an update is available for LinkedIn, tap Update next to it. You can also search for “LinkedIn” and view its app page to see the latest version and update from there if needed.
On Android devices, open the Play Store and tap the hamburger menu to access My Apps & Games. Under Updates available, you will see any apps like LinkedIn that have new versions to install. Tap Update next to LinkedIn to get the latest release. Updating to the newest app version can often resolve bugs affecting notifications and active status.
Wait for Active Status to Refresh
Keep in mind that it takes some time for your active status to automatically refresh after periods of activity or inactivity. It is not instantaneous. Allow up to 10-15 minutes after doing things like sending LinkedIn messages or viewing profiles for your status indicator to update.
The LinkedIn apps try to balance keeping your status accurate while preserving battery life and data usage. So there is some built-in lag before status changes are reflected. Have some patience and keep using LinkedIn normally for a bit if your active status does not update immediately.
Manually Update Active Status
Rather than waiting, you can also manually control your active status as a workaround when needed. On the LinkedIn website, click your profile picture in the top right and choose Set as active/invisible. This instantly switches your status on or off.
In the LinkedIn mobile app, tap your profile picture from the main Feed screen and select Change active status. Then choose either Be active or Appear inactive to manually override what is displayed.
While not ideal, manually updating your status ensures it shows properly when the automatic updates fail. Use the manual controls as a backup option if the status indicator is not reflecting your actual activity correctly for some reason.
Contact LinkedIn Customer Support
If you have tried all the troubleshooting tips above and your LinkedIn active status still does not work properly, it may require contacting LinkedIn customer support for additional help.
From the LinkedIn website, click your profile picture in the top right and choose Get help. On their contact form, select Profile, settings & visibility as your issue topic and share details on the problems you are experiencing with active status.
You can also tweet your issue to @LinkedInHelp or find LinkedIn’s customer service email address on their help site to get in touch. Their technical support team may be able to diagnose and resolve trickier active status bugs and errors.
Consider Disabling Active Status Temporarily
As a last resort, you can disable LinkedIn active status temporarily if you cannot get it working reliably. Having an inaccurate status indicator can be frustrating and defeat the purpose of the feature. Until any bugs are fixed by LinkedIn, you may want to toggle status sharing off.
On the LinkedIn website, go to your profile, click the Me icon > Settings & Privacy > Privacy tab. Under Your dashboard, choose Only you so your status remains private and inactive. You can also turn Show your active status off in the LinkedIn mobile app settings.
Disabling active status is not ideal but can prevent false status information from being shown to your network. Once LinkedIn addresses any technical issues on their end or you fix device-related problems, you can then re-enable active status to resume sharing your real-time availability.
Recap and Tips
To recap, here are some top tips to try when your LinkedIn active status is not working properly:
- Make sure the LinkedIn app can run in the background and send notifications
- Check your active status privacy settings are not too restrictive
- Confirm LinkedIn’s services are not experiencing an outage
- Force quit and re-open the LinkedIn app to reset connection
- Unlink then re-link the LinkedIn app on your device
- Switch between WiFi and mobile data if internet is spotty
- Update to the latest version of the LinkedIn mobile app
- Manually change your active status as a workaround
- Contact LinkedIn support if still not working
- Temporarily disable active status until issues are fixed
With a combination of device settings adjustments, app troubleshooting, and checking for LinkedIn service problems, you should be able to get your active status working again properly. Having accurate visibility into your connections’ availability makes LinkedIn messaging and relationship building much easier.