LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites, with over 722 million users worldwide as of April 2021. On LinkedIn, users can connect with other professionals, join groups, follow companies, and search for jobs. A key feature of LinkedIn is the ability to communicate with other users through private messages.
However, a common question that arises is: if you delete a message you’ve sent to someone on LinkedIn, can the recipient still see it? The short answer is no, when you delete a message on LinkedIn, the recipient can no longer see it. However, there are some important caveats to be aware of.
In this article, we’ll provide a detailed explanation of how message deletion works on LinkedIn. We’ll cover:
- The basics of deleting LinkedIn messages
- What happens when you delete a message you’ve sent
- What the recipient sees after you delete a message
- If the recipient gets a notification when you delete a message
- When deleted messages get removed from LinkedIn’s servers
- Special cases: group messages and messages with attachments
- Best practices around deleting LinkedIn messages
Understanding message deletion on LinkedIn is important for preserving privacy, maintaining positive relationships, and communicating effectively.
The Basics of Deleting LinkedIn Messages
On LinkedIn, there are a couple ways to delete a message you’ve sent:
- On the website, you can click on the dropdown menu in the top right corner of the message and choose “Delete”.
- In the LinkedIn mobile app, you can swipe left on the message and tap on the trash icon.
When you delete a message, it gets removed from your inbox as well as the recipient’s inbox instantly. However, it’s important to understand that just because you deleted it doesn’t mean the recipient can no longer see it.
What Happens When You Delete a Message You’ve Sent?
When you delete a 1:1 message that you’ve sent to someone on LinkedIn, here’s exactly what happens:
- The message is instantly removed from your LinkedIn inbox and the recipient’s inbox.
- The recipient can no longer open or view the contents of the message.
- The recipient gets no notification that you’ve deleted the message.
- The message still exists on LinkedIn’s servers for an unspecified amount of time before being permanently deleted.
So in essence, as soon as you delete a message, the recipient loses access to it. However, a copy of the message still exists in LinkedIn’s system until it’s eventually purged.
What the Recipient Sees After You Delete a Message
Once you delete a message you’ve sent, the recipient will simply see a blank space in the messaging thread where that message used to be. There is no indication that a message was deleted.
The recipient is unable to retrieve or view the deleted message contents in any way. The message is inaccessible as soon as you delete it.
Here’s an example messaging thread where one message was deleted by the sender:
Sender | Message |
---|---|
Clara | Hi John! How’s it going? |
John | It’s going great! Just got back from a conference. How about you? |
Clara | [Deleted message] |
John | That’s awesome! I’m doing well, just busy with work as usual. |
As you can see, from the recipient’s perspective, there is no record of the deleted message ever existing.
Does the Recipient Get Notified When You Delete a Message?
No, when you delete a message you’ve sent on LinkedIn, the recipient does not get notified in any way. There will be no indication to them that a message has been deleted from the thread.
The deletion happens silently without alerting the recipient. So you do not need to worry about them being tipped off that you removed a message.
When Are Deleted Messages Removed from LinkedIn’s Servers?
LinkedIn has not provided specifics on when deleted messages are permanently purged from their servers. However, it’s safe to assume messages are not removed instantly.
It takes time for content to get flushed out of big social networks’ systems. There may be backups or caches that maintain copies of messages temporarily until they get deleted.
So while the recipient can’t see the deleted message, it’s likely that a copy still persists on LinkedIn’s internal servers for some unknown period of time before being permanently erased.
Special Cases: Group Messages and Messages With Attachments
The message deletion behavior works slightly differently in a couple special cases:
Group Messages
On LinkedIn, you can message multiple people at once by sending to a LinkedIn group. When you delete a message sent to a group:
- It gets removed from everyone’s inboxes instantly.
- No one in the group gets notified that you deleted it.
- Recipients can no longer view the message.
So the behavior is the same as with 1:1 messages – it simply extends to everyone in the group.
Messages With Attachments
If you send a message with a file attachment and then delete it, what happens to the attachment?
In this case:
- The message itself will be deleted and inaccessible to the recipient.
- However, any file attachments will remain accessible to the recipient.
So attachments are not deleted along with the message. Recipients can still download any files attached to a deleted message.
Best Practices for Deleting LinkedIn Messages
Now that you know how LinkedIn’s message deletion works, here are some tips to use it effectively:
- Be cautious about deleting – understand the recipient may still see the message temporarily on LinkedIn’s servers.
- Delete quickly if you change your mind about sending something.
- Do not assume deletion means the content is permanently gone.
- For sensitive messages, it may be better not to send them at all.
- Be polite and transparent if you need to retract a message.
Deleting messages can be useful for removing typos, poorly worded messages, or harmful content. However, it does not fully erase or undo the action of sending the message in the first place.
Conclusion
When you delete a message on LinkedIn that you’ve sent to an individual or group, the recipients can no longer access or view that message. However, copies of deleted messages likely still reside on LinkedIn’s servers until an unknown deletion timeframe has passed.
Recipients do not receive any notifications when you delete a message. The message simply appears as blank in the messaging thread. While not a full proof solution, deleting messages can help minimize the potential harm or exposure from inadvertent sends.
Understanding how LinkedIn’s message deletion works enables you to use the feature strategically and effectively. So consider these insights on the limitations and retention of deleted messages as you clean up your own LinkedIn inbox.