If you’ve noticed that your LinkedIn profile or contacts show as active or recently online, but without the green “available” dot, it can seem confusing. The “active now” status indicator allows you to see who is currently using LinkedIn, while the green dot specifically shows who is available to message in that moment.
There are a few main reasons why LinkedIn may display an “active now” indicator without the green availability dot:
Appear Offline Setting
LinkedIn gives users the option to appear offline even if they’re actively using the platform. This sets your status to “active now” but doesn’t display the green dot to signal availability for direct messaging or InMail.
You can enable this from your LinkedIn account settings by going to your profile, clicking on the “Me” icon, selecting “Settings & Privacy”, then choosing “Visibility”. There is a toggle for “Show when you’re active or recently active”. Unchecking this box will make you appear offline whenever you want.
The “appear offline” setting prevents the green dot from showing up, while still displaying “active now” since you’re actively viewing LinkedIn. It’s useful if you want to browse without notifications or messages coming in.
Mobile App Usage
The LinkedIn mobile app operates differently than the desktop website when it comes to active status indicators. On mobile, having the app open shows you as “active now” but won’t display the green availability dot.
This is because the mobile app doesn’t have constant messaging capability the way the desktop site does. The green dot specifically indicates being available for direct contact through messaging, while mobile users have to take the extra step of opening a conversation to message back and forth.
So if you notice contacts showing as active on mobile without the green dot, it simply means they have the LinkedIn app open but aren’t necessarily ready to message back immediately through the mobile experience.
Third-Party App Integrations
In some cases, third-party apps connected to your LinkedIn account can cause “active now” status without the availability dot. Apps like Sales Navigator that leverage LinkedIn data may unintentionally trigger the “active now” indicator.
This happens because any app authorized through your LinkedIn account that reads data from your LinkedIn profile gets flagged as active usage. But since it isn’t direct interaction through LinkedIn.com, the green dot won’t display.
So if coworkers or contacts show as active but you know they aren’t online, chances are they have some integration app connecting with their LinkedIn profile in the background. The activity gets picked up but no green dot shows since it’s not direct usage.
Website Previews in Messages
An interesting quirk of LinkedIn messaging is that previews of website links can set your status to active without the available dot. When someone shares a link in a message, LinkedIn automatically displays a preview of the website content.
Fetching this preview registers as activity on your account. So even though you aren’t directly using LinkedIn in that moment, the platform considers preview generation as active usage, triggering the “active now” indicator.
The reason the green dot doesn’t show is because you aren’t actively messaging back and forth, just receiving a message with a website preview. So it’s Activity without true availability.
Tabbed Browsing and Walking Away
One straightforward reason your status can show active without the green dot is when you have LinkedIn open in one browser tab, but are doing something else in another tab.
As long as the LinkedIn tab stays open, your account is considered actively using the platform, even if your attention is elsewhere. LinkedIn has no way to know exactly what you’re doing on your computer at the moment.
The same thing applies to open sessions where you walked away from the computer while leaving LinkedIn running. You may be on a phone call, taking a break, or focusing on another task, but having the tab open registers as activity.
In these cases, the platform considers your account active but can’t confirm availability for messaging, so no green dot appears.
Recent Profile Visitors
One part of LinkedIn that often shows active users without the green dot indicator is the recent visitors section under your account dropdown menu.
This list shows people who have recently viewed your profile as “active now”. However, there is no green dot since visiting someone’s profile alone does not equate to being available for direct messaging.
The “active now” indicator here allows you to see who is browsing LinkedIn profiles, while the lack of green dot signifies they aren’t necessarily open to messaging back and forth.
Browsing Without Being Signed In
An incognito way people browse LinkedIn is by viewing pages and profiles while signed out, keeping their activity private. This allows seeing content without any status indicators showing to others.
If you use LinkedIn this way in a signed out state, you can view profiles discreetly without the network knowing. Your browsing won’t trigger any active now signs or green dots since LinkedIn doesn’t recognize you.
Essentially being invisible on the network while lurking anonymously on content enables active usage without any live status markers.
Active Elsewhere on LinkedIn
While the green dot specifically shows availability for messaging and InMail, there are other areas of LinkedIn someone could be active in without signalling readiness for direct contact.
For example, your coworker could have a LinkedIn Learning video open on another tab watching a training module. Or they might have the LinkedIn news feed open scanning the latest headlines.
In these cases, tabs open in other sections of LinkedIn register as activity on the platform, but don’t necessarily warrant the green “let’s chat” indicator next to their name.
So their status says “active now” while browsing LinkedIn, just not in the part that pings them for instant messaging availability.
Status Manipulation
In rare cases, bugs or manipulating account settings intentionally could show active statuses that are inaccurate or misrepresent true availability.
For instance, some users have reported software bugs that constantly show coworkers as active with no explanation. Usually cycling online/offline fixes the problem, but glitches happen.
In other situations, people modify account settings to “force” an active now indicator on their profile, making themselves seem constantly available and productive on LinkedIn.
While against LinkedIn’s terms of service, manipulating statuses does occur in some circumstances. Typically rebooting and legitimate platform use resolves this though.
Active Status Delays
Sometimes active status lags slightly behind actual usage, so what you see onscreen may not perfectly match reality in real-time.
For example, a user could open a LinkedIn tab which shows them as active now, but the green dot doesn’t populate for a few seconds after loading the page.
Minor technical delays like this create a brief mismatch between active indicators. So give statuses a few moments to catch up before assuming inaccurate information.
Summary
In summary, LinkedIn’s “active now” indicator and the green available dot serve different purposes on the platform. One shows recent activity, while the other specifically signals messaging availability.
There are many legitimate reasons why LinkedIn says someone is active right now without the green dot, from browsing signed out to having the app open on mobile.
Usually a lack of green dot just means the user isn’t ready for instant messaging, not that they’re offline entirely. So interpret “active now” as a sign of recent platform activity rather than literal availability.