If you are one of those who want the perfect solution on how to deactivate/delete LinkedIn account, follow these instructions.
Note: Both deactivation and deletion processes are the same for the LinkedIn Account.
To delete, go to your profile settings, search for the Account Management category, and opt for the Close Account option. You have to confirm your choice and write down a valid reason for deactivation. When you deactivate your account, other people can’t see your profile as it is in a temporary mode.
Deactivating is totally depends on users’ goals, profession, industry type, business, or target audience. For example, if you are a professional employee but can’t find this application as useful as you thought it would be.
So, you will think of getting off your account.
How to Deactivate LinkedIn Account Temporarily (Hibernation)
If a user is not ready to delete their LinkedIn account permanently, they can opt for hibernation. It is a smart alternative for deactivating the account.
Turning on Hibernation
Read the section below, it will be helpful for you to know this in detail.
- First, open LinkedIn on your browser, then click your Profile or the Me icon in the upper-right corner.
- Now, choose Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu.
- Under the Account Management category, you need to pick the Hibernate account.
- Here, you need to opt for that option which clearly defines why you’re hibernating your LinkedIn account.
- Lastly, type the password of your account and click the Hibernate account button to begin the hibernation process.
Note: You can follow the above approach on any device, such as iOS, Android, or a mobile web browser.
Additional Actions That Are Required to Complete Your Hibernation Account
- Always, you should take certain steps before hibernating your LinkedIn account. These steps may involve transferring group admin roles, settling any balances, or cancelling a LinkedIn Learning or Recruiter license.
- Once these steps are done, click the Refresh button to confirm that they are cleared from your to-do list. If there are no other tasks shown, you can then click Hibernate.
- If you face these issues, click the Contact Support button to initiate a ticket.
What Happens After You Hibernate Your LinkedIn Profile?
This removes the person’s profile temporarily. Additionally, it hides your profile from others and pauses all activity.
- Recommendations and Endorsements: Whether you have given any endorsements and recommendations to your network, it will represent you as A LinkedIn member. Once you come online, this will automatically change and show your original name.
- Messages: The older messages will remain the same, but your name will represent as “A LinkedIn member.”
- Searches: When your LinkedIn account is hibernated, people can’t see your LinkedIn profile in searches on the platform. For example, when any of the recruiters is looking for you, he or she can’t find you.
- Posts and comments: It will also identify as “A LinkedIn member. ” But, if we talk about your profile picture, it will show as the generic icon.
How to Deactivate LinkedIn Account Permanently (Or, Delete It)?
The upcoming section will elaborate on how to delete an account on LinkedIn. Read and understand the instructions below very carefully.
- Sign in to your LinkedIn account and visit your Profile, or tap the Me icon in the upper-right corner.
- Next, go with the Settings & Privacy option from the dropdown menu.
- Below Account Management, pick Change next to the Close account option within the Account Preferences category.
- Here, you need to write down the valid reason why you want to deactivate your account and click the Next button.
- Lastly, you need to Confirm your decision by highlighting your account password. Click the Close account option.
Note: This method is highly compatible with all devices, whether you are using Android, iOS, or a mobile web browser.
Why Would You Want to Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account?
As we mentioned, every user has their own favorable reason for deactivating or deleting their LinkedIn account. Here, we are summarizing all the common reasons.
- Time Commitment: LinkedIn requires enough time investment to keep their account up to date, build an engaging profile, or participate in discussions.
- Lack of Return on Investment: Not every user is getting sufficient business leads or better job opportunities.
- Privacy and Security Concerns: Users might believe that inactivity increases the risk of data hacks. However, hackers typically target profiles to access confidential information.
What Do You Lose When You Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account?
Here’s the impact you should know if you’ve decided to discover the solution on how to deactivate a LinkedIn account.
- Visibility: Others can not see your profile on LinkedIn.
- Notifications: By deactivating your LinkedIn account, you will not receive any pop-ups further.
- Login: Users will not get any further access to sign up for their disabled account.
- Reactivation: Users are not able to reactivate their LinkedIn account after 14 days.
- Permanent Deletion: Make sure that if you have a thought for deletion of your LinkedIn account, you’ll lose everything. Data that will be deleted includes all the connections, endorsements, profile, and group memberships.
- Search Engines: When search engines update their data, your profile’s details will automatically disappear till then they will show your data.
- Premium Subscriptions: Based on the LinkedIn update, you should cancel the subscription before deactivating your account.
How Long Does the Process Take to Deactivate Your LinkedIn Account?
The following section will highlight the total time how much it takes to delete your LinkedIn account permanently.
- Immediate Deactivation: LinkedIn will remove your data from its server within 24 hours.
- Search Engine Updates: When the cache of search engine updates, till then your profile is visible to others. However, it is a little bit of a lengthy process for deleting your profile from search engines.
- Data Retention: According to the official Data Retention page, your account data will be permanently deleted within 30 days.
[Note: Users should consider cancelling their LinkedIn Premium plans before deactivating their account. It’s an ideal scenario when they have not decided when to come back. We have mentioned the LinkedIn profile premium cancellation steps below.]
How to Cancel Your LinkedIn Premium?
If you’re deactivating your LinkedIn account, you will have to cancel LinkedIn Premium.
- Open the LinkedIn app, go to your Profile or click the Me icon, and hit the View profile button.
- Now, choose Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu.
- After that, highlight Manage Premium Subscription, which will be under the Account Preferences category in the settings menu.
- Here, you will see the option to cancel. Click on it. Observe the on-screen commands to cancel the premium efficiently.
After cancelling the LinkedIn membership, you can effortlessly move further towards deactivating your LinkedIn account.
How to Reactivate Your LinkedIn Account?
Note: You need to reopen your LinkedIn account within 14 days. If you have extended the days as given by LinkedIn, you can not retrieve your account.
Follow these steps to reactivate your LinkedIn account.
- Open the LinkedIn page on your default browser.
- After that, you need to mention the registered email address and the password on the login page. Then, click the Sign in button.
- Moreover, you have another option. You can simply hit the link that was received by you in the original account closure email. However, if you see that the link is not working properly, you will simply be redirected to the Sign up page.
- Now, you need to click the Reactivate button to start this process. LinkedIn will send you a verification email where you have to confirm that you are interested in reactivating your LinkedIn account.
Why You Shouldn’t Delete Your LinkedIn Account?
Let us explain some benefits that will help you to have an understanding of why you shouldn’t delete or deactivate your account.
72% of recruiters say that experts and professionals are hired through LinkedIn.
In addition, LinkedIn is the only platform that helps you to build stronger relationships with your clients and connections.
When users post their informative content, they will likely engage through comments. And the same goes with you. You can easily observe each and everything, like what is coming in the market, what your clients want from you, etc.
We suggest that you maintain your account with a little bit of activity for these kinds of reasons.
How Deleting Your LinkedIn Account Impacts Your Network
After getting the solution on how to deactivate LinkedIn account temporarily, we would like to discuss its impact on the network.
- Missed Networking Opportunities: Users will not be able to connect with their network, comments, or group discussions.
- Reactivation may not save all data: Even if you reactivate your account, you may not restore the lost data, such as endorsements, group memberships, and recommendations.
- Potential for confusion: Anyone who searches your profile and can’t view it. That’s why they feel a little bit confused. Yet, it is essential to keep them knowledgeable.
Concluding Words
By understanding your question, how to deactivate LinkedIn account in detail, we hope all your doubts are crystal clear. This comprehensive guide provides a brief on all the vital concepts regarding the deactivation process.
From explaining to you the procedure for deactivating accounts to reactivating your LinkedIn account, we’ve guided you step-by-step. And, if you have any doubts, you can simply ask in the comment section below.
Frequently Asked Questions
The upcoming section will elaborate on the most commonly asked queries that users usually have doubts in their minds.
Q. When should you consider deactivating your LinkedIn account?
Ans. Several scenarios exist where you have to consider the deactivation process. Whether you’re facing negative interactions or you aren’t using LinkedIn anymore, you can follow the process of deactivation.
Q. Is there a way to still hide a LinkedIn profile without deleting it?
Ans. Yes! It’s simple to make your LinkedIn profile private by adjusting your privacy settings. However, this involves setting your profile viewing preferences so that only your connections can view your full profile.
Q. How long can you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
Ans. LinkedIn allows its members to put their accounts into hibernation (deactivation) indefinitely. You just need to log in with your email ID and password.
Q. Why Can’t I Hibernate my LinkedIn Account?
Ans. Sometimes, users can’t hibernate their LinkedIn account for various reasons. These are:
- You are an admin.
- If you are a sales navigator or have purchased the enterprise product.