How to Delete or Deactivate a LinkedIn Account
For job search and networking, LinkedIn is the primary platform, widely used by others. Since you can directly connect with CEOs, recruiters, and many other professionals in your field, you can secure many jobs through the platform. However, with all this, some people don’t want to continue with this platform, because of its complexity in features for the new users, navigating issues, or, in general, some users get pressured into using this platform. Moreover, another reason could be that some people feel uncomfortable reaching out to others. In this blog know how to delete LinkedIn account or deactivate your account.
Please note that if you delete your LinkedIn account, all your data will be deleted permanently. Make sure you save your data, then continue to delete.
What to Know Before Deleting a LinkedIn Account?
When you have deleted your LinkedIn account, everything will be lost. And before deleting it, know the following things that will be lost:
- Connections: On deleting your LinkedIn account, you will lose all your connections. And won’t be able to connect.
- Communications: Your all communications done of chats will be deleted permanently, even if you don’t delete them.
- Reviews & Endorsements: Any recommendations and endorsements on your page will be removed once you delete your LinkedIn account.
- Saved Jobs: All the jobs that you have saved to apply to will be deleted from your LinkedIn account.
- Profile Data: The profile data, including your education, experiences, certificates, and other data, will all be removed.
- Premium Subscriptions: If you are using Premium LinkedIn features, deleting your account will make you lose all these features.
In case LinkedIn stops working in your region, and to delete your LinkedIn account, you can access the platform using iProVPN, which will bypass the restriction.
Deletion vs Deactivation in LinkedIn
If you don’t want to delete your LinkedIn account permanently, then you can deactivate the account; both options are different, and here is a table for it:
Deletion on LinkedIn |
Deactivation on LinkedIn |
| The delete option permanently removes the account. | Deactivation just hides the profile on LinkedIn for some time. |
| All messages, connections, and profile data will be deleted. | All your details on the profile will remain saved. |
| An account recovery can only be done within 14 days. | Easy to reactivate the account anytime. |
| After the grace period, no account restoration is possible. | No data loss, access your LinkedIn account anytime. |
| No one can search the user’s deleted profile. | User profiles will be there and will appear on searches as well. |
| All subscriptions will be deleted. | The subscriptions will be there until you unsubscribe from premium features. |
| Download the important data before deleting. | No data backup needed during deactivation. |
What Should You Do Before Deleting Your LinkedIn Account?
There is no going back once you delete your LinkedIn account; you can’t get back your connections chats, or other profile data. Additionally, you will only get 14 days in which you can change your plan and get back to your account. Here is what you must do before deleting your LinkedIn account:
Backup Data
Save copies of your data before you delete your LinkedIn account, since data isn’t recoverable later. You can download your profile data, as it has everything, just like on your CV, from your education details to work experiences and endorsements by others. Moreover, you can save important contacts like recruiters and colleagues to get in touch later.
Inform Important Contacts
You can inform others about deleting your LinkedIn account, such as those with whom you are communicating on this platform. Tell your contacts to communicate on an alternate platform onwards, and do not get away on which you were talking about previously. Moreover, you can share your email address to maintain a professional way of communicating. Also, if you want to share a WhatsApp contact, you can do it as well.
Remove Old Links
When you delete the LinkedIn account, your URL won’t work, and wherever you are using this profile will get errors. To get rid of it, update your LinkedIn URL with your portfolio link, email, or any other. The error on the link can make your CV look unprofessional; make sure to update it soon after the deletion of your LinkedIn account.
Unlink Third-Party Apps
Many people use their LinkedIn account to access third-party services, other than accessing the platform with their email address or by connecting their Google account. Once you delete the LinkedIn account, you won’t be able to access those third-party platforms. Before you delete, disconnect your linked account from all the third-party platforms you are using with LinkedIn.
How to Download LinkedIn Data?
Before deleting, here is how you can download your LinkedIn data: download this data, and you can use the information somewhere else.
- From your Profile, go to Settings & Privacy.
- Then select Data Privacy.
- From Settings Click on “Get a copy of your data”.
- You can choose what to download: connections, messages, and other data, or everything to download.
- Click on “Request archive.”
LinkedIn downloads your data and send you via email. Moreover, the link is accessible for 72 hours. Download the file and save it on your device or cloud storage before the links expire.
How to Delete & Deactivate a LinkedIn Account?
In this blog section, learn the steps of deactivating and deleting a LinkedIn Account.
How to Deactivate a LinkedIn Account?
Deactivation is the temporary hiding of your account on LinkedIn. You can use this option when you want to take a break from your professional life. It keeps your information saved, only your profile gets hide form other users on the platform.
Here is how to deactivate your LinkedIn account:
- Go to Settings from your profile.
- Click on Account Management.
- Do not click on “Close Account”; instead, click on Hibernate Account.
- Select the reason for going into hibernation, and click Next.
- Enter your password and click on the Hibernate account.
How to Delete a LinkedIn Account From iPhone & Android?
On iOS and Android, you can permanently delete your LinkedIn account from its application. The deletion steps are given as:
- Open the LinkedIn app on iOS or an android.
- Click on your Profile and go to Settings.
- From Settings, tap on Account Preferences.
- At the bottom, tap on Close account and tap Continue.
- Select a reason for leaving LinkedIn, which will be asked.
- Complete verification by entering your password, then tap Confirm.
- After confirmation, your account will undergo deletion, and after 14 days, all data will be removed permanently.
How to Delete a LinkedIn Account on a Computer?
Deleting LinkedIn also has simple steps and requires no technical understanding. Here is how to do it:
- Open your LinkedIn on a web browser by logging in.
- Click on your Profile and select “Settings & Privacy”.
- Then go to Account Management at the bottom.
- Click on Close Account and Continue.
- Select the reason for deleting from the mentioned ones.
- Enter your password and confirm to delete.
- Click on Done.
Also Read: How to Unblock LinkedIn in Russia
Conclusion
Delete your LinkedIn account if you don’t want to use the same profile again, since deleting your account, all your details will be removed permanently. The process of deletion is simple; however, back up your data, save it, and also note down your important connections or ask them to communicate via an alternate platform. Also, you can go into hibernation mode on LinkedIn if you don’t want to delete your account completely, and you will be back after some days or months. In this mode, your profile will be hidden, but data will be there.
Delete LinkedIn Account - FAQs
- What happens when I delete my LinkedIn account?
All data will be removed forever when you delete your LinkedIn account which includes all your connections, messages and other data present on your profile.
- Till how many days your data remains on LinkedIn?
You have a 14 day time period in which you can restore your LinkedIn account. After this time,e you won’t be able to get your data.
- When is it better to deactivate your LinkedIn account?
When you just want to take a break for sometime or during vacations, then deactivation is the right way. Since deactivation won’t delete your data from LinkedIn.
- Why are people deleting LinkedIn?
People delete their LinkedIn accounts when they feel frustrated while searching for jobs, or when they feel burnout or pressured.
- Can I use iProVPN on LinkedIn?
Yes, use iProVPN on LinkedIn if it is not accessible in your region, connect VPN to access LinkedIn if you want to delete your account.
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