How to Delete LinkedIn Account: The Complete Guide

Whether you’ve landed a job through other means, you’re stepping away from the professional networking scene, or you simply want to reduce your digital footprint, deleting your LinkedIn account is a permanent decision worth approaching carefully. LinkedIn refers to this process as “closing” your account rather than deleting it outright, and understanding exactly what happens to your data, connections, and any active subscriptions before you start is important, since some of what you lose can’t be recovered even if you change your mind shortly afterward.

In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly how to close your LinkedIn account on both desktop and mobile, what to do before you start the process, what happens to your data during the 14-day recovery window, how to reactivate if you change your mind, and the difference between closing your account entirely versus using LinkedIn’s hibernation feature if you’re just looking for a temporary break.

Before You Begin: Important Steps to Take First

Closing your LinkedIn account is straightforward, but a few preparatory steps can save you from losing something you’ll want later or getting charged after your account is already gone.

Download your data archive. LinkedIn typically sends an email with your data archive ready for download within 24 to 72 hours, so it’s worth requesting this well before you actually close your account.

Cancel any active Premium subscription separately. Closing your account does not automatically cancel a LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter subscription. You’ll need to cancel these manually beforehand to avoid being billed again after your account has already been closed.

Save any recommendations or endorsements you want to keep. These are permanently deleted once your account closes and cannot be recovered later, even if you reactivate your account within the recovery window. Taking screenshots of anything meaningful is worth doing beforehand if you’d like a personal record of them.

Consider whether hibernation might suit your needs better. If you’re not entirely certain you want to permanently delete your account, LinkedIn’s hibernation feature (covered further below) offers a way to temporarily hide your profile without losing your data.

How to Close Your LinkedIn Account on Desktop

This is the most common method, and the entire process typically takes just a couple of minutes.

1. Log in to LinkedIn.com using your credentials.
2. Click your profile photo (Me icon) in the top-right corner of the navigation bar.
3. In the left-hand sidebar, click Account Preferences.
4. Scroll down to the Account Management section and click Close Account.
5. LinkedIn will show you a summary of what you’ll lose by closing your account. Review this carefully, then click Continue.
6. Select a reason for closing your account from the provided list, or choose Other if none of the listed reasons apply, then click Next.
7. Enter your password to confirm your identity, then click Done.

Once completed, you’ll typically receive a confirmation notification along with a confirmation email shortly afterward, verifying that your account closure request has been processed.

How to Close Your LinkedIn Account on the Mobile App (iOS and Android)

The mobile process closely mirrors the desktop version, with the same underlying settings just accessed through a slightly different navigation path.

1. Open the LinkedIn app and log in if needed.
2. Tap your profile photo in the top-left corner to open the sidebar menu.
3. Tap Settings (typically located in the bottom-left on iOS, or accessible via a gear icon on Android).
4. Tap Account Preferences, then scroll down to Account Management.
5. Tap Close Account.
6. Review the warning screen showing what you’ll lose, then tap Continue.
7. Select your reason for leaving from the list provided, then tap Next.

As with desktop, you’ll receive both an in-app confirmation and a confirmation email shortly after completing the process.

What Happens During the 14-Day Recovery Window

LinkedIn doesn’t delete your account immediately upon closure. Instead, it enters a recovery period, generally around 14 days (some sources note it can extend slightly longer, up to roughly 20 days in certain cases), during which you can reverse the closure simply by signing back in.

During this window, your profile becomes hidden from other LinkedIn members, your connections can no longer see or message you, and your profile won’t appear in search results. However, the underlying data itself isn’t yet permanently erased, which is what makes reactivation possible if you change your mind during this period.

Once the recovery window passes without you signing back in, LinkedIn proceeds with a more complete deletion process, which can take a number of additional weeks to fully purge all associated data from their systems, at which point the closure becomes permanent and irreversible.

How to Reactivate Your LinkedIn Account

If you close your account and then decide you’d like it back within the recovery window, reactivation is simple.

1. Go to LinkedIn.com or open the LinkedIn app.
2. Attempt to sign in using your previous email and password, exactly as you would normally.
3. LinkedIn will detect that your account is in a closed, recoverable state, and present you with an option, typically a blue button reading something like Reactivate my account.
4. Confirm the reactivation, and LinkedIn will restore your profile.
5. You should receive a confirmation email shortly afterward verifying that your account has been successfully reactivated.

It’s worth noting that even with successful reactivation, certain specific data, including endorsements, recommendations, group memberships, and any messages that went unread during the closure period, may still be permanently lost and won’t be restored, even though your core profile and connections generally return.

What Data Is Permanently Lost When You Close Your Account

Understanding exactly what disappears helps you decide whether closing your account, versus a temporary alternative like hibernation, is genuinely the right choice for your situation.

• Your public profile and resume-style information become completely inaccessible to other users and search engines.
• Your entire connection graph is severed, meaning your professional network of connections is lost entirely once the closure becomes permanent.
• Recommendations and endorsements, both those you gave to others and those you received, are removed, not just from your own profile but from the profiles of the people you were connected to as well.
• Message threads and conversation history with your connections are deleted and cannot be recovered.
• Group memberships and any posts, articles, or comments you made on the platform are removed entirely.

Because closing your account affects not just your own data but also removes recommendations and endorsements from other people’s profiles, it’s worth considering whether anyone in your network would be meaningfully affected by this before proceeding.

Hibernation vs. Full Account Closure

If you’re not entirely sure you want to permanently delete everything, LinkedIn’s hibernation feature (sometimes framed within account settings as a “temporary” option rather than full closure) offers a middle ground worth considering.

Hibernation temporarily hides your profile from search results and other members without deleting your underlying data, connections, or message history. This is a better option if you’re taking a career break, want privacy for a specific period, or simply aren’t ready to commit to permanent deletion but want to step back from the platform for a while.

Full account closure is the permanent option covered throughout this guide, appropriate for situations where you’re certain you no longer want any presence on LinkedIn at all, such as leaving the professional workforce entirely, consolidating multiple accounts, or wanting a complete, permanent removal of your professional online footprint.

If you’re uncertain which option fits your situation, hibernation offers a reversible way to test the experience of stepping away from LinkedIn before committing to a decision that becomes permanent after the recovery window closes.

What to Do If You Have Multiple LinkedIn Accounts

If you’ve accidentally created more than one LinkedIn account over the years, perhaps from using a different email address at some point, you’ll need to close each one individually using the same process described above, since LinkedIn doesn’t offer a way to bulk-close multiple accounts simultaneously.

Before closing a duplicate or outdated account, consider whether you’d rather merge your connections and history into your primary account instead. While LinkedIn doesn’t offer a direct “merge accounts” feature, you can manually reconnect with important contacts from your primary account and then close the duplicate, preserving your most valuable connections rather than losing them entirely.

Alternatives to Consider Before Fully Deleting Your Account

Before committing to permanent closure, it’s worth briefly considering whether one of these alternatives might actually address your underlying concern more effectively.

Limiting profile visibility. If your main concern is privacy rather than wanting to leave LinkedIn entirely, adjusting your profile visibility settings under Settings & Privacy > Visibility allows you to control who can see your activity, profile details, and connections, without needing to close your account at all.

Reducing notification frequency. If LinkedIn simply feels like too much noise in your daily life, adjusting your notification and email frequency settings can significantly cut down on how often the platform demands your attention, without losing your professional network in the process.

Pausing rather than closing. As covered above, hibernation offers a genuinely reversible way to step back without permanent consequences, making it worth trying first if you’re on the fence about whether full closure is really what you want.

A Note for LinkedIn Users Outside the United States

Depending on your region, certain data protection regulations, such as the GDPR in the European Union, may grant you additional rights regarding how quickly your data must be deleted and what confirmation you’re entitled to receive once the process completes. If you’re located in a region with specific data privacy regulations, LinkedIn’s help center typically provides region-specific guidance on request timelines and additional rights you may have beyond the standard account closure process described in this guide.

Problem: I don’t see the “Close Account” option in my settings. Double-check that you’re navigating to Settings & Privacy > Account Preferences > Account Management specifically, since this option is sometimes located further down the page than expected, or under a slightly different menu label depending on your account type or region.

Problem: I’m still being charged for Premium after closing my account. This typically happens when a Premium subscription wasn’t cancelled separately before closing the account. Contact LinkedIn’s billing support directly, since account closure alone doesn’t automatically cancel an active subscription tied to a payment method.

Problem: I can’t remember my password to confirm the closure. Use LinkedIn’s standard password recovery process first to regain access to your account, since entering your correct password is a required confirmation step before the closure can be processed.

Problem: My account still appears in search results after closing it. It can take some time, occasionally up to several days, for your profile to fully disappear from search engine caches and LinkedIn’s own search index, even after the closure itself has been processed on LinkedIn’s end.

Pro Tips Before You Close Your Account

• Request your data archive well in advance, since it can take up to 72 hours to become available, and you won’t be able to request it after your account has already been closed.
• Notify important connections beforehand if there are specific people you want to stay in touch with outside of LinkedIn, since your connection graph and messaging history will be lost once the closure becomes permanent.
• Double-check for any active subscriptions or billing agreements tied to your account, cancelling them separately before proceeding with closure.
• Consider hibernation first if you’re even slightly uncertain, since it offers a genuinely reversible alternative without the same data-loss risks tied to full account closure after the recovery window ends.
• Take screenshots of anything sentimental or professionally valuable, such as recommendations you’re proud of, since these won’t be included in the standard data archive export in a way that’s easy to reference later.

Conclusion

Closing your LinkedIn account is a permanent decision after the roughly 14-day recovery window passes, so it’s worth taking the preparatory steps outlined in this guide, downloading your data, cancelling any active subscriptions, and saving anything meaningful, before starting the actual closure process itself. The steps to close your account are consistent and quick across both desktop and mobile, generally taking just a couple of minutes to complete once you’re ready.

If you’re not entirely certain that full deletion is the right choice, LinkedIn’s hibernation feature offers a reversible alternative that lets you step back from the platform without permanently losing your professional network and history. And if you do close your account but change your mind shortly afterward, simply signing back in within the recovery window gives you a straightforward path back, provided you act before that window closes for good.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does LinkedIn keep my data after I close my account? LinkedIn offers a recovery window of approximately 14 days (in some cases slightly longer) during which your account can be reactivated by simply signing back in. After this window passes, LinkedIn proceeds with a more complete deletion process that can take several additional weeks to fully remove your data from their systems.

2. Will my connections know I closed my account? LinkedIn doesn’t send a direct notification to your connections when you close your account. However, they will notice your profile is no longer visible or searchable, and any recommendations or endorsements associated with your profile will disappear from their own profiles as well.

3. Can I reactivate my account after the 14-day recovery window has passed? Generally no. Once the recovery window closes and the full deletion process completes, your account and its associated data are permanently removed and cannot be restored, requiring you to create an entirely new account if you decide to rejoin LinkedIn later.

4. Does closing my account cancel my LinkedIn Premium subscription automatically? No, you need to cancel any active Premium, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter subscription separately before closing your account to avoid being billed again after the account itself has been closed.

5. What’s the difference between deactivating and closing a LinkedIn account? LinkedIn primarily uses “close account” as its terminology for what most platforms would call deletion, while “hibernation” serves the role that “deactivation” plays on other platforms, temporarily hiding your profile without losing your underlying data or connections.

6. Will Google still show my LinkedIn profile in search results after I close my account? It can take some time, sometimes several days, for search engine caches to update and fully remove your previously indexed profile page from search results, even after the closure has been processed on LinkedIn’s end.

7. What happens to recommendations I gave to other people if I close my account? Recommendations you gave to others are removed from their profiles as well, not just your own, once your account closure becomes permanent, since these recommendations are tied directly to your account’s existence on the platform.