Can you hide the number of connections on LinkedIn?
Not with any setting LinkedIn documents. Its help page on connection counts on a profile says the number in the overview section, below the profile photo, is the total number of people the profile owner is connected to. Once a member has more than 500 connections, the profile shows 500+, and LinkedIn says it doesn't display the exact number for anyone over 500. That page was shown as last updated five years ago when we checked on 4 November 2026, and none of the visibility settings pages we read that day has a switch for the count.
Hiding your list stops the number linking to it; the number itself stays. The same page says that if a member shares their connections list, the number links through to it; if they haven't made the list public, viewers don't get the See Connections box.
One r/linkedin member asked exactly this in two posts in August 2026, saying their connections list and followers were already set to only them and their count still showed. One reply said: "You can't hide it but you can stop people from checking the full list in settings." The earlier post, like the later one, described seeing a page that showed mutual connections but no count, and asked whether that was a new feature. We found nothing about it in LinkedIn's help pages.
How do I hide my connections list on LinkedIn?
Turn off Connection visibility. These steps are from LinkedIn's Connection visibility help page, shown as updated four weeks before our check on 4 November 2026. By default, your 1st-degree connections can see and browse your list.
On a computer
Click the Me icon at the top of your homepage, select Settings & Privacy, then click Visibility on the left. Under Visibility of your profile & network, click Connection visibility and switch the toggle off. Changes save automatically.
In the LinkedIn app
Tap your profile photo, tap Settings & Privacy, then Visibility. Under Visibility of your profile & network, tap Connection visibility and switch the toggle off. The help page gives one set of app steps, not separate iOS and Android ones.
In a phone browser
Tap your profile photo, tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner, tap Visibility, then Connection visibility, and switch the toggle off.
If your screen shows two options instead of a toggle: LinkedIn's own Follow visibility page still talks about making your connections only visible to you, while the Connection visibility page describes an On/Off toggle. Pick whichever option stops your connections seeing the list.
What can people still see after you hide your connections?
Hiding the list leaves several things visible. Each row is from LinkedIn's help centre, checked 4 November 2026.
| What | Still visible? | What LinkedIn says |
|---|---|---|
| Your connection count | Yes | The exact total up to 500, then 500+. |
| Connections you share with someone | Yes | All members who have connections in common with you can see those shared connections. Your connections can also find them from the People tab of search results, per the connections of connections page. |
| Updates about your new connections | Some may be | "You cannot remove all new connection updates from your connections in your feed." |
| Your list on partner services | Possibly | Connections who sync LinkedIn with a partner service may see your connections there unless you opt out of profile visibility on partner services. |
| Ads aimed at your connections | Mostly stopped | Off stops advertisers serving ads specifically to your connections, except those who are also connections of other employees at your company. Either way, advertisers can't see these connections, except where they are personally connected to you. |
| Sales Navigator users at your company | If you're opted into TeamLink, until you turn it off | LinkedIn says Sales Navigator and TeamLink need additional steps to hide all connection visibility. |
| People you follow | Separate setting | Controlled by Follow visibility, and anyone you follow can always see that you follow them. |
Connection visibility is a single switch for all your connections, so you can't hide the list from some and show it to others. To keep one person away, remove them as a connection or block them.
Four settings to check in the same visit
Connection visibility is one switch of several. If your network doubles as your customer and investor list, check these four while you are in Settings.
Connection visibility: off
The steps above. This is the one that hides your list from your connections.
TeamLink Extend: off
If you accepted an invitation to TeamLink Extend from your company's Sales Navigator team, LinkedIn's TeamLink Extend help says to sign in to LinkedIn.com, then go to Me, Settings & Privacy, Account preferences, scroll to Partners & services, click TeamLink Extend and turn off the View connections via TeamLink toggle. Sales Navigator users at that company then lose access to your connections. Each dashboard that invited you is listed separately. The Sales Navigator privacy page adds that its own profile viewing options don't change your profile visibility settings on LinkedIn.com.
Follow visibility: only visible to me
On desktop: Me, Settings & Privacy, Visibility, Visibility of your profile & network, then Change next to Follow visibility. In the app: your profile picture, Settings, Visibility, Follow visibility. Choose Only visible to me. The setting covers members you follow, not Pages or Groups.
Public profile: check what strangers see
On desktop: Me, View Profile, then the Edit icon next to Public profile & URL. In the app: your profile photo, Settings, Visibility, then Edit your public profile. Toggle off any section you don't want shown to people who aren't signed in, or the whole public profile. LinkedIn's public profile help warns that search engines can take several weeks or even months to reflect changes, and its visibility page says disabling the public profile could stop you recovering your account if you lose access to your primary email.
Our guide to making your LinkedIn profile private covers the rest of the profile settings.
How do you change a small connection count?
With no documented setting to hide the count, the two ways to change it are adding connections or removing them. Our guide to removing connections on LinkedIn lists what you lose when you remove someone. To grow a small count, note that it stops showing as a figure once you pass 500.
Worked example (sample numbers): Priya at Acme has 180 connections and wants the profile to show 500+.
- Connections needed: 501 − 180 = 321.
- At 25 accepted invitations a week, a sample figure: 321 ÷ 25 = 12.84, so about 13 weeks.
- At 15 a week: 321 ÷ 15 = 21.4, so about 22 weeks.
Our guide on whether to add a note to a connection request covers when a note helps with people who don't know you yet. Our connection request limit guide explains how many invitations to plan for each week.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my LinkedIn profile say 500+ connections?
LinkedIn shows the exact figure only until a member passes 500 connections. After that, every profile reads 500+, whether the owner has 501 or 20,000. LinkedIn says it doesn't display the exact number for anyone over 500. To see your own total, open My Network and look at the connections link under your profile name.
Can I hide my LinkedIn connections from just one person?
Not with Connection visibility: LinkedIn's help page describes one On/Off switch for whether your connections can see your list. If one person is the problem, you can remove them as a connection, which ends their access to your full list (they can still see connections you share), or block them, which stops you both opening each other's profiles on LinkedIn.
Can I hide my connections in the LinkedIn app?
Yes. Tap your profile photo, then Settings & Privacy, then Visibility. Under Visibility of your profile & network, tap Connection visibility and switch it off. The change saves automatically. People who share connections with you will still see those shared names.
Does hiding my connections hide my follower count?
Not according to LinkedIn's help page: Connection visibility only covers whether your connections can see your list. The LinkedIn help pages we checked describe who can follow you, not a way to hide the follower figure. If you limit followers to your connections, LinkedIn says followers outside your network are removed and your follower number becomes the same as your total connections. That change can take up to 24 hours.
Who can see my LinkedIn connections?
By default, your 1st-degree connections can browse your whole list, which can include competitors and recruiters you accepted. Turning off Connection visibility stops that, but anyone who shares connections with you can still see those shared ones. If you accepted an invitation to TeamLink Extend from your company's Sales Navigator team, Sales Navigator users at your company can see your connections until you turn it off.
Sources
- LinkedIn Help: Differences in Connection Counts on a LinkedIn Profile (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Connection visibility (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Follow visibility (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: View your connection's connections (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Help: Manage TeamLink Extend settings (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator Help: Manage profile visibility settings in Sales Navigator (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Control your public LinkedIn profile (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: LinkedIn public profile visibility (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Manage who can follow you settings (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Remove a connection on LinkedIn (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Block a member, overview (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/linkedin: Can we hide connection count? (23 August 2026)
- r/linkedin: How to hide connection count (20 August 2026)