How do I permanently delete my LinkedIn account?
Close it in Settings & Privacy. LinkedIn's close and delete your account help page, last updated a year before we checked it on 4 November 2026, says closing means "permanently deleting your profile" and gives these steps:
Open Settings & Privacy
Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.
Find Close account
In Account preferences, under Account management, click Change next to Close account.
Give a reason and confirm
Check the reason you are closing, click Next, enter your password and click Close account.
Close it in the app
Tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Account preferences. Tap Close account under Account management, tap Continue, tap a reason and Next, then enter your password and tap Done.
Close it in a phone browser
Tap the Profile icon in the navigation bar, then the Settings icon in the top right corner of your profile, then Close account under Account management. The rest matches the app.
If LinkedIn stops you partway, something is still attached to the account. The same page says a Premium membership, a LinkedIn group you own or a premium account licence has to be resolved before you can close your Basic account. If you signed up with Google, Apple or Microsoft, it also asks you to unlink that email account from LinkedIn on the provider's own site.
Is deactivating the same as deleting?
No. LinkedIn's temporary option for a personal account is called hibernation, and its hibernation help page says you can reactivate 24 hours after you hibernate. LinkedIn uses deactivate for company Pages. The options, from LinkedIn's help pages as of 4 November 2026:
| Option | What changes | Can you undo it? | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close account | Profile no longer visible; connections, messages, recommendations and endorsements deleted; purchase history no longer accessible. | In most cases, if closed less than 14 days. Endorsements, recommendations, pending invitations, followings and group memberships don't come back. | You are leaving LinkedIn for good. |
| Hibernate | Profile hidden from everyone, connections included, and from searches, Recruiter included. Posts, comments and messages stay, credited to A LinkedIn member. | Sign in again after 24 hours. Connection and follower counts may look off at first; LinkedIn says this should resolve within 48 hours. | You want a break or time to decide. |
| Cancel Premium only | You keep a free Basic account with your profile and connections. | Your account stays open. | The bill is the problem. |
| Change notification settings | Fewer emails, notifications and group digests. | Change the setting back. | Email volume is the problem. |
| Deactivate your company Page | Page hidden from members and LinkedIn search. LinkedIn says a Page can't be completely deleted. | Super admins get an email with a link to reactivate. | The Page itself has to go. |
LinkedIn's hibernation page gives one set of steps without naming a device: click your profile photo at the top of your homepage, select Settings & Privacy, select Hibernate account under Account management, choose why you're hibernating, then enter your password and click Hibernate account. It may first ask you to pay balances, reassign group admin roles or deactivate a Learning or Recruiter licence.
Only a super admin can deactivate a Page, and LinkedIn's deactivation checklist rules out Pages with 100 or more associated members, or with active or paused ad campaigns, among other criteria. For a closed or rebranded company, LinkedIn suggests keeping the Page active so former staff keep the link on their profiles.
If you only want fewer people to see you, our guide to making your LinkedIn profile private covers the settings. If LinkedIn restricted your account, our restricted account recovery guide covers appeals and ID checks before you give up on it.
What should you save or hand over before you close?
Save your data and hand over anything other people depend on: the close page says you lose access to your connections and everything you added.
Request your data archive
Click Me, Settings & Privacy, Data Privacy, then Download your data; select what you want and click Request archive. LinkedIn's download your data page says single categories arrive by email within minutes, the larger download within 24 hours, and the link works for 72 hours. Its category table, though, lists Connections and Messages among files available within 48 hours, so allow two days. The Connections file includes a connection's email address only when that person allows it. Our guide to exporting your LinkedIn connections explains the file.
Add a second super admin to your company Page
LinkedIn's admin roles page says every Page must have at least one super admin, and the only super admin must assign another before removing themselves. Its Page best practices say to add other super admins in case one leaves, and that LinkedIn can't replace or remove admins.
Hand over any group you own
A group owner can't leave until another owner is added, and LinkedIn won't add one without an existing owner's permission. On your Group homepage, click Manage group, find the member, click More, select Make owner and confirm, as LinkedIn's group management page, last updated five years ago, describes without naming a device.
Cancel paid products
Cancel Premium, and ask whoever administers any Sales Navigator, Recruiter or Learning licence you use (LinkedIn says this could be a current or former employer) to remove you. LinkedIn won't close the account until these are resolved.
If your own posts were the company's main voice on LinkedIn, read our comparison of posting from a personal profile or a company Page before you close.
What happens to your data after you close?
LinkedIn generally deletes closed account information within 30 days, but what you shared with other people stays visible. Say you close on Wednesday 4 November 2026. LinkedIn's pages give this timeline:
| When | In this example | What LinkedIn says |
|---|---|---|
| At once | 4 Nov | The account is closed immediately (search tools page). |
| Within 24 hours | By 5 Nov | Your personal data generally stops being visible to others (privacy policy, effective 3 November 2025, section 4.3). A data retention page last updated four years ago says it generally leaves LinkedIn's production system in that time. |
| Up to 72 hours | By 7 Nov (4 Nov + 3 days) | Your public profile may take this long to be removed from LinkedIn (search tools page). |
| Less than 14 days | Before 18 Nov (4 Nov + 14 days) | LinkedIn can reopen the account in most cases. After 14 days it can't. |
| Within 30 days | By 4 Dec (4 Nov + 30 days) | Closed account information is generally deleted, and logs or backups de-identified, except as the privacy policy notes. |
| Until they refresh | No date given | Search engines may still show your public profile. |
The privacy policy also says information you shared with others, such as InMail, updates or group posts, stays visible after you close, and group content and reviews from closed accounts show an unknown user as the source. LinkedIn also keeps some data where reasonably necessary for legal obligations, security, fraud prevention or disputes.
For Google, wait until the profile has gone from LinkedIn (after 7 November in this example), then use Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool. Google says it is for pages you don't own that no longer exist, you must be signed in with a Google account, and processing can take a few days.
How do I delete my second LinkedIn profile?
Close the duplicate if it has no connections; otherwise ask LinkedIn to merge it. LinkedIn's duplicate accounts page says creating multiple profiles is not allowed. To find the other account, search your name: the profile with the You icon is the one you are signed in to, and one with your details but no You icon is the duplicate.
- The duplicate has 0 connections: sign in to it, close it with the steps above, wait 48 hours, then add its email address to the account you keep. LinkedIn says this can prevent more duplicates.
- Both have connections: have both logins and both profile URLs ready, then use the contact us link on that page. LinkedIn says the primary email address of both accounts must be confirmed. Only the connections and email address transfer. Profile content, endorsements, recommendations, saved articles, group memberships and pending invitations don't, and InMail credits are lost.
- Merge limits: accounts with zero connections or more than 30,000 can't be merged. First cancel Premium, open job postings, ad campaigns and events you organise, and close or hand over groups you own.
- Download first: LinkedIn says the merged account's data is purged, so request its archive before you start.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete someone from LinkedIn without going to their profile?
Use your Connections page on desktop. Click My Network, click the link showing your number of connections, click the More icon next to the person and choose Remove connection, then Remove. LinkedIn says they won't be notified, but recommendations and endorsements between you are withdrawn and don't return if you reconnect. In the mobile app, LinkedIn's steps start from the person's profile.
Why can't I close my LinkedIn account?
LinkedIn's help pages name these blockers: a Premium membership, a group you own, a premium account licence, or a link to a LinkedIn enterprise account from buying or using Recruiter, Learning or Sales Navigator. In that last case the account administrator, who could be a current or former employer, has to remove you first. If you still can't close it after that, or don't know who the admin is, LinkedIn asks you to contact support.
Can I close a LinkedIn account I can't log in to?
Start by getting back in: LinkedIn's close page points you to its password reset and to help regaining access to your email address. For a duplicate account whose email you no longer control, LinkedIn asks for the email address on that account and sends you through its identity verification process.
Does hibernating cancel LinkedIn Premium?
Yes. LinkedIn says an active Premium subscription is cancelled immediately when you hibernate, and promotional pricing may not be honoured later. If you bought Premium through Apple, you also have to cancel it with Apple to stop future billing. Sales Navigator and other Sales Solutions licences stay active when you come back, unless an admin revokes them.
Can I reopen my LinkedIn account after 14 days?
No. LinkedIn says it can reopen most accounts closed less than 14 days ago and can't reopen ones closed longer. Inside the window, sign in or use the link in your closure email, click Reactivate and confirm by email. Your connections come back; group memberships, followings, pending invitations, endorsements and recommendations don't.
Sources
- LinkedIn Help: Close and delete your LinkedIn account (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Next steps to close and delete a LinkedIn account (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Hibernate your LinkedIn account (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Reopen your account (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Download your data (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Merge or close duplicate accounts (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Data Retention (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Privacy Policy, section 4.3 (effective 3 November 2025) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Profile displays incorrectly in search tool results (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Before and after you deactivate a LinkedIn Page (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Remove your Page admin's role (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Create a LinkedIn Page best practices (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Add or remove group owners and managers (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Google Search Console Help: Refresh Outdated Content tool (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Remove a connection on LinkedIn (checked 4 Nov 2026)