Top 10 LinkedIn Privacy Settings You NEED to Know and Manage

LinkedIn offers a variety of privacy settings that allow users to control who can see their profile, activity, and personal information. Here are some key settings to manage:

1. Profile visibility:

Control who can see your profile and activity by adjusting your privacy settings.

The Profile visibility setting in LinkedIn allows you to control who can see your profile and activity on the platform. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can choose from the following options:

1. Public: Anyone can see your profile and activity, including people outside of your LinkedIn network.
2. Your network: Only people in your LinkedIn network (i.e., connections, 2nd-degree connections, and group members) can see your profile and activity.
3. Only you: Only you can see your profile and activity. This is useful if you want to make updates to your profile without making them visible to others.

You can also use the “Manage who can see your activity feed” option to control who can see your updates and activity on your LinkedIn feed.

It’s worth noting that certain elements of your profile, such as your name, current title, and current company, will always be visible to people in your network, even if you set your profile visibility to “Only you.”

2. Profile information:

Decide what information is displayed on your profile, such as your contact information and work experience.

The Profile information settings in LinkedIn allow you to control what information is displayed on your profile, such as your contact information and work experience. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Edit Profile button. From there, you can edit the following sections of your profile:

1. Contact information: Add or edit your email address, phone number, and other contact details.
2. Summary: Write a brief summary of your professional background and experience.
3. Experience: Add or edit your current and past job titles, companies, and job responsibilities.
4. Education: Add or edit your educational background, including schools attended and degrees earned.
5. Skills: Add or edit the skills that you want to showcase on your profile.
6. Certifications: Add or edit any certifications or professional development courses you have completed.
7. Volunteer Experience and Causes: Add or edit any volunteer experience and causes you support.
8. Projects: Add or edit any projects you have worked on.
9. Honors and Awards: Add or edit any honors or awards you have received.

It’s worth noting that some sections of your profile, such as your name and current job title, are mandatory and cannot be removed.

You can also choose to show or hide any section of your profile from the public or your network.

3. Network updates:

Choose who can see your updates and activity on your LinkedIn feed.

The Network updates settings in LinkedIn allow you to control who can see your updates and activity on your LinkedIn feed. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Manage who can see your activity feed” option.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Public: Anyone can see your updates and activity, including people outside of your LinkedIn network.
2. Your network: Only people in your LinkedIn network (i.e., connections, 2nd-degree connections, and group members) can see your updates and activity.
3. Only you: Only you can see your updates and activity. This is useful if you want to make updates to your feed without making them visible to others.

You can also choose to share specific updates with certain groups of people, such as only your connections or only certain groups. Additionally, you can block certain members from seeing your updates by going to their profile and selecting “Block” from the drop-down menu.

It’s worth noting that certain actions, such as accepting a connection request or endorsing someone, will be visible to your network, even if you set the visibility of your updates to “Only you”.

4. LinkedIn Learning:

Control who can see the courses you’ve completed and the skills you’ve acquired.

LinkedIn Learning settings in LinkedIn allow you to control who can see the courses you’ve completed and the skills you’ve acquired. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Learning” tab.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Public: Anyone can see the courses you’ve completed and the skills you’ve acquired, including people outside of your LinkedIn network.
2. Your network: Only people in your LinkedIn network (i.e., connections, 2nd-degree connections, and group members) can see the courses you’ve completed and the skills you’ve acquired.
3. Only you: Only you can see the courses you’ve completed and the skills you’ve acquired. This is useful if you want to keep your learning activities private.

It’s worth noting that depending on the settings of the individual course, certain elements of the course may be visible to others, even if you set your LinkedIn Learning visibility to “Only you.”

You can also choose to share specific courses or skills with certain groups of people, such as only your connections or only certain groups.

5. LinkedIn InMail:

Choose who can send you InMail messages and which members can see when you’re active on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn InMail settings in LinkedIn allow you to choose who can send you InMail messages and who can see when you’re active on LinkedIn. You can adjust these settings by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Communications” tab.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Who can send you InMail: You can choose to allow InMail messages from anyone, only from your 1st-degree connections, or only from people you have previously messaged.
2. Active status: You can choose to show or hide when you’re active on LinkedIn. Hiding your active status will prevent other members from seeing when you’re online and using the platform.
3. Turn off the chat: You can turn off the chat feature to avoid getting any instant messages from anyone.

It’s worth noting that even if you set your InMail settings to only allow messages from your 1st-degree connections, you will still receive messages from LinkedIn’s customer service team and recruiters who have paid for the ability to send InMail messages to any member.

You can also use the “Who can see your email address” option to control who can see your email address in your LinkedIn profile.

6. Third-party apps:

Review and manage the apps and websites that have access to your LinkedIn data.

Third-party app settings in LinkedIn allow you to review and manage the apps and websites that have access to your LinkedIn data. You can adjust these settings by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Privacy” tab and then click on the “Third-party apps” option.

You can use this setting to:

1. Review the apps and websites that have access to your LinkedIn data.
2. Revoke access to any app or website that you no longer want to have access to your data.
3. Control the type of data that the apps and websites can access, such as your profile information, connections, and activity.

It’s worth noting that when you revoke access to an app or website, it will no longer have access to your LinkedIn data and you may lose access to certain features or functionality provided by that app or website.

You can also use the “Turn on/off” option to control whether third-party apps can access your LinkedIn data when you sign in using your LinkedIn account.

7. Searchability:

Decide if you want to be included in LinkedIn search results and who can see your profile when they search for you.

The Searchability setting in LinkedIn allows you to decide if you want to be included in LinkedIn search results and who can see your profile when they search for you. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Privacy” tab and then click on the “How others see your LinkedIn activity” option.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Allow others to find my profile using my email address or phone number: If you turn this option on, your profile will be included in search results when someone searches for you using your email address or phone number.
2. Allow others to see your profile when they search for your name: If you turn this option on, your profile will be included in search results when someone searches for your name.
3. Allow others to find my profile using my address: If you turn this option on, your profile will be included in search results when someone searches for you using your address.

It’s worth noting that even if you turn off searchability, your profile will still be visible to people who have your LinkedIn profile URL or have already connected with you.

You can also use the “Who can see your activity feed” option to control who can see your activity feed. This option allows you to choose who can see your updates and activity on your LinkedIn feed, including your connections, the public, or only you.

8. Job applications:

Control who can see when you apply for jobs on LinkedIn.

The Job applications settings in LinkedIn allow you to control who can see when you apply for jobs on LinkedIn. You can adjust these settings by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Privacy” tab and then click on the “Job applications” option.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Who can see your job applications: You can choose to allow anyone to see your job applications, only your connections or only you.
2. Who can see your job application activity: You can choose to allow anyone to see your job application activity, only your connections or only you.

It’s worth noting that even if you set your job applications visibility to “Only you,” recruiters will still be able to see that you applied for their job.

By default, your job application activity is visible to your connections. This means that when you apply for a job on LinkedIn, your connections will see that you applied for that job. If you don’t want your connections to see your job application activity, you can change this setting to “Only you.”

You can also use the “Save jobs” option to control who can see the jobs you’ve saved. This option allows you to choose who can see the jobs you’ve saved, including your connections, the public, or only you.

9. Profile endorsements:

Choose who can see the endorsements you’ve received on your profile.

The Profile endorsements settings in LinkedIn allow you to choose who can see the endorsements you’ve received on your profile. You can adjust this setting by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Privacy” tab and then click on the “Profile viewing options” option.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Show endorsements: You can choose to show or hide the endorsements you’ve received on your profile. If you choose to show endorsements, people who view your profile will see the skills that you’ve been endorsed for, and the number of endorsements you’ve received for each skill.
2. Show the names of endorsers: You can choose to show or hide the names of the people who have endorsed you. If you choose to show the names of endorsers, people who view your profile will see the names of the people who have endorsed you for each skill.

It’s worth noting that even if you choose to hide your endorsements, they will still be visible to people who have your LinkedIn profile URL or have already connected with you.

You can also use the “Endorsements” option to control who can endorse you. This option allows you to choose who can endorse you, including your connections, the public, or only you.

10. Advertising preferences:

Manage the types of ads you see on LinkedIn and control if your data is used for ad targeting.

The Advertising preferences settings in LinkedIn allow you to manage the types of ads you see on LinkedIn and control if your data is used for ad targeting. You can adjust these settings by going to your LinkedIn profile and clicking on the Privacy & Settings icon in the top right corner. From there, you can click on the “Privacy” tab and then click on the “Advertising preferences” option.

You have the following options to choose from:

1. Ad targeting: You can choose to allow LinkedIn to use your data for ad targeting, or you can opt out of ad targeting altogether. When you opt out of ad targeting, LinkedIn will not use your data to show you personalized ads.
2. Ad categories: You can choose to see or not see ads in certain categories, such as job opportunities, education, or travel.
3. Advertisers: You can choose to see or not see ads from certain advertisers or companies.
4. Ad choices: You can use the “Ad Choices” feature to learn more about the ads you see on LinkedIn, why you’re seeing them, and how you can control the ads you see.

It’s worth noting that even if you opt out of ad targeting, you will still see ads on LinkedIn. However, these ads will not be personalized to you and will be based on your general location and browsing history.

Also, please note that LinkedIn’s ability to show you relevant ads is also based on information from third-party partners, like cookies from other websites you visit.

These are the LinkedIn Hacks to grow your profile. Follow all these hacks and don’t forget to follow, clap this article, and also do comment for better reach 😉.