How Do I Make My LinkedIn Account Inactive?
In a nutshell: LinkedIn allows users to connect with professionals, find jobs, and access industry news. If you need a break from the platform, you can deactivate your account temporarily without deleting it. To do this, log in to your LinkedIn account on a web browser, go to the "Settings and Privacy" section, select "Account Preferences," then click on "Hibernate Account." You can provide an explanation for deactivating your account if you wish, but it is optional. Enter your account password and click "Hibernate Account" to complete the process. If you encounter any issues, you can contact LinkedIn customer support for assistance.
Introduction
LinkedIn connects you with professionals and documents your networking activities. You can also find jobs and get industry news through the platform’s useful tools and resources. You can deactivate your account if you need a break from the company’s services without deleting it. Here’s how to hibernate your LinkedIn account.
Log in to Your Account
To begin, you must log in to your LinkedIn account on a web browser. You can’t delete your account from your mobile application. Once logged in, click your profile image circle on the top right.
Open “Settings and Privacy”
Clicking your profile icon opens a drop-down menu with the “Account” and “Manage” sections. Scroll to the “Account” section and click “Settings and Privacy.”
Deactivate Your Account
On the account’s “Settings and Privacy” section, select “Account Preferences.” This reveals various settings related to your profile information, site preferences, syncing options, subscriptions & payments, partners & services and account management. Find the “Account Management” section and click it.
Click “Hibernate Account”
The “Account Management” section has a lot of features that let you take control of your LinkedIn account. From here, you can either transfer connections from a duplicate account and close it, temporarily deactivate your account or close your account. Scroll through the options and click “Hibernate Account.”
Give an Explanation
LinkedIn respects your privacy, but the platform will open a new page with a section to fill out the reason for your decision to deactivate your account temporarily. There are various reasons why you may decide to inactivate your LinkedIn account. Maybe you need a break from the activities you carry out on the platform, you’re receiving an overwhelming number of emails, or you have a privacy or safety concern with the platform.
Explaining why you need a break from LinkedIn is optional; skipping this step doesn’t interfere with your account deactivation process. If you have a concern other than the ones listed or you’d like to give more explanation on why you’re deactivating your account, there’s a section at the bottom of the page for all that. Type in your explanation and click “Next.”
Enter Account Password
Deactivating your account denies you access to your profile, and it will also not be available on the site. LinkedIn asks for a password to ensure that an authorized person is making the deactivation. Enter your account password and click “Hibernate Account.” If you’re a LinkedIn premium subscriber, your subscription plan gets canceled when you hibernate your account.
Contact Support
If you encounter issues while hibernating your account, the LinkedIn customer support team is always available to help you. To contact customer support, open the LinkedIn website homepage and scroll to the bottom. Click “Help Center” to access the LinkedIn help resources. Type “Contact Support” on the help page search bar, and click “Contact LinkedIn Customer Support” on the next page. This provides instructions on how to submit a support case when attempting to reach customer support.
Conclusion
If you're a LinkedIn user spending very little time on your account, for instance, every four months, you can deactivate it. This won’t result in data loss; you’ll still regain access to your account if you need to in the future. It's good practice to back up your list of connections in case of any issues that may risk losing your data.
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