How to delete your LinkedIn account
The official route, in the right order: export what you’ll miss, unhook whatever depends on the account, then delete it. Below the steps we’re also straight with you about the part most guides skip — what carries on existing after the account is gone.
To delete a LinkedIn account, sign in and open the official deletion page at www.linkedin.com, after downloading a copy of your data, then confirm. You get a window to undo it — a limited reopening window after closure, then permanent — and logging back in during that time cancels the deletion. Deleting the account closes the account. It does not remove your name, address, phone number or relatives from the data-broker and people-search sites that already copied them — those need a separate opt-out.
Delete your LinkedIn account, step by step
These steps follow LinkedIn’s own documented process. Official links only: account deletion · data download.
Download your data first (Settings → Data privacy → Get a copy of your data) — the connections list and messages are gone once closure completes.
Save the contact details of people you actually want to keep, because you lose every connection and cannot export them afterwards.
Cancel Premium, Sales Navigator or Recruiter before closing — a closed account does not automatically end paid subscriptions.
Go to Settings → Account preferences → Close account, pick a reason, then re-enter your password.
Confirm, and remove the LinkedIn app so a stored session doesn't reopen the account by accident.
How long you have to change your mind
A limited reopening window after closure, then permanent. Worth knowing: a phone or tablet with the app still installed can log itself back in and quietly cancel the deletion. Sign out everywhere, or remove the app, and check your email at the end of the window.
What trips people up with LinkedIn
- Recommendations you wrote for other people disappear from their profiles when you close yours, which is why colleagues suddenly lose endorsements.
- Google keeps showing your old profile in results for a while after closure — that is search-engine cache, not a failed deletion.
- Groups you own need a new owner before you go, otherwise the group is left unmanaged.
Maybe you don’t want to delete it
Hibernating the account hides your profile and activity but keeps your connections and messages, so you can come back without rebuilding the network.
What still exists after the account is gone
- Your profile in search-engine caches for weeks after closure
- Copies scraped by recruiting databases and people-search sites
- Messages you sent, in your contacts' inboxes
And the bigger one, which has nothing to do with LinkedIn: data brokers and people-search sites keep their own profile of you, assembled from public records, marketing lists and scraped social profiles. Your name, age, address history, phone number and relatives sit on those sites whether or not you still have a LinkedIn account — that’s why people delete everything, search their own name, and find themselves still listed on the first page.
See where I’m listed — free →After deleting: three things worth doing
- Opt out of the broker sites. This is the step that actually shrinks what a stranger can find about you. Our free opt-out guide walks through 190 of them, one by one.
- Check what already leaked. The email and password behind the account may sit in known breach data regardless of whether the account still exists. A free breach check tells you which dumps include it.
- Clean up the search results. Cached pages and old profiles can outlive the account by weeks — see how to clean up your Google results.
Deleting a LinkedIn account, answered
How do I delete my LinkedIn account?
Start at LinkedIn's official deletion page (www.linkedin.com) while signed in to the account you want gone. Download a copy of your data first — it stops being available once the account goes. Work through the confirmation steps, then stay logged out: a limited reopening window after closure, then permanent.
Can I get my LinkedIn account back after deleting it?
There is a window: a limited reopening window after closure, then permanent. Inside it, signing back in usually restores everything and cancels the deletion — which is also why an app left installed on an old phone can undo a deletion you thought was done. After the window closes, it is gone.
What still exists after I delete my LinkedIn account?
More than most people expect. Your profile in search-engine caches for weeks after closure; Copies scraped by recruiting databases and people-search sites; Messages you sent, in your contacts' inboxes. Deletion removes your account and the copy of the data held under it — it does not reach into other people's devices, third-party archives or the databases that already copied your details.
Should I deactivate my LinkedIn account instead of deleting it?
Hibernating the account hides your profile and activity but keeps your connections and messages, so you can come back without rebuilding the network. Deleting makes sense when you want the data gone; pausing makes sense when you want the noise gone. It's worth being honest with yourself about which one you're after before you press anything irreversible.
Does deleting my LinkedIn account remove my personal information from the internet?
No, and this is the part that surprises people. Data brokers and people-search sites built their profiles of you from public records, marketing lists and scraped social profiles — they hold their own copy, and closing an account on LinkedIn does nothing to it. Your name, age, address history, phone number and relatives stay listed and searchable until you opt out of those sites one by one, or have it done for you.