How do I delete my LinkedIn account, and should a salesperson close it, hibernate it or just go quiet?

How do I delete my LinkedIn account?

How do I delete my LinkedIn account? Open Settings & Privacy, go to Account preferences, and choose Close account under Account management. LinkedIn asks for a reason and your password, and the account is closed. It takes a few clicks on desktop or in the mobile app.

The steps are the easy part. The decision is harder, because closing deletes your profile, your connections, your messages and every recommendation and endorsement. In most cases LinkedIn can reopen a closed account within 14 days. After that, the closure is permanent and you start from zero.

Every step, time window and rule on this page comes from LinkedIn's own Help pages and privacy policy, checked on September 18, 2026. LinkedIn changes menu names from time to time, so if a label looks slightly different on your screen, look for the closest match in the same section.

Close, hibernate, go private or cancel Premium: which one you need

Many people who search for how to delete a LinkedIn account do not actually want their account deleted. They want to stop paying, stop being found, stop getting messages, or take a break. LinkedIn has a separate setting for each of those.

This table was written for this page from the LinkedIn Help articles listed in the sources. For a salesperson changing jobs or stepping back from selling, the usual answer is go private or hibernate, not close. The next sections explain why.

For a salesperson changing jobs or stepping back

Your LinkedIn account belongs to you, not to your employer. The connections you built while prospecting on LinkedIn leave with you. Closing the account to "start fresh" at a new company throws away the network that makes your first months there easier.

What does belong to the employer is the paid seat. If your company pays for your Sales Navigator license, the company's admin controls it. LinkedIn's help pages say that while your account is linked to an enterprise product like Sales Navigator, Recruiter or Learning, an admin must remove you before you can close it.

• Changing jobs quietly: turn off Share profile updates before you edit your Experience section, so your network is not notified of the change.
• Taking a few months off: hibernate. Nothing is deleted, and your profile is hidden until you log in again.
• Leaving sales but staying in business: keep the account, rewrite the headline and About section, and stop the outreach.
• Leaving LinkedIn completely: download your data, cancel paid products, tell key contacts, then close.

What to do before you delete your LinkedIn account

LinkedIn will refuse to close the account while some things are still attached to it, and other things cannot be recovered once you close. Work through this list first.

• Download your data. After closing you no longer have access to your LinkedIn data, including messages and your connection list.
• Cancel Premium. LinkedIn requires you to resolve a Premium membership before it closes your Basic account.
• Handle paid seats. Cancel Sales Navigator yourself, or ask your employer's admin to remove you if the company pays.
• Hand over groups. If you own a LinkedIn group, transfer ownership or close the group first.
• Tell the people who matter. Send your email address to contacts you want to keep, one message at a time.
• Unlink third-party sign-in. If you joined with Google, Apple or Microsoft credentials, unlink LinkedIn from that provider's side too.

How to download your LinkedIn data first

LinkedIn's data download is the only way to keep your messages, connections and profile content once the account is gone. It works on desktop only; LinkedIn says the feature is not available on mobile, and recommends a personal computer rather than a public one.

1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy.
2. Click Data privacy on the left.
3. Under How LinkedIn uses your data, click Download your data.
4. Choose specific categories or the larger archive, then click Request archive.

The same Help page also lists some categories, including Connections and Messages, under a heading that says available within 48 hours. Plan for up to two days, request the archive before you do anything else, and download it as soon as the email arrives.

Two limits matter for salespeople. Your connection export includes an email address only when that connection allowed it in their privacy settings. And LinkedIn does not include People You May Know or Who's Viewed Your Profile data in the archive.

Cancel Premium and Sales Navigator first

If you pay for Premium, cancel it before you close the account. LinkedIn will not close a Basic account while a Premium membership or premium license is still active, and canceling on time prevents one more charge.

1. Click the Me icon and select Premium features.
2. Click Manage subscription under Plan Details. You are taken to the LinkedIn Admin Center.
3. Click Purchases, select your active subscription, click Cancel subscription under Actions, then Confirm cancel.

Unused InMail credits are lost when Premium ends and cannot be credited back. If you only want to stop paying, stop here: canceling Premium keeps your profile, connections and data on a free account.

Sales Navigator is separate. A purchaser admin cancels an online Sales Navigator Advanced plan in the Admin Center under Purchases. If your employer provides the seat, ask the admin to remove you from the account instead.

How to delete your LinkedIn account on desktop, step by step

1. Download your data

   In Settings & Privacy, open Data privacy, click Download your data, choose the archive and request it. Keep the files before you close anything.

2. Cancel Premium and paid products

   Cancel Premium through Premium features and Manage subscription, and cancel Sales Navigator or ask your admin to remove you if your employer pays.

3. Hand over what you own

   Transfer ownership of any LinkedIn group you own, or close it. LinkedIn will not close your account while you still own one.

4. Open Close account

   Click the Me icon, select Settings & Privacy, then Account preferences, and click Change next to Close account under Account management.

5. Pick a reason and confirm

   Choose the reason, click Next, enter your password and click Close account. In the app, tap Continue, then Next and Done.

6. Note the 14 day window

   Save the date. In most cases you can reopen the account by signing in within 14 days; after that the closure is final.

How to close your LinkedIn account on the mobile app

The LinkedIn Help page gives the same steps for the iPhone and Android apps:

1. Tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Account preferences.
2. Tap Close account under Account management.
3. Tap Continue to proceed.
4. Tap the reason for closing your account, then Next.
5. Enter your account password and tap Done.

In a mobile browser, tap the Profile icon in the navigation bar, then the Settings icon at the top right of your profile, and continue from Close account under Account management. Do the data download on a computer before you start, because the download is not available on mobile.

What happens after you close your LinkedIn account

Deletion is not instant: closing starts a sequence with a few clear time windows. These come from LinkedIn's Help pages and section 4.3 of its privacy policy.

LinkedIn also keeps de-personalized information after closure. Group content and ratings or reviews from a closed account show an unknown user as the source, rather than disappearing.

What happens to your messages and connections

LinkedIn's Help page is direct: closing deletes your messages and your connections, along with every recommendation and endorsement you gave or received. You will not be able to look anything up afterward, so export what you need first.

The other side is different. The privacy policy says information you shared with others, for example through InMail, updates or group posts, stays visible after you close. The people you messaged keep their copy of the conversation. LinkedIn also does not control data other members copied out of the service.

For a salesperson, that means your prospect conversations live on in your prospects' inboxes, but not in yours. If a deal or a follow-up depends on a thread, copy it into your CRM before you close. If you are unsure whether a message was seen, our page on LinkedIn read receipts explains what LinkedIn shows.

How to reopen a closed LinkedIn account

LinkedIn can reopen a closed account in most cases if it was closed less than 14 days ago. It cannot reopen accounts closed for more than 14 days.

1. Go to the LinkedIn sign-in page, enter the email address registered to the account and your password, and click Sign in. You can also use the link in the account closure email.
2. Click Reactivate.
3. Confirm in the email LinkedIn sends you.

Reopening restores your connections, but not everything. LinkedIn cannot recover group memberships, followings such as Top Voices and companies, ignored and pending invitations, or endorsements and recommendations. After 14 days, the only path back is a new account built from scratch, which our guide on how to create a LinkedIn profile covers.

How to hibernate LinkedIn account instead of deleting it

Hibernation is LinkedIn's alternative to closing: it temporarily hides your account without deleting anything, so nothing is permanently lost. The rule to remember is the 24 hour minimum: you can reactivate only 24 hours after you hibernate, and you cannot log in during that time.

Steps to hibernate your account

1. Click your profile photo at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy.
2. Select Hibernate account under Account management.
3. Select the option that describes why you are hibernating.
4. Enter your password and click Hibernate account.

LinkedIn may first ask you to finish some tasks, such as paying balances, reassigning group admin roles, or deactivating a LinkedIn Learning or Recruiter license. Complete them, click Refresh, and the Hibernate button becomes available. If it still does not work, use Contact Support.

What others see while you hibernate

• Profile: not visible to anyone, including your connections.
• Search: your profile does not appear in LinkedIn search or in products such as Recruiter.
• Messages: conversations remain, but you are shown as "A LinkedIn member".
• Posts and comments: they stay, credited to "A LinkedIn member", with a generic icon in place of your photo.
• Recommendations and endorsements you gave: they stay, credited to "A LinkedIn member".

What hibernation does to Premium and Sales Navigator

Hibernating cancels an active Premium subscription immediately, and any promotional price you had may not be honored later. If you bought Premium through Apple, also cancel with Apple to stop future billing. Sales Navigator and other Sales Solutions licenses stay active when you return, unless an admin revokes them, so tell your admin.

To end hibernation, log in with your usual credentials at least 24 hours later. LinkedIn notes your connection and follower counts may look wrong at first; this should resolve within 48 hours.

Close vs hibernate: side by side

Go private: stay on LinkedIn without being found

If the goal is fewer eyes on your profile, you can keep the account and change four settings. None of them deletes anything, and each can be switched back.

• Public profile: in your public profile settings, turn off sections or make the public profile visible to no one, so people who are not signed in and search engines see less. Search engines can take weeks or months to refresh.
• Private browsing: in Settings & Privacy, Visibility, choose Private mode under Visibility when viewing other profiles. On a free account, you then cannot see who viewed your profile either.
• Share profile updates: under Visibility of your LinkedIn activity, switch it off before editing your job, so your network gets no notification.
• Off-LinkedIn visibility: switch it off to stop permitted third-party services from showing your profile information to their users.

Two cautions from LinkedIn Help. Anyone who views your profile sees your edits as soon as you save them, even with sharing off. And disabling your public profile could make account recovery harder if you lose access to your primary email, because LinkedIn may ask for your public profile URL.

If you also want fewer emails and notifications, LinkedIn suggests adjusting their frequency in the Notifications section of Settings & Privacy rather than closing the account.

Why you can't close your LinkedIn account

If LinkedIn shows a message that something needs to be resolved, one of these is usually attached to the account:

• An enterprise account: you used Recruiter, Learning or Sales Navigator through an organization. The admin, who may be a current or former employer, must remove you.
• A Premium membership or premium license: cancel it first.
• A LinkedIn group you own: transfer ownership or close the group.
• No access to the account: recover access to your email or reset your password first.

If you are still blocked after the admin removes you, or you do not know who the admin is, LinkedIn's help page points you to Contact Support. A restricted LinkedIn account is a different problem, with its own recovery steps.

How to delete a LinkedIn company page

A LinkedIn company page cannot be completely deleted. It can be deactivated, which hides it from members and removes it from LinkedIn search. Only a super admin can do it, and only on desktop.

1. Go to your Page super admin view.
2. Click Settings in the left menu and select Deactivate page.
3. Check the box to confirm the implications, then click Deactivate.

The Page must have fewer than 100 associated members, no active Showcase Pages, no active or paused ad campaigns, no published Product Pages, and must not have been acquired. If you do not see the option, the Page is not eligible.

After deactivation, people who listed the company in their Experience section keep the name, but the logo becomes a placeholder and the link is removed. If the company still operates and you simply left it, LinkedIn suggests removing yourself as an admin instead.

Delete a duplicate LinkedIn account

LinkedIn's rules allow one account per person. If you find a second profile with your details, sign in to it and close it the same way. If it has zero connections, wait 48 hours after closing, then add its email address to your main account so it cannot create another duplicate.

If both accounts have connections, LinkedIn can merge them through support. A merge moves only connections and the email address; profile content, endorsements, recommendations and group memberships are not merged, and InMail credits are lost.

Common mistakes when deleting a LinkedIn account

• Closing the account to stop Premium charges, when canceling Premium alone would have done it.
• Closing before downloading data, then finding the prospect conversations you needed are gone.
• Expecting endorsements and recommendations to return after reopening within 14 days.
• Deleting a network you built over years because of a job change, then rebuilding it with LinkedIn networking from zero.
• Canceling Premium on the billing date instead of at least one day before.
• Forgetting the Apple subscription, so billing continues after hibernation.
• Assuming a closed profile vanishes from Google the same day.

If you decide to stay

If the real problem is a profile that no longer fits, a rewrite usually beats a restart. Change the headline to match what you do now; our LinkedIn headline examples help with that, and the LinkedIn glossary entry covers how the platform works for B2B.

The note to send your key contacts before you leave

This template was written for this page. Send it one at a time to the few people you want to keep, a few days before you close or hibernate, so they have another way to reach you.

Hi {{firstName}},

I am {{closing or pausing}} my LinkedIn account on {{date}}, so messages sent there will not reach me after that.

If you want to stay in touch about {{topic}}, the best way to reach me is {{email or phone}}.

Thanks for {{something specific you worked on together}}.

{{yourName}}

Frequently asked questions