{"id":204765,"date":"2026-09-28T11:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/?p=204765"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:50:00","slug":"make-your-linkedin-profile-public-or-private","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/make-your-linkedin-profile-public-or-private\/","title":{"rendered":"Make your LinkedIn profile public or private"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You cannot make a LinkedIn profile fully private with one simple switch. You can, however, turn off your public profile for Google, other search engines, and people who do not have LinkedIn. Logged-in LinkedIn members can usually still find and view your profile. You also choose separately who can see your photo, connections, email address, phone number, and activity.<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to disappear completely for a while? Then put your account into sleep mode. Do you want to keep using LinkedIn but be less visible? Then adjust the separate privacy settings.<\/p>\n<p>Below, you will read exactly what public and private mean on LinkedIn. You will also find clear steps for computer, iPhone, and Android.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article_toc\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#can_you_make_a_linkedin_profile_fully_private\">Can you make a LinkedIn profile fully private?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how_do_you_turn_your_public_profile_on_or_off\">How do you turn your public profile on or off?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#what_can_someone_else_see_on_linkedin\">What can someone else see on LinkedIn?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#what_is_the_difference_between_profile_visibility_and_view_mode\">What is the difference between profile visibility and view mode?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how_do_you_make_your_connections_and_activity_more_private\">How do you make your connections and activity more private?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#which_privacy_settings_should_you_check\">Which privacy settings should you check?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#frequently_asked_questions_about_a_public_or_private_linkedin_profile\">Frequently asked questions about a public or private LinkedIn profile<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"can_you_make_a_linkedin_profile_fully_private\">Can you make a LinkedIn profile fully private?<\/h2>\n<p>Not with one normal setting. The <strong>Public profile visibility<\/strong> button mainly controls what people outside LinkedIn and search engines can see. If you turn this option off, your public profile disappears for visitors who are not logged in.<\/p>\n<p>Inside LinkedIn, your profile will usually still be visible to logged-in members. A logged-in member who searches for your name can generally view your full profile. One important exception is someone you have blocked.<\/p>\n<p>You can still limit many parts separately. Think of your profile photo, last name, connections list, email address, phone number, date of birth, and updates about profile changes.<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to stop using LinkedIn temporarily and disappear for everyone? Then sleep mode is the best choice. Your profile is then hidden for a while. You can reactivate the account later by logging in again.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what_does_a_public_linkedin_profile_mean\">What does a public LinkedIn profile mean?<\/h2>\n<p>A public profile is a simplified version of your normal LinkedIn profile. This version can appear in several places:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>in Google, Bing, and other search engines;<\/li>\n<li>for people who are not logged in to LinkedIn;<\/li>\n<li>on a public LinkedIn profile badge;<\/li>\n<li>in certain approved services, such as a linked mail app.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not every part of your full profile can be shown publicly. On the public profile settings page, you can see exactly which parts you can turn on or off.<\/p>\n<p>Even if your profile is public, LinkedIn may still ask a visitor to log in. So public does not mean that every visitor can always see your entire profile without limits.<\/p>\n<p>A public profile can be useful if you want to be found more easily by employers, clients, or business contacts. If you want to grow your network in a targeted way, you can also read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/shop\/linkedin-en\/buy-linkedin-connections\/\">buying LinkedIn connections<\/a>. Always check first which personal information you want to make public.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how_do_you_turn_your_public_profile_on_or_off\">How do you turn your public profile on or off?<\/h2>\n<h3>On a computer<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Log in to LinkedIn.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Me<\/strong> at the top.<\/li>\n<li>Choose <strong>View profile<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click the pencil icon on the right next to <strong>Public profile &amp; URL<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Find <strong>Public profile visibility<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Turn the switch on or off.<\/li>\n<li>If you want, choose which individual parts may be public.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>LinkedIn saves your changes automatically. After adjusting the setting, check whether the switch is in the position you want.<\/p>\n<h3>On iPhone and Android<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Tap your profile photo.<\/li>\n<li>Open <strong>Settings<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Tap <strong>Visibility<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Choose <strong>Edit your public profile<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Turn <strong>Public profile visibility<\/strong> on or off.<\/li>\n<li>If needed, adjust the visibility of each section separately.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The path works almost the same on iPhone and Android. The exact name or location of a button may differ slightly depending on the language you use or the app version.<\/p>\n<p>After that, it is best to view your profile in a private browser window. Make sure you are not logged in to LinkedIn there. That way, you can better see what a normal external visitor gets to see.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what_can_someone_else_see_on_linkedin\">What can someone else see on LinkedIn?<\/h2>\n<p>What someone can see depends mainly on three things: whether that person is logged in, what kind of relationship you have on LinkedIn, and which privacy settings you have chosen.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Type of activity or information<\/th>\n<th>Can the other person see this?<\/th>\n<th>Important exception<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Public profile in Google<\/td>\n<td>Yes, if public visibility is on<\/td>\n<td>A search engine may keep old data<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Full profile within LinkedIn<\/td>\n<td>Usually yes for logged-in members<\/td>\n<td>Blocked members cannot view it normally<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Email address<\/td>\n<td>Usually only for limited groups<\/td>\n<td>Your setting and contact relationship decide this<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Connections list<\/td>\n<td>Often visible to first-degree connections<\/td>\n<td>You can make the list visible only to yourself<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shared connections<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<td>LinkedIn shows shared connections separately<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Profile visit<\/td>\n<td>This depends on your view mode<\/td>\n<td>Private mode hides your name<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Posts<\/td>\n<td>According to the post\u2019s chosen audience<\/td>\n<td>A public post can appear outside your network<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Profile changes<\/td>\n<td>Possible as a notification to your network<\/td>\n<td>You can turn off sharing of changes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Contact details<\/h3>\n<p>The details in the <strong>Contact info<\/strong> section are not automatically visible to everyone. First-degree connections can often see more than unknown members. A website or other public link may be visible more broadly than your email address.<\/p>\n<h3>Connections<\/h3>\n<p>By default, first-degree connections can often view your connections list. You can set it so that only you can see this list. Shared connections may still appear, because LinkedIn shows them separately.<\/p>\n<h3>Photo and last name<\/h3>\n<p>LinkedIn has separate settings for the visibility of your profile photo and the display of your last name. That means you can limit the public profile without turning off all public visibility.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what_can_someone_else_not_see\">What can someone else not see?<\/h2>\n<p>A visitor does not automatically get access to all your private data. Your password, private messages, and data you have not shared are not visible just because your profile is public.<\/p>\n<p>Also, no one can use a normal LinkedIn feature to see the following information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>exactly how many times you opened the same profile;<\/li>\n<li>which other profiles you view when your view mode is private;<\/li>\n<li>who is behind a fully anonymous profile view;<\/li>\n<li>your full search history;<\/li>\n<li>a list of everyone who searched your name in Google.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>LinkedIn Premium gives extra information about profile visitors, but it does not cancel the privacy choice of other people. Someone who views profiles in full private mode remains anonymous, even to a Premium member.<\/p>\n<p>For the exact options and limits, read the explanation about <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/can-you-see-who-views-your-linkedin-profile\/\">can you see who views your LinkedIn profile<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what_is_the_difference_between_profile_visibility_and_view_mode\">What is the difference between profile visibility and view mode?<\/h2>\n<p>Profile visibility and view mode are two different settings. They are often confused with each other.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Profile visibility<\/strong> determines who can see your own profile and the parts of it. <strong>View mode<\/strong> determines what another person sees about you when you visit that person\u2019s profile.<\/p>\n<p>LinkedIn offers three profile viewing options:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Your full name and headline.<\/li>\n<li>Limited profile traits, such as your role or industry.<\/li>\n<li>Full private mode, where only <strong>LinkedIn member<\/strong> appears.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>On a computer, you can find these options through <strong>Settings &amp; Privacy<\/strong>, <strong>Visibility<\/strong>, and <strong>Profile viewing options<\/strong>. In the app, go through your profile photo to <strong>Settings<\/strong>, <strong>Visibility<\/strong>, and then the same option.<\/p>\n<p>With a free account, after choosing full private mode, you can no longer see who viewed your profile. Premium members can keep their visitor list. However, they also never see the name of someone who viewed anonymously.<\/p>\n<p>So if you want to view profiles anonymously, adjust view mode. If you want to decide who sees your own profile, check the profile visibility settings. For full control, you need to review both settings.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"which_visibility_applies_outside_linkedin\">Which visibility applies outside LinkedIn?<\/h2>\n<p>Besides the public profile, LinkedIn has a separate setting for discovery and visibility outside LinkedIn. This setting controls whether approved partners and services may show information from your profile.<\/p>\n<p>Go to <strong>Settings &amp; Privacy<\/strong>, open <strong>Visibility<\/strong>, and choose <strong>Profile discovery and visibility off LinkedIn<\/strong>. Turn this option off if you do not want allowed external services to use your profile information this way.<\/p>\n<p>Note: this switch does not control whether your profile appears in Google. For that, you need to adjust the public profile setting separately. So you need at least two different settings if you want to limit your visibility outside LinkedIn as much as possible.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how_long_does_your_profile_stay_visible_in_google\">How long does your profile stay visible in Google?<\/h2>\n<p>If you turn off the public profile, LinkedIn updates its own public profile page. Google and other search engines may still have an old copy of your data in their index.<\/p>\n<p>LinkedIn warns that it can take weeks or even months before search engines process a change. LinkedIn does not control that speed. So an old search result does not automatically mean that your profile is still publicly accessible.<\/p>\n<p>Check the result in a private browser window. Search for your name together with LinkedIn. Open the search result without logging in. That way, you can better see what an outside visitor can actually view.<\/p>\n<p>If Google still shows old text, but the page no longer opens, it is probably stored information in the search index. This information usually disappears or changes after the search engine checks the page again.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how_do_you_limit_the_visibility_of_your_email_address_and_phone_number\">How do you limit the visibility of your email address and phone number?<\/h2>\n<p>Open <strong>Settings &amp; Privacy<\/strong> and go to <strong>Visibility<\/strong>. There, check who can see your email address. Also review who can find you by email address or phone number.<\/p>\n<p>Choose the smallest group that fits your goal. A recruiter who wants to be easy to reach may make a different choice than someone who mainly wants to avoid unwanted messages.<\/p>\n<p>Remove contact details you do not need from the public part of your profile. Still keep at least one safe email address connected to your account. You may need this address to recover access to your account.<\/p>\n<p>Also check whether your phone number is used only for security or whether people can find you on LinkedIn with it. These are different features and settings.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how_do_you_make_your_connections_and_activity_more_private\">How do you make your connections and activity more private?<\/h2>\n<p>The visibility of your connections, followers, profile changes, and posts is controlled separately. So check the following parts one by one.<\/p>\n<h3>Who can see your connections?<\/h3>\n<p>Set the connections list to <strong>Only you<\/strong> if you do not want to show your network broadly. Keep in mind that shared connections may still appear.<\/p>\n<h3>Who can see your followers?<\/h3>\n<p>Review the settings for following and public updates. Also decide who may follow you without first sending a connection request. Followers are not always the same as connections.<\/p>\n<h3>Who sees profile changes?<\/h3>\n<p>Turn off sharing of job changes, education, and work anniversaries if you want to make changes quietly. The new information will still be visible to someone who visits your profile directly.<\/p>\n<h3>Who sees your posts?<\/h3>\n<p>Choose the audience carefully for each post. A public post does not become private just because your connections list is hidden. The audience setting of the post itself decides that.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to grow on LinkedIn, make a conscious choice between privacy and reach. A larger network can increase your visibility. More information about <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/buy-linkedin-followers\/\">buying LinkedIn followers<\/a> can help with that, but also check which profile details and posts are public at the same time.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"which_exceptions_are_important\">Which exceptions are important?<\/h2>\n<h3>Blocked members<\/h3>\n<p>A blocked member cannot view your profile in the normal way. A profile visit before the block may still count in totals, but not always with the same details.<\/p>\n<h3>Company pages<\/h3>\n<p>A LinkedIn company page works differently from a personal profile. A company page is meant to be a public presence for an organization. The privacy settings of your personal profile do not make the company page private.<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to set up a business page? Then read how to <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/?p=204743\">create a LinkedIn company page<\/a>. If you already have an active page and want to increase its business reach, you can also read about <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/?p=204787\">LinkedIn endorsements vs recommendations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Profile verification<\/h3>\n<p>Verification confirms a specific part of your identity or work relationship. It does not automatically make your whole profile public. It also does not change all your privacy settings.<\/p>\n<p>So first read what <a href=\"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/can-you-see-who-views-your-linkedin-profile\/\">verifying your LinkedIn profile<\/a> means exactly and which information becomes visible with it.<\/p>\n<h3>Public posts and comments<\/h3>\n<p>Limiting or turning off your public profile does not automatically make earlier activity private. So also check the audience of existing posts and comments.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why_do_third_party_apps_promise_more_privacy_or_insight\">Why do third-party apps promise more privacy or insight?<\/h2>\n<p>Some apps claim they can reveal hidden profile visitors or make your profile fully private with one click. That promise does not match LinkedIn\u2019s official options.<\/p>\n<p>An external app cannot reliably reveal the name of a LinkedIn member who is using full private mode. LinkedIn Premium cannot do that either. So never give your LinkedIn password to an unknown app or website.<\/p>\n<p>Watch for these warning signs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the app asks directly for your password;<\/li>\n<li>the provider promises 100% certainty;<\/li>\n<li>the privacy policy is missing;<\/li>\n<li>the app asks for unnecessary browser permissions;<\/li>\n<li>you have to pay without a clear explanation of how it works;<\/li>\n<li>the service acts like LinkedIn rules do not apply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Prefer LinkedIn\u2019s official settings. There you can see which choice is actually saved and can be changed later.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"which_privacy_settings_should_you_check\">Which privacy settings should you check?<\/h2>\n<p>Use this practical checklist to set your visibility correctly:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Check the public visibility of your profile.<\/li>\n<li>Choose which profile sections may be public.<\/li>\n<li>Check visibility outside LinkedIn.<\/li>\n<li>Review discoverability through your email address.<\/li>\n<li>Review discoverability through your phone number.<\/li>\n<li>Check the visibility of your profile photo.<\/li>\n<li>Decide who can see your connections list.<\/li>\n<li>Turn sharing of profile changes on or off.<\/li>\n<li>Choose the profile viewing mode you want for your visits.<\/li>\n<li>Check the audience of your recent posts.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>After that, view your profile from three perspectives: logged in as a connection, logged in as an unknown member, and logged out through a private window. That gives you a much better picture than looking at just one switch.<\/p>\n<p>Check these settings again after a major LinkedIn app or website update. Names and locations of options can change, while your earlier choices are usually kept.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"frequently_asked_questions_about_a_public_or_private_linkedin_profile\">Frequently asked questions about a public or private LinkedIn profile<\/h2>\n<h3>Can people without LinkedIn see my profile?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, when your public profile is on. You can turn this visibility off completely or hide only certain public sections.<\/p>\n<h3>Can a logged-in LinkedIn member still see my profile if public is off?<\/h3>\n<p>Usually yes. The public setting mainly focuses on visitors outside LinkedIn and on search engines. Inside LinkedIn, other settings control visibility and blocking.<\/p>\n<h3>Does the setting work the same on iPhone and Android?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. On both devices, go through your profile photo to <strong>Settings<\/strong>, <strong>Visibility<\/strong>, and <strong>Edit your public profile<\/strong>. The name of a button may differ slightly by app version.<\/p>\n<h3>Why is my profile still in Google after I turned it off?<\/h3>\n<p>Search engines can keep an old version. According to LinkedIn, it can take weeks or months before they process the change. Check without logging in whether the public page itself is still accessible.<\/p>\n<h3>Can an app identify anonymous LinkedIn visitors?<\/h3>\n<p>Not reliably. LinkedIn does not reveal the name of a visitor who views profiles in full private mode. That also applies when you have a Premium subscription.<\/p>\n<h3>Can I hide my photo without turning off my whole public profile?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. LinkedIn has a separate setting for the visibility of your profile photo. So you can decide which group may see your photo without turning off the full public profile right away.<\/p>\n<h3>Can I hide my connections?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. You can set it so that only you see your full connections list. Shared connections may still be shown separately to other members.<\/p>\n<h3>How do I become temporarily invisible to everyone?<\/h3>\n<p>Put your account into sleep mode. Your profile will then be temporarily invisible, even to connections. After activating sleep mode, you cannot log in again for at least 24 hours.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"which_privacy_action_is_most_important_right_now\">Which privacy action is most important right now?<\/h2>\n<p>First open <strong>Edit your public profile<\/strong> and check what people outside LinkedIn can see. Then go back to <strong>Visibility<\/strong> and review your view mode, connections list, contact details, and visibility outside LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to be less visible but keep using LinkedIn, adjust the separate settings. If you want to disappear completely for a while, choose sleep mode. That way, you use the solution that really fits your goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You cannot make a LinkedIn profile fully private with one simple switch. You can, however, turn off your public profile<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250290,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204765\/revisions\/250290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialkings.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}