How to Delete Your LinkedIn Account (Step by Step)

Closing a LinkedIn account takes about two minutes once you know the path, but the setting is buried, and "close" is permanent in a way "hibernate" is not. Here is the exact step-by-step for both desktop and the mobile app, what actually happens to your data and connections, how to download everything first, and the lighter alternatives if you only want the noise to stop.

Before you delete: download your data first

Once an account is permanently closed, the data is gone and there is no way to recover it. So before anything else, request a copy of your archive. It includes your connections, messages, profile content, and the data LinkedIn has collected on you.

1. On desktop, click Me (your photo, top right) then Settings & Privacy.
2. Open the Data privacy tab.
3. Click Get a copy of your data.
4. Choose the full archive (all categories), then click Request archive and confirm with your password.
5. Wait for the email. The fast file (profile basics) arrives in minutes; the complete archive can take up to 24 hours.

Request this a day ahead so you are not stuck waiting when you are ready to close the account. Save the file somewhere safe, then continue.

Closing vs hibernating: pick the right one

LinkedIn offers two very different exits, and people regularly choose the wrong one:

• Hibernating (temporarily deactivating). Your profile disappears from search and from other people's views, your name is removed from connections, and activity pauses, but LinkedIn keeps all your data. Log back in any time to restore everything exactly as it was. This is the right choice if there is any chance you will return.
• Closing (permanent deletion). After a short grace period, your account, profile, connections, endorsements, and recommendations are deleted for good. This is the right choice only if you are certain you are done with LinkedIn.

If you are deleting because the platform stresses you out or the job hunt is burning you out, hibernating buys you a clean break without throwing away years of network. Consider it before you commit to the permanent option.

How to delete your LinkedIn account on desktop

This is the cleanest way to do it because the full settings menu is visible. The path is Settings & Privacy > Account preferences > Account management > Close account.

1. Log in at linkedin.com and click your Me icon (your profile photo) in the top navigation bar.
2. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown.
3. In the left sidebar, click Account preferences.
4. Scroll to the Account management section near the bottom.
5. Click Close account.
6. LinkedIn shows what you will lose (Premium, connections, recommendations, messages). Read it, then click Continue.
7. Select a reason for closing from the list (this is required), then click Next.
8. Enter your password to confirm, then click Close account.

That submits the closure. The account enters the reactivation window described below before deletion becomes permanent.

How to delete your LinkedIn account on the mobile app

The steps mirror desktop, just nested in the app menu. This works on both iOS and Android.

1. Open the LinkedIn app and tap your profile photo in the top left.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Account preferences.
4. Scroll down to Account management and tap Close account.
5. Review the warning screen, then tap Continue.
6. Choose your reason for closing and tap Next.
7. Enter your password and tap Close account to confirm.

One note: deleting the app from your phone does nothing to your account. Uninstalling only removes the app. You have to go through the steps above to actually close the account.

What happens to your data, messages, and connections

Here is the honest picture of what closing your account does and does not erase:

• Your profile. Removed from LinkedIn and de-indexed. It can take a few weeks for cached versions to drop out of search engines like Google.
• Connections and endorsements. Your connections list is deleted and you lose access to it. This is why the data export matters.
• Messages. Your copy is deleted, but messages you sent may still sit in the recipient's inbox, because they own their copy of the thread. You cannot retract those.
• Recommendations. Recommendations on your profile vanish with it. Recommendations you wrote for other people may remain visible on their profiles.
• Other LinkedIn products. Closing your account also affects access to anything tied to it, including LinkedIn Learning and any active Premium subscription, so cancel paid plans first to avoid being billed.

The reactivation window

Closing is not instant-permanent. LinkedIn keeps a closed account in a recoverable state for roughly 14 to 20 days. During that window you can reactivate by logging back in with your old credentials and confirming you want to reopen it, and your data comes back. After the window passes, the account is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. If you are even slightly unsure, this grace period is your safety net, but do not rely on it as a substitute for hibernating.

Alternatives to deleting

Most people who want to delete LinkedIn do not actually want to lose their network. They want the recruiter spam, the notifications, or the visibility to stop. You can fix all of that without deleting anything:

• Turn off "Open to work." If recruiters are flooding you, switch off the open-to-work signal under your profile's job-preferences settings. This alone cuts most cold outreach.
• Go private. Enable private mode and tighten who can see your profile, your activity, and your connections. Your profile effectively goes quiet without disappearing.
• Mute the notifications. Under Settings & Privacy > Notifications, turn off the categories that bother you (suggested posts, job alerts, "people you may know").
• Hibernate. If you want a full break but might return, temporarily deactivate instead of closing. Everything pauses, nothing is lost.

If the job search is what is burning you out

A lot of people reach for the delete button after weeks of applying, where every posting means re-typing the same name, work history, and education into yet another form, then writing the same "why do you want this role" answer for the hundredth time. That grind is exhausting, and it is fair to want out.

If that is the real reason, the application slog is the thing worth fixing, not your professional network. Lentra is a free Chrome extension that fills out online job applications in about 20 seconds. You save your profile and resume once (sign in with Google), and it fills standard fields, work history, education, and screener questions across Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, iCIMS, and the long tail of company careers pages. For free-text questions, it drafts answers grounded in your real resume, and you review every one before you submit. It is not a mass auto-apply bot: Lentra fills the form on the company's real page and you send it yourself.

Install Lentra

Free, takes one minute.

Whether you close, hibernate, or just go quiet, do the data export first so you keep a record of your network. That single step is the only part of this that is truly irreversible if you skip it.

Still job hunting? See how to find a job in tech for where roles are actually posted, or browse all of our job-search guides.