How to Delete Your LinkedIn Account

To delete your LinkedIn account, open Settings & Privacy, go to Account preferences, and choose Close account under Account management. Pick a reason, enter your password, and confirm. "Closing your account means permanently deleting your profile and removing access to all your LinkedIn information from our site," LinkedIn says. If you only want a break, LinkedIn's version of deactivating is called hibernation.

We read LinkedIn's help pages on closing, hibernating and downloading your data on October 24, 2026.

About 40,500 people search "how to delete linkedin account" each month, and another 40,500 search "how to deactivate linkedin account."

Should you close or hibernate?

	Close (delete)	Hibernate
Your profile	Deleted	Hidden from everyone
Messages, connections	Deleted	Kept; you show as "A LinkedIn member"
Recommendations, endorsements	Deleted	Kept under "A LinkedIn member"
Premium	Must be resolved first	Cancelled at once
Coming back	Reopen in most cases within 14 days	Log in after 24 hours

LinkedIn Help, "Close and delete your LinkedIn account" and "Hibernate your LinkedIn account," read October 24, 2026.

If there's any chance you'll want your network back in a year, hibernate. Closing is meant to be final.

How do you close your LinkedIn account on a computer?

LinkedIn's desktop steps:

1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Select Settings & Privacy.
3. Under Account management in Account preferences, click Change next to Close account.
4. Check the reason for closing your account and click Next.
5. Enter your password and click Close account.

How do you close it in the LinkedIn app?

On iPhone and Android, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Account preferences. Tap Close account under Account management, tap Continue, pick a reason and tap Next. Enter your password and tap Done.

What do you lose when you close it?

Almost everything you built there. "Closing your account will delete any recommendations or endorsements you've given or received, plus your messages and connections," LinkedIn says. Your purchase history goes too, and you'll lose access to your account data.

So download your data first. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Data Privacy, and click "Download your data." Pick the categories you want and request the archive. LinkedIn emails small requests "within minutes" and the full archive "within 24 hours," and the link "will be available for download for 72 hours." You can't do this on mobile.

Your profile may linger in search results for a while. LinkedIn notes that "Search engines like Yahoo!, Bing, and Google may still display your information temporarily."

If you signed up with Google, Apple or Microsoft, LinkedIn also asks you to unlink that account on the provider's site.

Why won't LinkedIn let you close your account?

Something is still attached to it. "If you have a premium membership, own a LinkedIn group, or have a premium account license, you'll have to resolve those accounts before being able to close your Basic account," LinkedIn says. That means canceling Premium and handing your groups to another owner.

Work accounts are the other common block. If you've used Recruiter, Learning or Sales Navigator through an employer, "you will need to have your account administrator remove you from the enterprise account first," LinkedIn says, and that admin "could be current or former employers."

If you can't sign in to the account at all, start with LinkedIn's password and email recovery. One Reddit user reported in September 2024 that LinkedIn asked for ID verification before deleting an account they couldn't access.

Can you reopen a closed LinkedIn account?

Usually, if you're quick. "You can reopen your account in most cases if it's been closed less than 14 days," LinkedIn says. Some things won't return even then: endorsements and recommendations, pending invitations, the people and companies you followed, and your group memberships.

How do you hibernate (deactivate) LinkedIn instead?

Use Hibernate account. LinkedIn's steps:

1. Click your profile photo and select Settings & Privacy.
2. Select Hibernate account under Account management.
3. Choose the reason you're hibernating.
4. Enter your password and click Hibernate account.

While you're hibernating, "Your profile won't be visible to anyone, even your connections," and you won't show up in searches, including Recruiter. Your old posts and comments stay up under "A LinkedIn member," with a generic icon in place of your photo.

Hibernation cancels an active Premium plan "immediately," and promotional pricing may not come back. If you pay through Apple, cancel there too, or Apple keeps billing you.

To come back, log in "24 hours after you hibernated the account." Your connection and follower counts may look off at first, which LinkedIn says "should resolve within 48 hours."

Frequently asked questions

Can you deactivate LinkedIn instead of deleting it?

Yes. LinkedIn calls it hibernation. Your profile is hidden, your data stays, and you can return by logging in after 24 hours.

Can you reopen a closed LinkedIn account?

In most cases, if it's been closed less than 14 days. Endorsements, recommendations, followings and group memberships don't come back.

Why can't I close my LinkedIn account?

Premium, a group you own, a premium license or an employer's enterprise account is still attached. Resolve those first.

Will my profile disappear from Google?

Not right away. LinkedIn says search engines "may still display your information temporarily."

Do I need to cancel Premium first?

Yes, before you close the account. Hibernation cancels Premium for you, immediately.

For other apps, see how to delete a Facebook account and how to delete a TikTok account. Hclout sells LinkedIn followers. Our guide on buying LinkedIn followers covers prices and LinkedIn's rules.

Sources

• LinkedIn Help, "Close and delete your LinkedIn account," "Next steps to close and delete a LinkedIn account," "Hibernate your LinkedIn account" and "Download your data," read October 24, 2026
• A Reddit r/linkedin thread, September 19, 2024, as Google showed it on October 24, 2026
• Google results for "how to delete linkedin account," US, October 24, 2026 (our read)
• Google Ads Keyword Planner, worldwide, read October 24, 2026