LinkedIn Recommendations: How to Ask, Write and Manage Them

A LinkedIn recommendation is "a commendation written by a LinkedIn member to recognize your work," and it shows on your profile once you accept it. You can only ask your 1st-degree connections, and "There's no limit to the number of recommendations you can request or give," LinkedIn says. To ask, open the connection's profile, click More, then Request a recommendation. Examples you can adapt are below.

We read LinkedIn's help pages on recommendations on October 24, 2026.

About 4,400 people search "linkedin recommendation examples" each month, and 3,600 search "linkedin recommendation."

How do you ask for a recommendation on LinkedIn?

From the person's profile:

1. Find them under My Network, then Connections.
2. Open their profile and click the More icon in the top section.
3. Select Request a recommendation.
4. Fill in the relationship and your position at the time, add a personal message, and click Send.

From your own profile, click Me, then View profile. Scroll to the Recommendations section, click the plus icon, then Ask for recommendation, and pick the person.

Two rules to know. You can ask only "in your primary profile language," so switch your primary language first if you want a recommendation in another one. You can also ask only 1st-degree connections, people "you work with or have worked with."

Make the message personal. Remind them of the project you shared and what you'd like them to mention. A specific ask gets a specific recommendation.

How do you write a recommendation on LinkedIn?

1. Go to the profile of the 1st-degree connection you want to recommend.
2. Click the More button in their introduction section and select Recommend.
3. Fill in the relationship and their position at the time, then click Next.
4. Write the recommendation and click Send.

If they asked you first, the request arrives in Messaging. Open the "Write [member name] a recommendation" message, click the link, then Write recommendation. You can click Ignore if you'd rather not write one. "You can decline the request and aren't required to respond," LinkedIn says.

LinkedIn recommendation examples

A good recommendation says how you know the person, what they did, and what it changed. Swap the brackets for real details.

For a coworker: "I worked with [Name] for three years on [team]. When our launch slipped, [Name] rebuilt the plan in a week and got us out the door on time. [Name] is the person I'd call first for a messy project."

For someone you managed: "I managed [Name] at [Company]. [Name] took over our support queue and cut the backlog from [number] to [number] in two months, while training two new hires. Any team would be lucky to have [Name]."

For your manager: "[Name] was my manager at [Company]. [Name] gave clear goals, honest feedback and room to grow, and I moved from [role] to [role] under that guidance."

For a student or intern: "[Name] interned on my team at [Company] last summer. [Name] shipped [project] on their own and asked the kind of questions that made the rest of us better."

For a freelancer or vendor: "We hired [Name] to [task]. [Name] delivered on time, kept us updated every week and made changes without fuss. We've hired [Name] again since."

Our examples, written for this guide.

What can you do with a recommendation you receive?

You'll get a message when someone writes you one. You can accept it, dismiss it, or ask for a revision. Once accepted, it's "visible to your network by default." You can hide it later, and so can the writer.

To see them, open the Recommendations section of your profile. Received shows the ones written about you, and Given shows the ones you wrote.

Can you edit or delete a recommendation?

Yes, for ones you wrote. "You can edit or delete recommendations you've sent at any time," LinkedIn says.

Watch your connections, too. "If you remove a connection, any recommendations between you and that person will be withdrawn," and they "will not be restored if the connection is re-established."

Frequently asked questions

Who can you ask for a LinkedIn recommendation?

Only your 1st-degree connections, ideally people you've worked with.

Is there a limit on LinkedIn recommendations?

No. LinkedIn says there's no limit to how many you can request or give.

Can you add a recommendation from an email?

No. Recommendations "can only be displayed on your LinkedIn profile if they're requested through LinkedIn and both parties have LinkedIn profiles."

Do you have to write a recommendation when someone asks?

No. You can ignore or decline the request.

What happens to recommendations if you remove a connection?

They're withdrawn, and they don't come back if you reconnect.

How long should a LinkedIn recommendation be?

Three or four sentences are usually enough: how you know them, one thing they did, and what it changed.

Building out the rest of your profile? See our guides to the LinkedIn headline, Open to Work and how to add your resume to LinkedIn. Hclout sells LinkedIn followers. Our guide on buying LinkedIn followers covers prices and LinkedIn's rules.

Sources

• LinkedIn Help, "Recommendations on LinkedIn," "Request a recommendation" and "Recommend someone on LinkedIn," read October 24, 2026
• LinkedIn articles and LinkedIn Learning on recommendations, found in a web search on October 24, 2026
• Google Ads Keyword Planner, worldwide, read October 24, 2026