How to Block Someone on LinkedIn

Sometimes you need to draw a professional boundary, and hitting the block button on LinkedIn is the most direct way to do it. This guide gives you the full picture: how to block someone on both desktop and mobile, exactly what happens when you do, and how to manage your blocked list if you ever change your mind.

Why Would You Block Someone on LinkedIn?

Blocking a user on any social platform can feel like a big step, but on a professional network like LinkedIn, it’s often a necessary tool for managing your personal brand and mental peace. Your reasons are your own, but most people block others to handle a few common situations.

Here are some of the most frequent reasons why you might need to use the block feature:

• Unwanted Sales Pitches: If someone is relentlessly sending you spammy or irrelevant sales messages even after you've asked them to stop, blocking them can put an end to the noise.
• Harassment or Inappropriate Behavior: There is zero tolerance for harassment. If another user is being unprofessional, offensive, or making you uncomfortable, blocking is an immediate first step to protect yourself. You should also consider reporting them to LinkedIn.
• Maintaining Privacy from Former Colleagues: Parting ways with a former employer isn't always smooth. You may want to prevent certain old coworkers or managers from following your career moves or seeing your professional updates.
• Preventing Recruiters from Specific Companies: If you're happily employed and don't want recruiters from your current company (or a competitor) viewing your activity while you casually browse for new opportunities, blocking can provide a layer of privacy.
• Cleaning Up Your Network: Occasionally, you connect with someone who turns out to be unprofessional, posts content you don't align with, or is simply not a valuable connection. Blocking is a permanent alternative to just removing an unwanted connection.

Whatever your reason, blocking is a feature designed to give you control over your online professional experience. It’s about creating an environment where you feel comfortable and secure.

What Exactly Happens When You Block Someone?

Understanding the consequences of blocking someone is important before you take that step. LinkedIn’s blocking feature is comprehensive and, most importantly, discreet. The person you block will not receive any notification that you've done so.

Here's a detailed breakdown of what happens the moment you click "Block":

• They Can’t Find You (and You Can’t Find Them): Your profiles become invisible to each other. Neither of you will be able to access the other’s profile page, see their updates in the feed, or find them in a search. Any link to their profile you had will lead to a "Profile not found" page.
• The Connection is Severed: If you were 1st-degree connections, that connection is immediately broken. You will no longer be part of each other's professional network.
• Previous Messages Vanish (Sort of): Your message history in LinkedIn Messaging will remain, but you will not be able to send any new messages to each other. You'll see the note "This conversation is with a member you have blocked" at the bottom of the thread.
• Endorsements and Recommendations are Removed: Any endorsements or recommendations you previously exchanged will disappear permanently from both of your profiles. Note that even if you unblock this person later, those endorsements and recommendations do not get restored.
• No More Suggestions: You will stop appearing in each other’s "People You May Know" and other similar suggestion features.
• Group Interactions Cease: If you're both members of the same LinkedIn Group, you still won't see each other's content within that group. Their posts and comments will be hidden from you, and yours will be hidden from them.

Essentially, blocking someone on LinkedIn creates a clean and complete separation between your professional accounts. It's a powerful tool for enforcing boundaries without any wide-reaching drama, since the other person isn't notified.

How to Block Someone on LinkedIn (Desktop Guide)

The process of blocking a member using your computer is straightforward. Follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Go to the Person's Profile

First, navigate to the LinkedIn profile of the individual you wish to block. You can do this by searching for their name or clicking on their profile from a comment, post, or your connections list.

Step 2: Find the "More" Button

Once you are on their profile page, look for the "More" button located in their introduction card, just below their profile picture and headline. It's usually next to the "Connect" or "Message" button.

Step 3: Select "Report / Block"

Click on the "More" button to open a dropdown menu. From this menu, select the last option, labeled "Report / Block".

Step 4: Choose the Block Option and Confirm

A new window will appear, giving you several options. Select "Block [Person's Name]". A final confirmation pop-up will appear explaining what blocking does. To finalize the action, click the blue "Block" button. That's it - the person is now blocked.

How to Block Someone on the LinkedIn Mobile App (iOS &, Android)

Blocking someone from your phone is just as simple. The steps are nearly identical for both the iOS and Android LinkedIn apps.

Step 1: Find Their Profile in the App

Open the LinkedIn app and navigate to the profile page of the person you intend to block.

Step 2: Tap the Three-Dot Icon

On their profile, look for the three-dot icon (...). This is typically located next to the "Connect" or "Message" button at the top of their profile.

Step 3: Tap "Report or Block" And Confirm

Tapping the three dots will bring up a menu from the bottom of your screen. Select "Report or block." On the next screen, choose "Block [Person's Name]." Just like on desktop, you’ll get a final confirmation screen. Tap "Block" to complete the process.

How to View and Manage Your Blocked List

What if you change your mind or blocked someone by mistake? LinkedIn makes it simple to manage your list of blocked accounts and unblock users if necessary.

1. Navigate to your own profile icon labeled "Me" in the top navigation bar and click it.
2. From the dropdown, select "Settings &, Privacy."
3. On the left-hand menu, click on the "Visibility" tab.
4. Scroll down to the "Visibility of your profile &, network" section and find the "Blocking" option. Click "Change" next to it.

This will take you to your personal block list. You'll see a list of everyone you've blocked. To unblock someone, simply click the "Unblock" button next to their name and enter your LinkedIn password to confirm your decision.

Important Note: Once you unblock someone, you must wait 48 hours before you can re-block that same person. For this reason, make sure you really want to unblock them before confirming.

Blocking vs. Removing Connection vs. Unfollowing: What’s the Right Choice?

Blocking is the most extreme option for disengaging with someone on LinkedIn, but it’s not the only one. Depending on your situation, a less permanent action might be more suitable. Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide.

Blocking

This is your go-to for complete separation. Use this when you do not want the other person to be able to see your profile or interact with you in any capacity. It's ideal for stopping harassment, spam, or keeping your professional life private from specific individuals.

• Best for: Stopping unwanted contact, hiding your profile, and creating a hard boundary.
• Is it discreet? Yes. They are not notified.

Removing a Connection

This simply breaks your 1st-degree connection. The person is removed from your network but can still see any public parts of your profile, view your content that appears publicly, and even send you another connect request. Removing a connection isn't as severe as blocking them and should be used to prune your connections list of people who are no longer relevant to your professional circle.

• Best for: Cleaning up your professional network or disconnecting from someone without making it impossible for them to see your public profile.
• Is it discreet? Yes, they are not notified. However, they might notice you no longer show up in their connections list.

Unfollowing

This is the gentlest method of disengaging. If someone's posts are cluttering your feed but you don’t want to sever the connection entirely, you can simply unfollow them. You’ll remain connected, they can still view your profile and message you, but their updates and shared articles will no longer appear in your LinkedIn feed. They will have no idea you've unfollowed them.

• Best for: Reducing noise in your feed without altering your professional relationship or connection status.
• Is it discreet? Yes, completely.

Choosing the right action depends entirely on your goal. If your aim is simply a quieter feed, unfollow. If you want to remove someone from your close network and demote them to a 2nd- or 3rd-degree connection, remove. And if you need complete privacy and a total cessation of contact, block.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to block someone on LinkedIn provides you with the control necessary to cultivate a positive and secure professional network. Whether you're dealing with spam or simply setting personal boundaries, it’s a straightforward feature that allows you to manage who has access to your professional life discreetly and effectively.

While blocking is a tool for managing the connections you don't want, growing your professional brand is just as much about carefully cultivating the content for the audience you do want. Managing a consistent presence can be overwhelming, which is why we built Postbase. We designed a clean, modern tool to help you visually plan, schedule, and analyze your social media content - especially for a video-first world - without complexity. A strong online brand is built with focus, and our platform is here to make that a simpler, more achievable goal.