How to Change Privacy Settings on LinkedIn

Tinkering with your LinkedIn privacy settings gives you complete control over your professional narrative, letting you decide exactly who sees what and when. From conducting a quiet job search to simply keeping your profile updates to yourself, mastering these settings is essential. This guide will walk you through the most important privacy controls on LinkedIn so you can customize your experience and protect your information effectively.

Finding Your LinkedIn Privacy Settings: The Master Control Panel

Before you can change anything, you need to know where to look. Both the desktop site and the mobile app house all privacy options under one roof. Finding it is simple.

On Desktop:

1. Click the Me icon (your profile picture) in the top-right corner of the navigation bar.
2. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu.

On the Mobile App:

1. Tap on your profile picture in the top-left corner.
2. Tap Settings at the bottom of the slide-out menu.

Once you're in, you'll see several categories on the left side of the screen (or as a list on mobile), including Visibility, Communications, and Data Privacy. We'll focus on the most impactful settings within these sections.

Controlling Your Profile's Visibility (Who Sees What and How)

This section is all about managing your digital first impression. You get to decide how much of your profile is public, who can see your connections, and how you appear when you view other people's profiles.

Adjusting Your Public Profile

Your "public" profile is what people who aren't logged into LinkedIn (like those using Google search) can see. By default, a significant portion of your profile may be visible. You can lock this down completely or choose which sections to show.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Visibility &rarr, Edit your public profile.
• What to do: On the right-hand side of this new page, you'll see a toggle for Your profile's public visibility. You can turn this OFF to hide your profile from search engines entirely. Alternatively, leave it on and scroll down to granularly toggle specific sections like your photo, background image, headline, articles and activity, and experience details. For a more private but still discoverable presence, consider showing just your name, headline, and summary.

Hiding Your Connections

Worried about competitors or recruiters poaching your professional network? By default, all your 1st-degree connections can see your full list of connections. You can easily switch this off.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Visibility &rarr, Connections.
• What to do: Simply click the toggle to change it from Yes to No. Once you do this, only you will be able to see your list of connections when viewing your profile.

Viewing Other Profiles in Private Mode

Have you ever wanted to look at a competitor's profile, a potential client's page, or a former colleague's updates without them knowing it was you? Private mode is your tool for stealthy research.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Visibility &rarr, Profile viewing options.
• What to do: You have three choices:
  1. Your name and headline: This is the default. People can see exactly who viewed their profile.
  2. Private profile characteristics: This is a semi-private mode. The other person will see something generic like "Salesperson at a tech company" or "Recruiter in San Francisco." They get a clue, but not your name.
  3. Private mode: Fully anonymous. The other person is only notified that "Anonymous LinkedIn Member" viewed their profile.

Keep in mind: If you browse in Private mode, you also won't be able to see who has viewed your profile (unless you have a Premium account).

Stopping Profile Update Notifications

This is arguably the most common privacy mistake on LinkedIn. When you update your headline, add a new job, or change your summary, LinkedIn often broadcasts that change to your entire network. If you're polishing your profile for a job search, this is the last thing you want.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Visibility &rarr, Share profile updates with your network.
• What to do: Change the toggle to No. Now you can make all the edits you want without alerting anyone. It's a good practice to keep this setting off permanently and only turn it on if you have a major announcement you want to actively share.

The Job Seeker's Guide to LinkedIn Privacy

Job hunting requires a delicate balance of visibility and discretion, especially if you're currently employed. These settings are specifically designed to help you navigate your search privately.

Signaling to Recruiters with "Open to Work" Privately

LinkedIn's "Open to Work" feature is fantastic for getting on recruiters' radars. However, broadcasting it publicly with that green banner around your profile picture can also alert your current boss.

• How to find it: Go to your profile page and click the Open to button below your headline, then select Finding a new job. Or, navigate to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Data Privacy &rarr, Job seeking preferences &rarr, Signal your interest to recruiters at companies you've created job alerts for.
• What to do: When activating this feature, you will be given a choice:
  • Share with all LinkedIn members: This adds the public #OpenToWork photo frame.
  • Share with recruiters only: This is the private option. LinkedIn uses signals (like who hired you in the past) to try to avoid showing your "Open to Work" status to recruiters at your current company, though it can't guarantee 100% privacy. This is the best option for a discreet search.

You can also use the general settings to indicate what types of jobs you're interested in, your preferred location, and your immediate availability, all visible only to those using LinkedIn Recruiter.

Keeping Your LinkedIn Activity Private During a Job Hunt

Your job search isn't just about settings, it's about behavior. When you're actively searching and applying, it's wise to combine a few of the settings we've already covered into a "stealth mode" strategy:

1. Turn Off Profile Update Sharing: As mentioned before, go to Visibility &rarr, Share profile updates with your network and turn it OFF. This way, polishing your resume doesn't become a public memo.
2. Browse in Private Mode: Use Profile viewing options to switch to Private mode. This lets you research companies, hiring managers, and potential teammates without leaving a digital footprint.
3. Control Who Sees Your Connections: Hide your connections list to prevent recruiters from seeing which companies and individuals are in your network.

By using these three settings together, you create a private environment where you can explore opportunities confidently and quietly.

Managing Your Data and Communications

Finally, it's smart to review how LinkedIn uses your data and who is allowed to contact you. These settings give you further control over your overall experience.

Controlling Who Can Message You

If you get too many unsolicited messages, you can tighten up your inbox.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Communications &rarr, Who can reach you.
• What to do: Here you can adjust settings for Invitations to connect (making it so only people who have your email or are in your 'Imported Contacts' can invite you) and Messages (allowing you to opt-out of some sponsored or InMail messages).

Reviewing Your Ad-Related Data

Like all social platforms, LinkedIn uses your profile information to serve you targeted ads. You have some control over what they use.

• How to find it: Go to Settings & Privacy &rarr, Advertising Data.
• What to do: In this section, you can review and turn off data collection from different sources. For instance, under Data collected on LinkedIn, you can manage whether they use data like the groups you're in, your demographics, or your education to target ads. You can also turn off ad-related actions and data sharing with third parties.

Final Thoughts

Taking a few moments to walk through your LinkedIn privacy settings is one of the smartest investments you can make in your professional brand management. It puts you in the driver's seat, ensuring your profile works for you - whether that means networking openly, searching for a job privately, or simply protecting your personal data.

Controlling your LinkedIn privacy is a huge part of managing your professional presence, but it's only half the story. The other is shaping what you share. When we designed Postbase, we wanted to make that part easier, so you can build your personal brand without the daily chaos. By putting your entire content strategy in one visual calendar, you can schedule and plan what you share on LinkedIn and all your other platforms, helping you look sharp, stay consistent, and save valuable time.