How to Reset the LinkedIn Algorithm

If your LinkedIn feed feels like a random mix of sales pitches, motivational quotes, and posts from people you connected with a decade ago, you're not alone. The good news is you have more control than you might think. This article breaks down the practical steps to clean up your feed, remove the noise, and retrain LinkedIn’s algorithm to show you content that actually helps you learn, connect, and grow professionally.

Why Your LinkedIn Feed Got So Noisy in the First Place

The LinkedIn algorithm’s main goal is to keep you on the platform by showing you content it believes is relevant to you. How does it determine relevance? By tracking your every move. Every like, comment, connection request, follow, and even the time you spend looking at a post sends a signal. Over time, these signals build a profile of your interests.

The problem is that your professional interests and goals change. The connections you made five years ago as a marketing coordinator might not be relevant to your new role as a Director of Product. The topics you engaged with last year might not be your focus today. Your feed gets stale because it’s operating on old data - old signals you sent. "Resetting" the algorithm isn't about pushing a button, it’s about systematically replacing those old, outdated signals with new, intentional ones that reflect who you are today and what you want to achieve tomorrow.

Phase 1: The Clean-Up - Stop Sending the Wrong Signals

Before you can teach the algorithm what you want, you have to stop telling it what you don’t want. This first phase is all about pruning. It might feel tedious, but it’s the most important step in taking back control of your feed.

1. Purge Your "Following" List

Chances are you've followed hundreds of people, companies, and hashtags over the years. This is one of the strongest signals you send. A strategic "unfollowing" spree is your first order of business.

• How to do it: Go to the LinkedIn homepage. On the left sidebar, you’ll see your profile info. Below that, look for "Groups," "Events," and "Followed Hashtags." Click on your followed hashtags to review and unfollow any that no longer fit. To find who you follow, go to your own LinkedIn profile, scroll down to your "Activity" box, and click "See all activity." From there, at the top of the page, you'll see a count of your followers. Next to that should be the number of people and pages you are "Following." Click that number to see the full list.
• Your Goal: Systematically scroll through this list and ask a simple question for each entry: "Does this person or company's content still help me?" If the answer is no, click the "Unfollow" button. Be ruthless. You’re not disconnecting from them (they won’t be notified), you’re just removing their content from your main news feed.

2. Prune Your Connections

This is a bolder move, but it has a big impact. Your network is a massive indicator of your professional interests. If it’s cluttered with irrelevant contacts, your feed will reflect that. Remember the LinkedIn mantra: it's not about who you know, it's about who knows you for the right reasons.

• What’s the difference? Unfollowing simply removes that person's posts from your feed. You remain connected. Removing a connection breaks the link entirely. They will no longer be a 1st-degree connection.
• How to do it: Go to the "My Network" tab and click on "Connections" on the left. This will bring up a list of everyone you’re connected to, searchable and sortable.
• Your Goal: You don't need to unfriend everyone. Focus on removing connections that are completely unrelated to your current and future career direction. Low-quality connections not only clutter your feed but can also dilute the perception of your professional brand for the algorithm and for others viewing your profile. Quality beats quantity every time.

3. Use the "I Don't Want to See This" Feature

As you scroll your feed, treat it like a training ground. Every time you see a post that is low-quality, spammy, or just plain irrelevant, give the algorithm immediate feedback.

• How to do it: Click the three dots (...) in the top right corner of any post you don't like. You’ll see a menu with several options. "I don't want to see this" is clear and direct feedback.
• What it does: This tells LinkedIn two things: first, that you dislike this specific post, and second, that you are less interested in this topic or person in general. Repeated use of this sends powerful negative signals that help clean things up quickly. You can also choose to "Mute" the person to hide their posts without disconnecting, which is a good middle ground.

4. Audit Your Groups

LinkedIn groups can be powerful resources, but being a member of inactive or irrelevant groups sends confusing signals. The algorithm sees your membership in a "C# Developers of Ohio" group from eight years ago and assumes you’re still interested in that content.

• How to do it: From the "My Network" tab, click "Groups" on the left navigation bar. This will show you a list of every group you’re a member of.
• Your Goal: Leave any group that no longer aligns with your professional identity. Just like with connections, focus on quality. It’s better to be an active participant in three relevant groups than a passive member of 30 outdated ones.

Phase 2: The Rebuild - Start Sending the Right Signals

Once you’ve done the clean-up, you have a more neutral foundation to build on. Now, it's time to proactively show the algorithm exactly what you want to see. This phase is all about intentional action.

1. Follow Industry Leaders and Relevant Hashtags

Now that your "Following" list is lighter, it's time to repopulate it with high-value accounts. Think about your current industry, the industry you want to be in, and the specific skills you're trying to build.

• Who to follow: Search for founders, executives, creators, and subject matter experts in your target field. Don't just follow anyone with a large follower count, look for people who consistently share insightful content. Also, identify 5-10 key companies that are innovators in your space and follow their official pages.
• Hashtags are key: Following hashtags is a direct way to tell LinkedIn, "Show me more about this topic." Instead of overly broad tags like #marketing, get specific with tags like #DemandGen, #ContentStrategy, or #ProductLedGrowth. Following niche tags brings highly relevant content into your feed from people outside your immediate network.

2. Engage Meaningfully and Consistently

Passive scrolling won’t retrain the algorithm. Engagement is the strongest positive signal you can send. But not all engagement is created equal.

The Engagement Hierarchy:

• Best: thoughtful comments. A comment of more than a few words is the most powerful signal. It tells the algorithm you’re so interested in this content that you were willing to stop, think, and contribute to the conversation. A good comment adds to the discussion, asks a clarifying question, or offers a supplementary viewpoint. Avoid generic comments like "Great post!" or "Agree."
• Good: Shares with insight. Using the "Share" button is good, but sharing it with your own commentary is much better. Adding a sentence or two about why you found the post valuable provides context not just for your network, but for the algorithm, too.
• Okay: A thoughtful "Like." A simple "Like" is the lowest-effort signal, but it still counts. Use it on relevant content when you don’t have time for a full comment. The algorithm will still take note of the topic and the creator.

3. Refresh Your Profile with Target Keywords

The algorithm doesn’t just analyze your behavior, it analyzes your profile to understand who you are. Your headline, About section, and Skills section are prime real estate for sending powerful relevancy signals.

• Go through your profile and make sure it accurately reflects your current profession and aspirations. If you are pivoting into SaaS sales, your profile should be filled with keywords like "SaaS," "revenue growth," "pipeline management," and "sales methodologies" - not leftover jargon from your old role in university administration.

4. Post Your Own Relevant Content

Nothing tells the algorithm "I'm interested in this topic" more effectively than creating content about it yourself. This is the ultimate signal that you're not just a consumer of information on a subject, but an active participant and authority in it.

• You don't have to write a viral essay on your first try. Start simple. Share an interesting article from your industry and add one or two sentences with your key takeaway. Ask your network a thoughtful question related to your field. Posting just once or twice a week about your target topics will dramatically accelerate your feed's recalibration.

Combine these phases, and you’ll notice a significant improvement in your feed’s quality within a few weeks. The key is turning this into a consistent habit, not just a one-time project.

Final Thoughts

In short, resetting your LinkedIn algorithm is an active process of digital gardening. You have to remove the weeds - the outdated follows, connections, and groups that add no value - and then deliberately plant and nurture the seeds of content you want to see grow through strategic follows and meaningful engagement.

This kind of consistency, especially with posting your own content, is the fastest way to get results, but it can be hard to maintain. That’s a challenge we understand deeply, which is why we built Postbase. Our simple visual calendar allows you to plan out your LinkedIn content in advance, and our scheduling is rock-solid reliable. That way, you can trust your valuable insights are going live exactly when planned, sending the right signals to the algorithm without you having to manually post every single day.