How to Update LinkedIn Profile Without Notifying Contacts

Thinking about giving your LinkedIn profile a refresh but want to keep it on the down-low? You're in the right place. An update to your job, headline, or summary can send a notification to your entire network, which isn't always ideal. This guide will show you exactly how to edit your LinkedIn profile privately, without broadcasting every change to your contacts.

Why You Might Want to Update Your LinkedIn Profile Quietly

There are plenty of good reasons to update your LinkedIn profile without notifying everyone. It's not about being secretive, it's about being strategic. Maybe you're quietly looking for a new job and don't want to alert your current boss. Or perhaps you're doing a complete overhaul of your personal brand and would rather unveil a polished final version than have your network see it piece-by-piece. Sometimes, you just need to fix a cringe-worthy typo in your job history from ten years ago without making a big announcement about it. Whatever your reason, managing how your updates are shared is a smart move for your professional presence.

Controlling your notifications puts you in charge of your professional narrative. Instead of letting LinkedIn's algorithm decide what's newsworthy, you get to control what information you share and when you share it. It helps you avoid awkward questions, manage perceptions, and make changes on your own terms.

The Main Switch: How to Turn Off Profile Update Notifications

LinkedIn has a primary setting that controls whether most of your profile edits get shared with your network. Turning this off is your first and most important step. When you disable this, things like changing your job title, adding a new skill, or updating your education won't appear in your connections' homepage feeds. It's a simple toggle, but it's tucked away in the settings menu.

Here's how to find it on both desktop and mobile.

On a Desktop Browser:

1. Log into your LinkedIn account.
2. Click on your small profile picture labeled Me in the top right corner of the navigation bar.
3. Select Settings &, Privacy from the dropdown menu.
4. In the left-hand menu, click on Visibility.
5. Scroll down to the section called Visibility of your profile &, network.
6. Click on Share profile updates with your network.
7. A toggle switch will appear. Make sure it is set to Off. The change saves automatically.

Once you've done this, you're free to make most changes without having them broadcasted.

On the LinkedIn Mobile App (iOS and Android):

1. Open the LinkedIn app and tap on your profile picture in the top left corner.
2. Tap Settings at the bottom of the slide-out menu.
3. Tap on the Visibility tab.
4. Scroll down and tap Share profile updates with your network.
5. Toggle the switch to the Off position.

That's it! With this setting off, you can now start editing the core sections of your profile like your summary, experience, and skills without your network getting a play-by-play. Remember to turn this back on when you're done if you want future achievements, like a promotion or work anniversary, to be shared.

Beyond the Main Setting: Tips for a Truly Silent Update

While toggling off your activity broadcasts is effective for most updates, some changes on LinkedIn are more visible than others. If you want to be extra careful, especially during a confidential job search, here are a few other silent moves you can make.

Editing Your Profile Photo and Headline

Your profile picture and headline are the first things people see. Changing your photo can sometimes generate a notification regardless of your settings because it's considered a major profile event. There's no perfect way to avoid this, but you can minimize its impact:

• Save the Photo for Last: Make all your other text-based edits first while your notifications are off. Update your photo as the very last step.
• Update at an Odd Hour: If you change it late at night or over the weekend, it's less likely to be seen at the top of people's feeds on Monday morning.

Your headline update is covered by the main setting, but since it's so prominent, be mindful of what you write. If you're job hunting, changing your headline from "Marketing Director at Acme Corp" to "Seeking New Opportunities in B2B SaaS" is a very clear signal. Instead, consider adopting a more role-focused headline like "B2B SaaS Marketing Leader | Demand Generation &, Brand Strategy" to highlight your skills without announcing your search.

Navigating the "Experience" Section Delicately

This is where most people get caught. Adding a new job is the biggest giveaway of a career move. Here's how to handle it:

1. Add a New Role Without Broadcasting It

When you start a new role and want to add it to your profile, the "Share profile updates with your network" setting you turned off earlier will do most of the work. However, always be vigilant during the process. When you're in the "Add experience" dialog box, LinkedIn's separate "Notify network" toggle used to be present. While recent updates have linked this more directly to the main setting, you should get in the habit of looking for any checkboxes related to sharing before you hit save.

2. Edit an Existing Role

Need to update the description of your current job or add some bullet points about a recent project? No problem. As long as your activity broadcasts are turned off, these edits won't be shared.

3. A Pro Tip for Active Job Seekers

If you've accepted a new job but haven't announced it yet, you can add it to your profile ahead of time. Simply add the new company and title, but leave the official start date in the future or don't set a start date at all. It will be on your profile but won't be listed as your "current" job until that start date arrives. Once you're ready to announce, you can adjust the date and turn your sharing settings back on.

The Ultimate Privacy Move: Going Fully Invisible (Temporarily)

If you're planning a massive profile rewrite and want zero chance of anyone stumbling upon your work-in-progress, you can take a more drastic, temporary step. You can change who can see your profile while you work on it.

Here's how to do it:

1. Navigate to Settings &, Privacy >, Visibility.
2. Click on Edit your public profile.
3. On the right side of the screen, under Edit your custom URL, there’s an option called Your profile’s public visibility.
4. You can toggle this off completely so that your public profile is hidden from search engines and non-LinkedIn members.

For even more privacy, back in the main Visibility settings, look at Profile viewing options and select Private mode. This makes you appear as "Anonymous LinkedIn Member" when you view other people's profiles. While this doesn't hide your profile itself, it helps you browse and do research without leaving a trail. Combining these gives you a quiet runway to make your edits.

Remember to revert these settings once your profile is updated and ready for public viewing!

A Quick Checklist for Updating Your Profile Privately

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. Here's a simple checklist to follow every time you want to make a quiet update.

• ✓ Step 1: Go to Settings. Navigate to Settings &, Privacy >, Visibility.
• ✓ Step 2: Turn Notifications Off. Ensure the toggle for "Share profile updates with your network" is set to Off.
• ✓ Step 3: Make Your Edits. Update your headline, summary, job experience, skills, or anything else you need to change.
• ✓ Step 4: Review Your Profile. Use the "View Profile" button to see how your changes look to others. Make any final tweaks.
• ✓ Step 5: Turn Notifications Back On (Optional). If you want your future accomplishments and work anniversaries shared, remember to go back and toggle your activity broadcasts back On.

Final Thoughts

Updating your LinkedIn profile shouldn't feel like a high-stakes public announcement. By using the platform's built-in visibility settings, you can take full control over what gets shared, polishing your professional story quietly and releasing it only when you're ready. Now you have the checklist and strategies to do it confidently.

Just as you manage your personal narrative on LinkedIn, maintaining a consistent and professional story across all social platforms is vital for building a strong brand. That's why we created Postbase, to give creators and marketers that same level of precise control, but for everything. From planning your content in a visual calendar to scheduling posts across Instagram, TikTok, and more, we help you manage your message so you can focus on building your brand without the chaos.