LinkedIn is a great way to network and find new opportunities. But if you’re exhausted and need a break from Linkedin, Linkedin offers the option to hibernate your account. We’re not talking about bears in the winter-time kind of hibernation. This is when you freeze your account for a period of time until you decide to reactivate it. This article goes over everything you need to know about hibernating your LinkedIn account, as well as why you might want to freeze your profile and any reasons that you might not be able to.
How to Hibernate your LinkedIn account in 3 simple steps:
- Tap on ‘Account’ from the top right of your LinkedIn profile in the dropdown menu, and click on ‘Privacy & Settings’
- Tap on the ‘Account Preferences’ tab on the left side menu on the screen; under ‘Account Management’, click on ‘Hibernate Account.’
- Follow the instructions on the screen to hibernate your account.
What happens if you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
Hibernating your account means temporarily deactivating your account. Here’s what will happen when you hibernate:
- LinkedIn will show your profile as a “LinkedIn member” and will not be visible to anyone, even your connections.
- Your profile will show as a generic icon instead of your name and photo.
- You won’t appear in any searches, and your profile will not be visible to others.
- Your data will not be lost but will be invisible to users.
- All your endorsements, messages, posts, and comments will identify you as “A LinkedIn member.”
You can always go back and reactivate your account if you change your mind.
Should you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
There are many reasons you might want to hibernate your account if you no longer want your profile to be public, but also don’t want to delete it permanently
3 Reasons why you should hibernate your LinkedIn account:
- If you are looking for a new job and don’t want your current employer to know about it.
- If you want to take a break from work.
- If you don’t like to be contacted by recruiters.
If you plan to reactivate your LinkedIn account after your break, simply log in with your email id and password or use the link sent on your email while you hibernate your account.
How to Hibernate your LinkedIn profile without deleting it?
If you are ready to cut down LinkedIn from your life for some time, you must follow the steps below.
Step 1 – Login to LinkedIn
Open your web browser and log into your account.
Step 2 – Navigate to ‘Settings & Privacy’ from the dropdown menu
Once you tap on your profile picture, select ‘Privacy & Settings’ under the ‘Account Tab.’
Step 3 – Hibernate account
Tap on ‘Account preferences’, scroll down to Account Management and choose ‘Hibernate Account.’
Step 4 – Provide a reason for hibernating your account.
Select the reason for hibernating your LinkedIn account from the options given and click on ‘Next.’
Step 5 – Enter Password
Enter the password in the password box to hibernate your LinkedIn account.
Once you have completed the steps, LinkedIn will deactivate your account. And if you want to reactivate it, you’ll need to wait 24 hours.
How to hibernate your LinkedIn profile on mobile?
Though you find options on the LinkedIn app to hibernate your LinkedIn account, you won’t be able to do so. If you go through the process mentioned above on the LinkedIn app, you will find an option to hibernate.
However, if you click on it, you will get a message saying you need to hibernate your account on the desktop. You will see the same message even if you try to access the feature on the mobile web browser. Therefore, you must use your computer web browser to hibernate your account.
Hibernating vs deleting your LinkedIn account permanently
Hibernating your LinkedIn account is a temporary option while closing an account is permanent. If you delete or close your account, all your data will be lost, and you won’t be able to retrieve any data.
When you hibernate or deactivate your account, all your data will be safe, and your information will be hidden from other users. However, you can always come back and reactivate your account if you change your mind.
Why are you unable to hibernate your LinkedIn account?
There might be chances that you won’t be able to hibernate your account for the following reasons:
- If you are an admin of a LinkedIn product such as Groups or associated with an enterprise product, you’ll get a prompt to take additional steps before hibernating your account.
- If you have an active subscription plan, your subscription will automatically cancel when you hibernate your account.
- If you have a premium subscription bought from iTunes, you will have to cancel the subscription before you hibernate your account.
How long can you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
You can hibernate your account for as long as you want, there is no maximum duration.
How do I reactivate my account when I hibernate it?
To reactivate your LinkedIn account, you can simply log back into your account after 24 hours
How do you hide your LinkedIn profile from everyone?
- Click on the profile picture at the top right of your LinkedIn page.
- Click view profile.
- Click edit profile and URL on the top right corner of the page.
- Toggle ‘Your profile’s public visibility to off.
How to deactivate certain features of LinkedIn?
If you want to keep your LinkedIn profile but stay away from it, you must deactivate certain app features like notifications while continuing to use LinkedIn’s core functionality. Here’s how you can do it on your mobile:
Step 1 – Open the app and log in to your account.
Step 2 – Tap your profile picture on the top left corner of your mobile screen.
Step 3 – Click on ‘Settings’
Step 4 – Click on ‘Communications’
Step 5 – You will find various methods to receive notifications which you can choose to turn off.
Conclusion
If you suffer from burnout or simply want to spend some time away from LinkedIn, you can temporarily hibernate your account. While you can’t hibernate your account on mobile, doing so on a computer is very easy. If you want to return to LinkedIn, you must log in to your account with your email id and password within 24 hours after hibernation.
