How to Pause (Hibernate) Your LinkedIn Account Temporarily
Samuel Rondot
5 min read
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To pause your LinkedIn account, use LinkedIn's hibernation feature: go to Settings & Privacy > Account preferences > Hibernate account (under Account management), pick a reason, enter your password and click Hibernate account. Your profile becomes invisible to everyone, including your connections, but nothing is deleted. To come back, you simply sign in again, at least 24 hours after hibernating. One catch: an active Premium subscription is cancelled immediately.
Hibernation is how LinkedIn lets you temporarily deactivate an account. Here's how to do it, what changes while you're away, and when closing or hiding your profile is the better option.
How to hibernate your LinkedIn account (desktop)
- Click your profile photo (Me) at the top of the LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy.
- Click Account preferences in the left menu.
- Scroll to Account management and click Hibernate account.
- Select the reason you're hibernating your account.
- Enter your password and click Hibernate account.
LinkedIn may ask you to finish a few tasks before it lets you hibernate. According to its help center, these can include paying an outstanding balance, reassigning your group admin roles, or deactivating a LinkedIn Learning or Recruiter license. Complete them, then repeat the steps.
How to pause LinkedIn from the mobile app
- Tap your profile photo, then Settings.
- Tap Account preferences.
- Under Account management, tap Hibernate account.
- Choose a reason, enter your password and confirm with Hibernate account.
If you can't find the option in the app, do it from a browser at linkedin.com. The steps are the same as on desktop and the result applies to every device.
What happens when you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
| While your account is hibernated | |
|---|---|
| Your profile | Not visible to anyone, including your connections |
| LinkedIn search | You don't appear in search results, including searches made with Recruiter |
| Posts and comments | Stay online, but you're shown as "A LinkedIn member" |
| Messages | Conversations remain; you're shown as "A LinkedIn member" |
| Recommendations and endorsements you gave | Stay, attributed to "A LinkedIn member" |
| Premium | Cancelled immediately; promotional pricing you had may no longer be honored |
| Sales Navigator and other Sales Solutions licenses | Still active when you reactivate, unless your admin revokes them |
| Connections and profile data | Kept, ready for when you return |
Since your profile is hidden on LinkedIn itself, people searching for you there won't find it. Google may take longer: LinkedIn notes that search engines can need weeks to refresh what they show about public profiles, and it doesn't control that timing.
Hibernating doesn't pause the tools you've connected to LinkedIn. If your account is linked to a prospecting or post-scheduling tool (useArtemis or any other), stop those campaigns first so they don't try to act on an account you've put on hold, and so prospects don't reply to "A LinkedIn member".
How to reactivate a hibernated LinkedIn account
Sign in at linkedin.com or in the app with your usual email (or phone number) and password, at least 24 hours after you hibernated. LinkedIn keeps your profile inaccessible for that first 24-hour period, and you can't sign in during it.
After reactivation, your profile, posts and messages show your name again. LinkedIn warns that your connection and follower counts can look off for up to 48 hours. If you had Premium, you'll need to subscribe again: check current LinkedIn Premium prices first, since a promotional rate you had before may no longer apply.
To be able to sign back in after months away, make sure you still have access to the email on the account. If you created it with a work address you might lose, change your LinkedIn email to a personal one before hibernating.
How long can you hibernate a LinkedIn account?
LinkedIn's help center doesn't set a maximum duration. You stay hibernated until you sign in again (no sooner than 24 hours later).
Hibernate, close or hide your profile: which one do you need?
| Option | What others see | Can you undo it? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hibernate account | Nothing: profile hidden from everyone | Yes, by signing in after 24 hours | A break of weeks or months |
| Close account | Your account is gone | Only within 14 days, and some things never come back | Leaving LinkedIn for good |
| Edit your public profile | Members still see you; people who aren't signed in or use Google see less | Yes, anytime | Limiting what's visible outside LinkedIn |
| Private mode | You view profiles anonymously | Yes, anytime | Browsing without leaving a trace |
| Turn off notifications | No change | Yes, anytime | Fewer emails and alerts, without disappearing |
Closing is the one to be careful with. LinkedIn can usually reopen an account closed less than 14 days ago, but not after that. Even within 14 days, a reopened account gets its connections back but not its group memberships, followings, endorsements, recommendations, or ignored and pending invitations.
If you only want to stay discreet, you don't need to hibernate. Switch to LinkedIn private mode to browse profiles anonymously, or check what others see first with view your LinkedIn profile as someone else.
And if your account was restricted by LinkedIn rather than paused by you, hibernation won't help: see how to unlock a restricted LinkedIn account.
Coming back to LinkedIn to find clients rather than a job? useArtemis can export leads from your LinkedIn searches and run LinkedIn and email sequences from a single inbox.
FAQ
What happens if you hibernate your LinkedIn account?
Your profile becomes invisible to everyone, including your connections, and you disappear from LinkedIn search. Your posts, comments, messages and the recommendations you gave stay, but they show "A LinkedIn member" instead of your name. Premium is cancelled immediately, and everything else comes back when you reactivate.
Can people see my profile if I hibernate my LinkedIn account?
No. LinkedIn hides a hibernated profile from everyone, connections included, and from searches on LinkedIn and Recruiter. Search engines like Google can take a while to refresh old results, which LinkedIn doesn't control.
Can I temporarily deactivate my LinkedIn account?
Yes, that's what hibernation does. Go to Settings & Privacy > Account preferences > Hibernate account, choose a reason, enter your password and confirm. Nothing is deleted, and you can reactivate by signing in after 24 hours.
How do I reactivate my LinkedIn account after hibernation?
Sign in with your usual credentials at least 24 hours after you hibernated it. Your profile is restored with your connections and content; connection and follower counts may take up to 48 hours to look right.
What's the difference between hibernating and closing a LinkedIn account?
Hibernation hides your account temporarily and is fully reversible. Closing deletes your account: LinkedIn can usually reopen it within 14 days, but some things (group memberships, endorsements, recommendations, followings) can't be recovered, and after 14 days it's gone.
