How to Change Your Email on LinkedIn (Even Without Access to the Old One)

To change your email on LinkedIn, go to Me > Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security > Email addresses, click Add email address, confirm the new address from its inbox, then click Make primary next to it. LinkedIn only lets you replace your primary email with a verified address, so the confirmation step can't be skipped. No access to your old email? You can still do all of this while you're signed in, and if you're locked out, LinkedIn's recovery flow lets you set a new email after verifying your identity with a government ID.

Below: the exact steps on desktop and in the app, the three "no access to my old email" scenarios, and fixes for the errors people hit most often. Menu names are the ones LinkedIn uses as of October 2026.

How to change your primary email on LinkedIn (desktop)

1. Click the Me icon (your profile photo) at the top of the LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy.

2. Click Sign in & security in the left menu, then Email addresses under Account access.

3. Click Add email address. For security, LinkedIn may ask you to enter a code sent to your current primary email, or to approve the change in the LinkedIn app.

4. Type the new address and your LinkedIn password, then click Submit.

5. Open the new inbox and follow the link in LinkedIn's email to confirm the address.
6. Back on the Email addresses page, click Make primary next to the new address.

Done. Your profile, connections and messages don't move anywhere: it's the same account, only the contact address changes. If a toggle appears next to the address you just confirmed, LinkedIn says to turn it on when you need that email to activate a license or access another LinkedIn product, such as Sales Navigator.

Shortcut: typing linkedin.com/psettings/ in your browser opens the settings page directly.

How to change your email in the LinkedIn app (iPhone and Android)

1. Tap your profile photo, then Settings.
2. Tap Sign in & security, then Email addresses under Account access.
3. Tap Add email address. Enter the verification code or approve the request if LinkedIn asks.
4. Type the new address and your LinkedIn password, then tap Submit.
5. Confirm the address from the email LinkedIn sends you.
6. Tap Make primary below the new address.

How to change your LinkedIn email without access to your old email

This is the case that trips most people up, usually after leaving a job and losing the work inbox the account was created with. The right fix depends on whether you can still get into LinkedIn.

You're still signed in (computer or phone)

You don't need the old inbox to add a new address. Follow the steps above, confirm the new email from its own inbox, and make it primary.

The only possible snag is the security check in step 3. LinkedIn's help says it can be either a code sent to your primary email or an approval in the LinkedIn app. If you're signed in on your phone, the app approval is the route that doesn't need the old inbox. If LinkedIn insists on the emailed code and you can't open that inbox, contact LinkedIn Support from the Help Center rather than creating a new account.

You're signed out, but another email or phone number is on the account

LinkedIn lets you sign in with your primary email or with any additional email address on your account, and with a phone number you've added. Use it on the sign-in page. If you don't remember the password, click Forgot password, enter that email or phone number, and enter the code LinkedIn sends you. Once you're in, change your primary email as described above.

You can't access any email or phone on the account

Use LinkedIn's identity verification recovery:

1. On the sign-in page, click Forgot password.
2. Enter the email address or phone number associated with your account and click Next.
3. When LinkedIn asks for the code, click Can't access this email?
4. If other contact methods are listed and you can't use any of them, click Don't have access to any of these?
5. On a computer, scan the QR code with your phone to continue there.
6. Enter the new email address you want on the account (adding your profile URL is optional).
7. Upload a photo of a valid government-issued ID: ID card, driver's license or passport. Library and school IDs aren't accepted.

LinkedIn uses Persona, its identity verification provider, to check the ID, then contacts you to finish restoring access. LinkedIn says it generally deletes the submitted ID data within 14 days.

Two things not to do while you wait. Don't open a second account: it breaks LinkedIn's one-account rule and leaves you with a duplicate to merge later (more on that in can you have multiple LinkedIn accounts). And if LinkedIn shows a "restricted" message rather than a sign-in problem, that's a different procedure: see how to unlock a restricted LinkedIn account.

How to remove an old email address from LinkedIn

1. Go to Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security > Email addresses.
2. Click Remove next to the address you want to delete.
3. Confirm with your password if prompted.

You can't remove your primary address directly. Make another verified address primary first, and the Remove option then shows up next to the old one.

Before you delete an old work address, make sure you have another email or a phone number you can sign in with. If you do get stuck after removing an address, LinkedIn's advice is to sign in with an alternate personal or work email registered on the account.

Which email should be your primary on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn lets you sign in with any confirmed address on your account and recommends keeping at least one personal and one work address. The primary one matters more: it's where LinkedIn sends security codes, and it's the address LinkedIn uses to reach you.

Our take: make a personal address (Gmail, Outlook, iCloud…) your primary and keep your work email as an additional address. Work inboxes disappear the day you leave a company, which is exactly how most people end up locked out.

Common problems when changing your LinkedIn email

"This email address is already registered"

The address is attached to another LinkedIn account. LinkedIn lists four usual causes:

• You clicked Join now instead of Sign in at some point.
• You accepted a LinkedIn invitation or created an account with that address in the past.
• Your employer or email provider re-issued an address that someone else used before.
• You typed a Gmail address with dots (a.bc@gmail.com). Gmail ignores the dots, so it's the same inbox as abc@gmail.com.

If it's an old account of yours, sign in to it (use Forgot password if needed), then merge or close it. LinkedIn recommends waiting 48 hours after closing a duplicate before adding its email to your main account. If the address was recycled by your employer or provider, LinkedIn Support has to add it for you.

The confirmation email never arrives

Check the spam, junk and promotions folders, check the spelling on the Email addresses page, and request the email again. Add LinkedIn to your trusted senders, and avoid shared or role-based addresses (sales@, info@), which LinkedIn's emails not received help page flags as a common cause. If a work address still gets nothing, your company's mail filter may be blocking it: use a personal address or ask IT.

LinkedIn keeps asking for a code sent to the old address

That's the security check from step 3. Approve the change from the LinkedIn app if you're signed in there; otherwise use the recovery steps above.

How to avoid getting locked out next time

• Keep two emails on the account, one personal and one work.
• Add a phone number under Sign in & security > Phone numbers. It lets you reset your password by text message, and LinkedIn doesn't show it on your profile.
• Turn on two-step verification in the same section.
• Keep your public profile visible. LinkedIn warns that disabling your public profile could prevent you from recovering your account if you lose access to your primary email.

While you're in your settings, it's a good moment to customize your LinkedIn URL so the link on your CV and email signature looks clean. And if you're stepping away rather than switching jobs, pausing your LinkedIn account is reversible.

If you use LinkedIn to prospect, a new job usually means a new list of people to reach. useArtemis's email finder finds and verifies the professional emails of the leads you pull from LinkedIn searches, so you can contact them by email as well as on LinkedIn. More on the manual methods in our guide to finding someone's email on LinkedIn.

FAQ

Can I change my LinkedIn email without access to the old email?

Yes. If you're still signed in, add and confirm the new address, then click Make primary; if LinkedIn asks for a security check, approve it in the LinkedIn app. If you're locked out, click Forgot password, then Can't access this email?, and verify your identity with a government-issued ID to set a new email.

Can I sign in to LinkedIn with a secondary email?

Yes. LinkedIn lets you sign in with your primary email or any additional email address confirmed on your account. You can also sign in with a phone number you've added under Sign in & security.

How do I add a second email to LinkedIn?

Go to Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security > Email addresses and click Add email address. Enter the address and your password, click Submit, and confirm it from the email LinkedIn sends. It stays a secondary address unless you click Make primary.

Will changing my email affect my LinkedIn connections or profile?

No. Changing your email only updates how you sign in and where LinkedIn contacts you. Your profile, connections, messages and subscriptions stay on the same account.

Why does LinkedIn say my new email is already in use?

Because it's registered on another LinkedIn account, often an old one you forgot, an address your employer recycled, or a Gmail address typed with dots. Sign in to the old account and merge or close it, wait 48 hours, then add the email to your main account.