How to View Your LinkedIn Profile as Someone Else (3 Ways)
Samuel Rondot
7 min read
On this page
- Who sees what on your LinkedIn profile
- Method 1: Preview your public profile in LinkedIn's settings
- Method 2: Open your profile in a private (incognito) window
- Method 3: Ask someone to look at it for you
- What to check once you see your profile from the outside
- Settings that control what others see
- Want to look at other profiles anonymously instead?
- FAQ
To view your LinkedIn profile as someone else, open your public profile settings: click Me > View Profile, then the edit icon next to Public profile & URL. The preview on that page is your profile as people who aren't signed in see it. For the real signed-out experience, open your profile URL in a private (incognito) window. LinkedIn has no button that shows your profile through a specific member's eyes, so for the signed-in view, ask a colleague to take a look.
Below: what each audience actually sees, the three methods step by step, and what to fix once you've looked.
Who sees what on your LinkedIn profile
Your profile doesn't look the same to everyone, so decide which audience you're checking for:
| Audience | What they see | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Signed-in LinkedIn members | Generally your full profile, minus anything you've limited, such as photo or connections (LinkedIn Help) | Ask a colleague (method 3) |
| Your 1st-degree connections | The same, plus your Contact info | Ask a connection |
| People not signed in to LinkedIn | Your public profile: only the sections you made public, sometimes behind a sign-in prompt | Public profile preview (method 1) or a private window (method 2) |
| Google, Bing and other search engines | Your public profile, refreshed on their own schedule | Search your name in a private window |
The difference between the first and second rows matters more than people think: recruiters and prospects who aren't connected to you never see your email or phone number, only what's on the profile itself. If you're unsure who counts as 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree, see what 1st, 2nd and 3rd mean on LinkedIn.
Method 1: Preview your public profile in LinkedIn's settings
This is LinkedIn's built-in way to see your profile as someone who isn't signed in.
- Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, then View Profile.
- In the right pane, click the edit (pencil) icon next to Public profile & URL.
- The Public profile settings page opens. On the left, LinkedIn shows the profile that viewers who aren't signed in will see, in full or in part. On the right are the controls: your custom URL, Edit visibility and the Your profile's public visibility switch with one toggle per section.
Each toggle you change updates the preview, and changes save automatically (LinkedIn Help).
On mobile: tap your profile photo, then Settings > Visibility > Edit your public profile (under Visibility of your profile & network).
Method 2: Open your profile in a private (incognito) window
The settings preview shows what you've allowed. A private window shows what visitors actually get.
- Copy your profile URL. It's displayed under Public profile & URL (linkedin.com/in/your-name).
- Open a private/incognito window, where you're not signed in to LinkedIn.
- Paste the URL and press Enter.
You'll probably see a sign-in pop-up on top of your profile:
That's expected. LinkedIn may ask people who aren't members to sign up or sign in before they can see parts of a public profile. If you'd rather let signed-out visitors read more without that prompt, LinkedIn lets you turn the public visibility limits off, with the downside that it also makes your public data easier for third parties and search tools to collect (LinkedIn Help).
To see how you look on Google, search your name in the same private window. Don't panic if a change doesn't show yet: search engines can take weeks or even months to refresh a LinkedIn profile, and LinkedIn doesn't control that (LinkedIn Help).
Method 3: Ask someone to look at it for you
The signed-in member view, which is what recruiters, prospects and clients see, can't be previewed from your own account. LinkedIn's help center doesn't document any "View profile as" option for personal profiles. The View as member button you may have read about belongs to LinkedIn Pages: it lets company Page admins see their Page the way a regular member does (LinkedIn Help).
So the reliable option is a two-minute favor. Ask a colleague, ideally a 2nd-degree contact rather than a close connection, to open your profile on desktop and on the app and send you screenshots or share their screen. Ask them what they understood about you in five seconds: that's the real test.
Don't create a second account to do it yourself. LinkedIn's User Agreement forbids creating a profile for anyone other than yourself (section 8.2), and duplicate profiles get restricted. More in can you have multiple LinkedIn accounts.
What to check once you see your profile from the outside
Most people look at their profile from the outside once and find at least one surprise. Go through this list:
- Photo: is it visible to everyone, or limited to your connections? The public profile photo is set to Public by default, but you may have changed it.
- Headline: it's the line people see in search results, invitations and the Who's Viewed Your Profile list. If yours is just a job title, try our free LinkedIn headline generator.
- About: do the first two lines make sense on their own, before "see more"?
- Experience: current role, company Page link and dates up to date.
- Custom URL: linkedin.com/in/firstname-lastname reads better than a string of numbers. See how to change your LinkedIn URL.
- Public sections: anything you hid by accident, or would rather hide.
- Contact info: remember that only 1st-degree connections see it, so put a way to reach you in your About section if you want strangers to contact you.
Settings that control what others see
| Setting | Where | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Public profile | Me > View Profile > Public profile & URL | Which sections signed-out visitors and search engines see, or hide the public profile entirely |
| Profile photo visibility | Click your profile photo > Visibility | Who sees your photo: 1st-degree connections only, your network, all LinkedIn members or anyone |
| Discoverability by email / phone number | Settings & Privacy > Visibility | Who can find your profile from your email address or phone number |
| Off-LinkedIn visibility | Settings & Privacy > Visibility | Whether permitted services (email apps, for example) can show your profile information |
| Visibility when viewing other profiles | Settings & Privacy > Visibility | How you appear when you visit other people's profiles |
Sources: LinkedIn Help on profile visibility and off-LinkedIn visibility.
Want to look at other profiles anonymously instead?
Seeing your own profile "as someone else" is a different job from browsing other people without being seen. For that:
- Signed in: set Visibility when viewing other profiles to Private mode. Our LinkedIn private mode guide covers the steps and the trade-off on free accounts.
- Signed out: profiles you open without logging in never show your name. See will someone know if you view their LinkedIn profile without logging in.
If you use LinkedIn to prospect, this check pays off directly: every profile visit, invitation or message you send leads people back to your profile. useArtemis automates that outreach, but a profile that makes sense from the outside is what turns those visits into replies.
FAQ
Is there a "View as" button on LinkedIn?
Not for personal profiles. LinkedIn's built-in preview is the public profile settings page (Me > View Profile > Public profile & URL), which shows your profile as signed-out visitors see it. The "View as member" button exists only for admins of LinkedIn company Pages.
How do I see my LinkedIn profile as the public sees it?
Open your public profile settings from Me > View Profile > Public profile & URL: the preview on the left is what people who aren't signed in see. To double-check, paste your profile URL into a private/incognito browser window where you're not logged in.
Can I see my LinkedIn profile as a specific connection sees it?
No. LinkedIn doesn't offer a member-by-member preview. Signed-in members generally see your full profile, and 1st-degree connections also see your contact info, so the only way to see it exactly is to ask someone to open it and send you a screenshot.
How do I view my LinkedIn profile as others see it on mobile?
In the LinkedIn app, tap your profile photo, then Settings > Visibility > Edit your public profile. You can also copy your profile URL and open it in a private tab of your phone's browser, where you're not signed in.
Why does my LinkedIn profile look different on Google?
Google and other search engines show your public profile as it was when they last crawled it. LinkedIn says it can take several weeks or months for search engines to pick up changes, and that it doesn't control their refresh. If the result is wrong, you have to contact the search engine directly.
