LinkedIn logo on a blue background.

To prevent someone from being notified that you viewed their profile on LinkedIn, open Settings and Privacy, then go to Visibility > Profile Viewing Options. Set profile viewing to "Private Mode" to remain anonymous when you view someone's profile.

LinkedIn often tells people when you view their profiles and shows them your name. That person may even get an email or alert saying you viewed their profile. Here’s how to browse privately without LinkedIn sharing this information.

It may seem silly to prefer anonymity on a social network, but other social networks don’t work this way. Facebook and Twitter don’t send someone a notification whenever you view their profile.

To find this option, head to the LinkedIn website, click your profile icon on the top bar, and select “Settings & Privacy.”

Click “Visibility” on the left-hand side, then click “Profile viewing options.”

Select "Visibility," then select "Profile Viewing Options."

Select how you want to appear. You can select “Private Mode” for pure private browsing or select your private profile characteristics, which may appear as just “Someone on LinkedIn” or something more specific.

People will still see that someone viewed their profile after you view their profile — but they’ll see only that an anonymous person viewed it.

Select "Private Mode" from the list of options.

As LinkedIn warns you on this settings page, there’s just one downside: When you become anonymous to other people, they become anonymous to you. LinkedIn will hide the names of people who view your profile from you after you enable this anonymity option.

Profile Photo for Chris Hoffman Chris Hoffman
Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. He's written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times and Reader's Digest, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami's NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read more than one billion times---and that's just here at How-To Geek.
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Profile Photo for Nick Lewis Nick Lewis
Nick Lewis is a staff writer for How-To Geek. He has been using computers for 20 years --- tinkering with everything from the UI to the Windows registry to device firmware. Before How-To Geek, he used Python and C++ as a freelance programmer. In college, Nick made extensive use of Fortran while pursuing a physics degree.
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