How to Cancel Your LinkedIn Account

You probably weren’t expecting THAT headline, huh?

I spoke to a group of Rotarians yesterday, and shared some basic elements of social media and how they apply to business. They had a LOT of questions, all of which I felt like I answered to their satisfaction . . . except one.

A gentleman approached me afterwards, and asked how he could delete his LinkedIn account. He’s looked and been unable to find how to do it and just wants out. He has his reasons, and I do understand that life has its priorities, and for him, getting away from this social network in particular is important to him.

This is not my first go-round with someone with this mindset — a while back I wrote 5 Reasons Not to Be A LinkedIn Hater — so if you’re also leaning in this direction, I strongly encourage to read this post, first.

I’m not one to withhold information so for those of you struggling with this same issue (and I’ll just note here that I believe LinkedIn is an important tool for business networking and I DON’T recommend people opt out of it, but if you’re hellbent . . . ) here are the instructions:

1. Login to LinkedIn
2. Click on your name in the upper left hand corner of the screen
3. Select Settings
4. On the next screen, select Account in the lower left hand
5. In the lower middle of the next screen, you will see two columns; in the right hand column there’s a section with helpful links. One of these links is Close Your Account. Select this
6. LinkedIn is going to ask you why you want to close the account — tell them — it is with this kind of feedback that platforms like these improve.
7. Follow the instructions from this point to complete your account deletion

Finally, I just want to reiterate; I think this is a mistake, and not at all what I’d recommend, but managing your online presence is entirely up to you.