We explain how to remove your LinkedIn profile from Google searches
LinkedIn is a professional networking tool, so there are some advantages to keeping your LinkedIn profile visible to search engines.
However, if you prefer to keep your social media presence to a minimum or would like to remain discreet when someone tries to look you up, you can adjust your profile's public visibility to ensure that your LinkedIn profile does not appear in Google search results.
Even if you remove your profile from Google, recruiters will still be able to find you on the platform.
To remove your public profile from search engines, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Click on "Edit public profile & URL"
Step 2: Adjust the "Your profile's public visibility" setting to "Off"
Step 3: Wait for Google to process the change
Once you switch off this privacy setting, you should see the following confirmation popup.
From this point, search engines will no longer be able to crawl your profile.
As a result, you will no longer appear in search engine results.
For example, when I search my name, my LinkedIn public profile is the first thing to appear on Google.
If I were to adjust the profile setting as described above, Google would no longer be able to access my information.
Once you adjust this setting, your LinkedIn profile will disappear from search results within a few days (or sometimes weeks).
As LinkedIn says on its website, "The information that appears in search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo! is gathered and updated by the search engines themselves. The speed in which your information gets updated or removed from those searches depends on how often each search engine updates their information."
In Summary
By following the steps above, your public profile's visibility will be limited to users who are not logged into LinkedIn.
Though the change won't take place instantly, you can rest assured that your profile will no longer appear in search engine results.
However, be sure to also review your privacy settings in detail to double-check how your profile will appear to users internally.
To learn more about LinkedIn best practices, check out our LinkedIn Series here! You'll find links to a variety of brief, punchy articles that will help you get the most out of the platform.
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