Old LinkedIn Account: How to Recover It, Log In, Delete It, or Start Fresh
By Muhammad Amir, Searcora Digital Ltd
Most people searching for an old LinkedIn account are in one of four situations: they cannot get back into an account they made years ago, they want to delete it, they have ended up with two accounts, or someone has offered them an “aged” account. This page takes each one in turn, with the steps that work.
Recover an old LinkedIn account you cannot get into
LinkedIn accounts are tied to the email address or phone number used to create them, so recovery starts with finding that address.
- Try every email you have used — old work addresses, university addresses, personal addresses you no longer check. The sign-in page accepts any address that was ever on the account.
- Reset the password from the sign-in page with Forgot password. The reset link or code goes to the email or phone on the account.
- Lost the email and the phone? LinkedIn’s help centre has a form for exactly this case. It may ask you to verify your identity before it gives the account back.
- Account restricted rather than forgotten? That is a different process; the steps are on our account problems page (Chinese) and in LinkedIn’s own help centre.
Delete or close an old LinkedIn account
Sign in, open Settings, go to Account preferences and close the account from the account management section. LinkedIn may ask why you are leaving and offer to keep the account. If you cannot sign in, recover the account first, or use the help centre to close an account you no longer have access to.
Closing an account removes your profile and connections from LinkedIn’s search. If you might come back, consider updating the old profile instead — especially the photo and headline, which are what people see first.
Two LinkedIn accounts? Keep one
Duplicates usually happen when someone forgets an old account and signs up again with a new email. LinkedIn expects one account per person, so keep the one with more of your connections and history, review LinkedIn’s help page on duplicate accounts, and close the other — very little carries across from the one you close.
What “aged” LinkedIn accounts are, and the risk
An “aged” or “old” LinkedIn account is one created months or years ago, usually offered on the idea that older accounts are trusted more and can send more messages. The catch is LinkedIn’s own rule: every account must belong to the real person using it, in their real name. An account that was made for someone else is exactly what LinkedIn restricts, and when it is restricted every connection and conversation on it goes with it.
Age is not what makes an account work. A complete profile in your own name, real connections and steady activity do — and those you can build on an account of your own.
Start fresh with an account in your own name
If your old account is gone for good, our LinkedIn account setup service creates a new account in your own name, in any country, writes the profile from your CV and hands it over to you. Once it is yours, we can add LinkedIn Premium from $25 or Sales Navigator from $30 a month.