How to View LinkedIn Profiles Anonymously Without Leaving a Trace?
Learn to enable private mode on LinkedIn and view profiles anonymously.
LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms specially developed for professionals. It helps to connect with many professionals from around the world.
It also allows you to view profiles of other professional members of LinkedIn. By viewing the other professionals’ profiles, you can explore their work experiences, their field of profession, and more.

However, as you look at the profiles of other members, LinkedIn provides information about you to those members. But there may be instances when you don’t want others to know when you view their profile.
So, is there any solution to this? Thankfully, yes. You can do this by viewing the profile in Private mode. LinkedIn offers a special option to turn the Private mode on, which helps you view profiles anonymously.
Let’s first take a look at the steps to enable Private mode on LinkedIn. After this, we’ll discuss its advantages and the different profile visibility settings that LinkedIn offers.
Steps to Turn on Private Mode on LinkedIn
Step 1: Log in to your LinkedIn profile.
Step 2: On your LinkedIn dashboard, you will see a ‘Me‘ icon at the top of the page. This icon will showcase your title profile picture. Click on it.

Step 3: A drop-down menu will appear as you click this icon. Choose the option ‘Setting & Privacy‘.

Step 4: On the new page, multiple options will be available on the left side of the window under the heading Settings. You need to click on ‘Visibility‘.

Step 5: Click on the arrow beside the option ‘Profile viewing options’.

Step 6: Choose the ‘Private mode‘ among the three visibility modes. And that’s all.

Now, your profile is in Private mode. So, you can confidently view the profiles of the other LinkedIn members as Anonymous.
Why Enable Private Mode on Linkedin?

Using Private Mode on LinkedIn has a few advantages. Let’s take a look at them below:
- To get an idea of how someone has showcased their experience, especially someone with a professional background like yours.
- To find out details about the people who might interview you.
- To check out what others with experiences, qualifications, and skills like yours are doing.
- To find out who is working with a particular company or organization.
- To find out about former classmates or colleagues.
To understand the Visibility and Privacy settings on LinkedIn a bit better, it’s important to understand the options that LinkedIn offers you in terms of profile visibility.
Different Profile Visibility Options on LinkedIn
You can choose from three different profile visibility options on LinkedIn. By default, your profile is open; therefore, everyone can see your name, headline, and other associated information.
The second option has semi-private profile characteristics. If you choose this option, only the associated characteristics of the profile will be displayed. For example, suppose you have a LinkedIn profile with the name ABC and a job title as Senior Manager at XYZ. Then the other person can see your details like “someone as Senior Manager at XYZ”. It means they will not be able to see your details such as name, etc.
The third option is Private mode, which displays “This person is viewing profile in Private mode” to the other person. This completely privatizes your identity from the person whose profile you are viewing.
Conclusion
This is the ideal solution if you want to explore different LinkedIn profiles without being identified by the profile owners. Follow the steps listed here, as it takes just a few minutes to put your profile into private mode.