How to Delete LinkedIn Contacts: A Step-by-Step Guide

LinkedIn is a great platform for networking and staying in touch with professional connections. But over time, your contact list can become cluttered with people you no longer interact with regularly. Pruning your connections helps keep your profile focused and your feed less noisy. Here’s a detailed guide on how to delete LinkedIn contacts with ease.

Why You Might Want to Delete Connections

Here are some common reasons for removing connections from your LinkedIn network:

• Too many inactive connections – You connected with someone years ago but have had no meaningful interaction since. Time for a refresh.
• Contacts no longer relevant – As your career evolves, some contacts naturally become less relevant to your professional network.
• Mistaken connection requests – You accidentally connected with the wrong “John Smith” or received a request from a vague acquaintance you don’t remember. Oops.
• Bad breakups – We’ve all added coworkers or bosses we later regretted. Thankfully you can delete those connections when switching jobs.
• Nuking your network – Some people like to clear out their entire contact list and start fresh every few years.

Also read: How to Add Connections on LinkedIn

How Deleting Connections Works on LinkedIn

When you delete a connection, that person is immediately removed from your contact list and no longer appears in your network. However, the deletion is not reciprocal. Removing someone does not delete you from their contact list.

The person you deleted will not be notified or given any indication you removed them. Your deletion is private and invisible to them. So no hurt feelings or awkwardness!

Pro tip: If you want to delete multiple LinkedIn contacts in bulk, there are tools that can automate the process. More on that later!

How to Delete a Single LinkedIn Connection

Deleting a single connection on LinkedIn is easy and only takes a few clicks:

Step 1: Click the “my network” icon

Step 2: Click “connection” button

Step 3: Hover your mouse over the ‘3 dots’ icon and choose ‘Remove the Connection.’

Step 3: Confirm you want to remove the connection when prompted.

And that’s it! That contact is now removed from your network.

Removing a contact is quick and painless. Now let’s look at ways to delete multiple LinkedIn connections at scale.

Also read: How to Turn On Creator Mode on LinkedIn: The Ultimate Guide for 2023

How to Delete LinkedIn Contacts in Bulk

Manually removing connections one-by-one can be tedious. When you need to prune dozens or hundreds of contacts from your network, use these methods to bulk delete LinkedIn connections:

Use LinkedIn’s Bulk Contact Manager

LinkedIn offers a tool called the Bulk Contact Manager that lets you manage up to 500 connections at a time:

1. Go to the My Network page and click “Manage bulk contacts”
2. Select up to 500 connections to manage using the checkboxes
3. Click on the “Remove from my network” button at the top.
4. Confirm you want to remove all selected connections.

While a bit clunky, this gets the job done for pruning a few hundred contacts quickly. Just repeat the process as needed to clear out your entire stale network.

Also read: How to Add Volunteer Experience to LinkedIn

Use Third-Party LinkedIn Tools

Several third-party sites and browser extensions can delete LinkedIn contacts in bulk:

• LinkedInCleaner – This free web app lets you remove up to 2000 connections at once.
• LinkedIn Unconnector – Browser extension for Chrome that can delete 500+ contacts with one click.
• CleanMyConnections – Another LinkedIn pruner web app with bulk delete features. Paid subscription needed for full functionality.

I recommend LinkedInCleaner for most people. It’s secure, easy to use, and gets the pruning job done with no fuss.

How to Delete Imported Outlook Contacts

If you connected your Outlook contacts to your LinkedIn account, any deletes you make will sync back and remove those contacts from Outlook.

To avoid this, first remove the LinkedIn connector app:

1. Go to your LinkedIn Account settings
2. Under “Import external data” click on the Microsoft Outlook connection
3. Remove the checkmark to disable contact syncing
4. Approve disabling the integration

Now you can mass delete imported Outlook contacts without worrying about damaging your primary address book!

How to Delete LinkedIn Contacts on Mobile

You may also need to prune your LinkedIn network on the go from your smartphone. Here’s how to remove mobile connections:

Step 1: Click “view profile”

Step 2: click ” my network”

Step 3: Select “manage my network”

Step 4: click “3 dots” icon

Step 5: Click “Remove Connection”

After following these steps, the connection will be removed on your mobile app as well.

Also read: How to Delete LinkedIn Messages

Alternative Ways to Prune LinkedIn Contacts

Aside from outright deleting connections, here are a couple other ways to clean up your LinkedIn network:

• Mute instead of delete – Rather than remove someone completely, you can mute their posts so their activity no longer shows up in your feed. Less drastic than deleting them!
• Organize with Groups – Create custom Groups like “Inactive Contacts” or “Legacy Colleagues” to organize the less relevant connections you want to follow at a distance instead of deleting entirely.
• Turn off relationship notifications – Disable notifications under Setttings > Communications to stop getting constant connection requests and endorsements from people you don’t engage with. Out of sight, out of mind.

Things to Consider Before Deleting Contacts

Before you embark on a major purge, some things to keep in mind:

• Deleting is permanent – You can’t undo a removal or retrieve deleted connections. So be 100% sure before you mass prune contacts.
• Stay above 500 – Having 500+ connections unlocks all of LinkedIn’s features. Don’t go too overboard deleting or you’ll lose access!
• Remove the right people – Sort your contacts by last interaction date and critically evaluate whether inactive connections are really worth removing forever.
• Check for hidden value – Seemingly distant contacts may still be valuable for references or career opportunities down the road. Tread carefully.
• Do it regularly – Like weeding a garden, network pruning is most effective when done consistently every few months. A little maintenance goes a long way!

Also read: How to Hibernate Your LinkedIn Account Temporarily or Permanently

Final Thoughts on Deleting LinkedIn Contacts

Periodically removing obsolete connections keeps your LinkedIn network focused, healthy, and filled with relevant contacts.

Following this guide, you now know how to delete LinkedIn contacts using desktop tools or mobile, sever imported Outlook contacts, and do major bulk deletions to clean the house.

Remember to prune your connections judiciously and rebuild with care. A well-tended garden bears the sweetest fruit!