How to Merge Multiple LinkedIn Accounts into One Consolidated Profile

As your career evolves, you may end up creating different LinkedIn accounts for various roles and companies. However, maintaining separate profiles can fragment your professional brand and network.

The ideal solution is to merge multiple LinkedIn accounts into a single consolidated LinkedIn presence.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about merging multiple LinkedIn accounts successfully.

Benefits of Merging Multiple LinkedIn Accounts

Here are the key advantages of consolidating your profiles into one account:

• Unified professional brand and online identity.
• Eliminates confusion by bringing all connections together.
• Consolidates engagement and activity in one place.
• Simplifies managing one profile versus many.
• Reduces risk of violating LinkedIn’s terms of service.
• Removes the hassle of constantly switching accounts.
• Allows you to expand your network reach further.

Merging fragments your social capital into a stronger singular LinkedIn presence with a broader reach.

LinkedIn Rules on Multiple Accounts

Before merging accounts, be aware of LinkedIn’s policies on multiple profiles:

• LinkedIn prohibits members from having more than one personal account.
• Business users can have both a personal and company page account.
• Multiple company page accounts are allowed based on legitimate business needs.
• All your company pages can be consolidated under a single LinkedIn login.

So for personal branding, focus on merging your accounts into one compliant profile. Maintain separate access only for valid business reasons.

Also read: How to Edit LinkedIn Talks About Section for Maximum Engagement

How to Merge Two LinkedIn Accounts

Follow these steps to successfully merge your LinkedIn profiles:

Step 1: Sign in to the account you want to keep and click the ‘Me’ icon.

Step 2: Click ‘Settings & Privacy’ from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: From the menu on the left, click ‘Account preferences.’

Step 4: Scroll down to ‘Account Management and click ‘Merge accounts.’

Step 5:

• Enter the email and password of the duplicate account.
• Click submit.

Step 6:

• Review what will be transferred over and click confirm.
• Enter the password of the account you are keeping and click submit.

Mistakes to Avoid When Merging LinkedIn Accounts

Be careful to avoid these common mistakes when consolidating your LinkedIn profiles:

• Having more than one personal account after merging.
• Simply abandon your secondary accounts without closing them.
• Failure to save important content before closing accounts.
• Not redirecting custom URLs from old accounts.
• Using services that violate LinkedIn’s terms to merge accounts.
• Merging company pages incorrectly due to business changes.
• Forgetting to reconnect with key contacts under main account.

Also read: Seamless LinkedIn Login: Setup, Security, and Troubleshooting

Proactively sidestepping these pitfalls ensures your merger goes smoothly without issues.

Can You Merge a Personal and Business LinkedIn Account?

Merging your personal LinkedIn profile with a business page account is possible, but not advisable in most cases.

LinkedIn recommends keeping your individual profile and company pages separate for these reasons:

• Cleaner separation of personal and business presence.
• Ability to maintain brand consistency on the company page.
• A business account may need to be transferred to a new user if you leave.
• Easier to analyze page analytics separately.
• Prevent issues if you need to close a personal account.

Instead of fully merging, simply connect your personal and business profiles and cross-post relevant updates.

How to Merge Two Business LinkedIn Accounts

If you need to consolidate two business LinkedIn pages, follow these best practices:

• Have both accounts confirm they are officially associated and can be merged.
• Use LinkedIn’s tools to migrate followers and connections to the primary page.
• Make the account with the majority of content and engagement the primary profile.
• Redirect URLs from the old page to the new primary company profile.
• Mark the old page as closed and direct visitors to the primary account.

This allows a smooth transition that maintains your company branding and audience.

Can I Undo Merging LinkedIn Accounts?

Once you complete the full merger process and close your secondary accounts, it is very difficult to undo the consolidation. Some options to try:

• Recreate your old secondary profiles from scratch. But you’ll lose connections.
• Use LinkedIn data exports to potentially restore some lost data.
• Redirect old URLs back to new secondary accounts. But the content is still gone.
• Contact LinkedIn support for guidance and possibly reactivating closed accounts.

Essentially you can’t easily revert a merger, so be 100% sure before combining accounts.

What Happens When You Merge LinkedIn Accounts?

Here are the key results when you officially merge your LinkedIn profiles:

• Secondary accounts are closed permanently.
• Connections from all accounts combine into the primary profile.
• Only primary profile remains active and visible.
• Content from secondary accounts is not merged automatically.
• Feedback, likes, and engagement unify under the main profile.
• Improved personal SEO with one strong account’s domain authority.
• Previous account history and activity remain under the primary profile.

Overall, a proper merger creates an enhanced LinkedIn presence with expanded reach.

How Long Does It Take to Merge LinkedIn Accounts?

The amount of time required to fully merge LinkedIn accounts depends on factors like:

• The number of secondary accounts needing merger.
• Total connections across profiles that must be combined.
• Quantity of content to manually republish from old accounts.
• Whether you need to redirect custom URLs after consolidating.
• If support tickets must be opened to handle issues.

Most straightforward mergers with minimal content take 1-2 weeks. More complex consolidations can span 1-2 months. Move methodically to avoid major issues.

Also read: LinkedIn Recruiter Pricing 2023: Costs, Features, and Alternatives

Does Merging LinkedIn Accounts Lose Data?

Unfortunately, merging your LinkedIn accounts will result in some data loss as secondary profiles get closed:

• Content only on old accounts will be deleted if not reposted.
• Conversations and messages can’t be transferred over.
• Previous job applications and recruiter outreach on old accounts will be lost.
• Secondary profile analytics and metrics will be erased.
• Any profile customizations like themes will need reconfiguring.

So manually save key data and expect some content loss when consolidating multiple LinkedIn profiles.

Merging Accounts Using Third-Party LinkedIn Tools

While LinkedIn doesn’t directly support account mergers, some external tools claim to automate consolidating multiple LinkedIn profiles:

• FusionAgent – Tool to merge LinkedIn accounts, content, and connections.
• Klear – Software to merge LinkedIn profiles and manage multiple accounts.
• Linked Helper – Service that merges LinkedIn accounts, followers, and updates.

However, be aware these tools likely violate LinkedIn’s terms of service around account merging. Proceed at your own risk.

LinkedIn Account Merger Outlook

Here is what the future may hold for LinkedIn account merging capabilities:

1. To open the profile card, click on your or someone else’s profile image.
2. Select the LinkedIn icon from the profile card.
3. You will only see this information if you have received an update that includes the LinkedIn integration features.
4. Displaying the LinkedIn emblem on a profile card
5. Choose Let’s go! click Continue to LinkedIn on the next displays.
6. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
7. Accept to link your LinkedIn account to Outlook.
8. Accept to link your Microsoft account to LinkedIn. Your accounts are now linked.
9. Select Got it!.

*You must select “Accept” in steps 6 and 7 above to access LinkedIn information on profile cards in Microsoft apps and services.

Evolving LinkedIn’s merge capabilities can make consolidating fragmented profiles easier for members.

Latest LinkedIn News and Developments 

Here are some of the most recent LinkedIn platform developments as of December 2023:

• Enhanced analytics – LinkedIn launched new analytics capabilities for company pages, including metrics like post reactions, shares, and top contributors.
• Profile pronouns – Users can now add pronouns to display on their profile to align with their gender identity.
• Open for business feature – Businesses can indicate special hours and services available during the holidays or COVID-19.
• LinkedIn Stories – The network expanded its Snapchat-style Stories feature across the U.S., allowing ephemeral photo and video sharing.
• Virtual events – LinkedIn added the ability to host virtual events with both free and paid ticketing options.
• Product Pages – Companies can now publish Product Pages to showcase and advertise goods or services.
• Revamped Company Pages – LinkedIn launched a refreshed Company Page experience with easier navigation and analytics.
• Creator mode – Influencers and thought leaders can join the platform’s Creator Accelerator Program.
• Rise initiative – LinkedIn committed $25 million to provide free job seeking services for underrepresented groups who faced unemployment.

Key Takeaways and Recommendations

Consolidating multiple LinkedIn accounts into one profile generates a stronger professional presence. Here are the main tips to ensure merger success:

• Thoroughly evaluate all accounts before deciding on the primary profile.
• Manually save key secondary account data before merging.
• Handle company pages separately from your personal account merger.
• Redirect custom URLs to the primary profile for continuity.
• Confirm final changes before closing old accounts permanently.
• Wait 1-2 months before creating new secondary accounts if needed.

Following LinkedIn’s rules combined with best practices keeps your merger smooth and minimizes data loss.

Conclusion

I hope this guide covered everything you need to know about successfully merging multiple LinkedIn accounts. The key is planning methodically and following LinkedIn’s guidelines. Don’t rush the process to avoid damaging your online professional brand presence.

Let me know if you have any other questions on LinkedIn account merging best practices!

Also read: Difference between following and connecting on LinkedIn

Frequently Asked Questions about LinkedIn Account Merging

Here are answers to common FAQs about merging LinkedIn accounts: