LinkedIn Merge Accounts: Your Complete Guide to Consolidating Profiles (2025)

What Actually Happens When You Merge LinkedIn Accounts

Let’s be crystal clear about this: LinkedIn doesn’t actually “merge” accounts in the way you might think.

What they do is transfer your connections from one profile to another, then permanently delete the duplicate account. Everything else? Gone forever.

Here’s what transfers:

• Your connections (the people you’re connected to)
• The email address from the closed account

Here’s what disappears forever:

• All recommendations you received
• All endorsements for your skills
• Your entire work history and experience
• Every post, comment, and like
• Saved articles and jobs
• Pending invitations
• Group memberships

This is why the backup step (which we’ll cover next) is absolutely critical. Miss it, and you’ll lose career capital you’ve built over years.

Before You Merge: The Essential Backup Checklist

Here’s where most people make a massive mistake. They assume “merge” means everything combines automatically. It doesn’t.

Step 1: Choose Your Primary Account

This should be the profile with:

• The most connections (your network is your most valuable asset)
• The most complete work history
• Your current professional email address
• The highest engagement

This is the account you’ll keep. Everything else gets deleted.

Step 2: Download Your Data (THIS IS MANDATORY)

Log into the account you’re about to close. Do this before you merge anything:

1. Go to Settings & Privacy
2. Click “Data Privacy”
3. Select “Get a copy of your data”
4. Request the full archive (not just connections)

LinkedIn will email you a download link within 24 hours. The link is only valid for 72 hours, so download it immediately.

This archive is your safety net. It contains:

• Your complete connection list (as a backup)
• All your posts and comments
• Your work history and education
• Every recommendation and endorsement

Step 3: Screenshot Your Recommendations

This is tedious but essential. Recommendations don’t transfer. Period.

Open the account you’re closing and screenshot every recommendation. Save these screenshots in a dedicated folder.

After the merge, you’ll need to manually reach out to each person who recommended you and ask them to repost their recommendation on your primary profile.

Yes, it’s annoying. But it’s the only way to preserve these endorsements.

Step 4: Check for Premium Features

If either account has Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite, or any premium subscription, cancel it first. Active premium features can complicate the merge process and potentially cause you to lose access to important lead data.

How to Merge LinkedIn Accounts (Step-by-Step)

Now we get to the actual merge process. There are two paths depending on your account details.

The Self-Service Method (Most Common)

This works if your duplicate account has between 1 and 30,000 connections.

Here’s the exact process:

1. Log into your PRIMARY account (the one you’re keeping)
2. Click your profile picture in the top right
3. Select “Settings & Privacy”
4. In the left menu, click “Account preferences”
5. Scroll to “Account management”
6. Click “Merge accounts”
7. Enter the email address and password for your duplicate account
8. Review the warning message (read it carefully!)
9. Confirm by entering your primary account password again

LinkedIn will process the request over the next few days. Your connections from the duplicate account will gradually appear in your primary profile.

The Manual Support Method (For Edge Cases)

If you have 0 connections or more than 30,000 connections on your duplicate account, the self-service option won’t work.

You’ll need to contact LinkedIn support directly:

1. Go to the LinkedIn Help Center
2. Click “Contact Us”
3. Submit a support ticket with:
   • The URL of your primary account (to keep)
   • The URL of your duplicate account (to close)
   • A clear explanation of your request

Be prepared to verify your identity. The manual process typically takes 7 to 10 business days.

Common Mistakes That Will Cost You

Mistake 1: Not Backing Up Your Data

This is the biggest one. People assume everything transfers, skip the backup, then lose years of professional history. Don’t be that person.

Mistake 2: Merging the Wrong Account

Double-check which account you want to keep before you start the process. Once you confirm the merge, there’s no undo button. Your duplicate account and all its unique content will be permanently deleted.

Mistake 3: Forgetting About Premium Subscriptions

If you have Sales Navigator or other premium features on the account you’re closing, cancel them first. Otherwise, you might lose access to saved leads and other premium data.

Mistake 4: Not Updating Your Connections

After the merge, some of your connections might be confused. Send a quick message to your closest contacts letting them know you consolidated your profiles. This prevents confusion and maintains your professional relationships.

After the Merge: Rebuilding Your Profile

Once the merge completes, you’re not quite done. You need to manually rebuild certain elements on your primary profile.

Reconstruct Your Work History

Pull up that data archive you downloaded. Go through your duplicate account’s work history and manually add any missing positions, achievements, or details to your primary profile.

This is tedious but necessary. Remember: 68% of businesses report brand consistency as a major contributor to revenue growth. Your LinkedIn profile is your personal brand. Keep it complete and consistent.

Request New Recommendations

Contact everyone who gave you a recommendation on your old account. Send them a personalized message:

“Hi [Name], I recently consolidated my LinkedIn profiles. Would you mind reposting the recommendation you gave me? I’ve attached a screenshot to make it easier. Thanks so much!”

Most people will happily do this. It takes them 2 minutes.

Rejoin Your Groups

Group memberships don’t transfer. If you were active in industry groups on your duplicate account, manually rejoin them from your primary profile.

Update Your Skills

Your duplicate account’s skills and endorsements are gone. Review your skills list on your primary profile and add any that were unique to your old account.