It happens to the best of us. You created a LinkedIn profile back in college using a sketchy Yahoo email address you haven't touched in a decade. Then, a few years later, you started a fresh one with your professional Gmail. Maybe you even have a third floating around because a former employer "helped" you set one up. Now, when people search for you, they see a ghost town of a profile and your current one. It’s messy. It’s confusing for recruiters. Honestly, it just looks bad.
If you’re sitting there wondering, how do i merge two linkedin accounts without deleting years of networking or those hard-won recommendations, you aren’t alone. LinkedIn’s interface for this is surprisingly tucked away. It’s not a big shiny button on your homepage.
The reality of merging accounts is a bit more nuanced than just "clicking a button." You have to decide which account is the "survivor" and which one is the "sacrifice." One will absorb the other’s connections, but everything else? It’s a bit of a gamble if you don't do it right.
Why You Have to Choose a Primary Account Carefully
LinkedIn refers to this process as "self-service account closure and connection transfer." That’s a mouthful. Basically, you’re telling LinkedIn: "Hey, I’m the same person. Take the connections from Account B and shove them into Account A, then kill Account B."
But here’s the kicker.
Only the connections move. Your endorsements, your beautifully written "About" section, your post history, and those specific recommendations you begged your old boss for? They don't migrate. If they are on the account you’re closing, they vanish into the digital ether the moment the merge is finalized.
Because of this, you absolutely must designate the account with the most content—not just the most connections—as your primary. If Account A has 200 connections but a full history, and Account B has 500 connections but is a skeleton, you merge B into A. You keep the history; you gain the 500 people.
The Step-by-Step Logistics of How Do I Merge Two LinkedIn Accounts
Before you touch anything, log into both accounts. Make sure you actually have the passwords. If you’re locked out of the old one because that Yahoo email is dead, you’ll have to go through LinkedIn’s identity verification process, which involves uploading a photo of your ID. It’s a hassle, but it’s the only way if you've lost access.
Once you’re in, follow these steps on a desktop. Mobile is too clunky for this.
- Log into the primary account (the one you want to keep).
- Click the "Me" icon at the top right under your tiny profile photo.
- Select "Settings & Privacy."
- On the left-hand sidebar, click "Account preferences."
- Scroll all the way down to the "Account management" section.
- Look for "Merge accounts." It’s usually right next to "Hibernate account" or "Close account."
- LinkedIn will ask for the email and password of the duplicate account you want to close.
- Enter those details and hit submit.
You’ll get a confirmation screen. Read it. Then read it again. It will explicitly tell you that the duplicate account will be deleted and you can’t undo this. Once you hit "Submit," the process starts.
What Actually Moves and What Stays Behind?
This is where people get tripped up. Most users assume a merge is a total 1:1 sync. It isn’t.
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The stuff that moves:
Connections. That’s it. LinkedIn will take your network from the old account and send them an invite or automatically add them to your new one, depending on their privacy settings. The email address from the old account will also be added to your new account as a secondary email. This is actually pretty helpful because it prevents you from accidentally creating a third account with that email in the future.
The stuff that is gone forever:
- Profile content (Experience, Education, Volunteer work).
- Skills and Endorsements.
- Recommendations (both those you gave and those you received).
- Saved articles and posts.
- Group memberships.
- Pending connection requests.
If you have recommendations on the "sacrifice" account, reach out to those people. Ask them if they’d mind copy-pasting their testimonial onto your new profile once the merge is done. It’s awkward, sure, but losing a glowing review from a CEO is worse than a five-minute awkward conversation.
The "Pending" Limbo
Don't expect the merge to be instantaneous. LinkedIn usually says it takes up to 48 hours, but in practice, it can feel like forever. During this time, the duplicate account might still show up in Google search results. This is normal. Google's web crawlers take time to realize a page is gone.
If you had a Premium subscription on the duplicate account, cancel it first. LinkedIn won't automatically transfer a paid subscription from one account to another during a merge. You’ll end up paying for a ghost. Also, if you’re a job seeker with active applications on the old account, finish those or withdraw them. The data associated with those applications won't migrate.
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Dealing With More Than Two Accounts
Sometimes the problem is bigger. I’ve seen consultants who somehow ended up with four profiles because of different career pivots. LinkedIn’s tool only handles two at a time. If you’re a "multi-account offender," you have to do this in stages. Merge Account D into C. Wait 48 hours. Merge Account C into B. Wait. Merge B into A.
It’s a slow process. If you try to do it all at once, the system might flag your account for suspicious activity. LinkedIn is notoriously sensitive about automation and "bot-like" behavior. Be a human. Take it slow.
When the Merge Tool Fails
You might see an error message saying "This account cannot be merged." This usually happens for a few specific reasons.
If one account is a "Company Page" and the other is a personal profile, you can't merge them. They are different entities. If you have more than 30,000 connections (the LinkedIn limit), the merge will fail because you can't exceed that cap.
Another common roadblock is having an active "LinkedIn Learning" account or a "Recruiter" seat tied to the old profile. You have to disconnect those services before the accounts will play nice. If you’re still stuck, you’ll have to open a support ticket. Warning: LinkedIn support is mostly automated initially, so you’ll need to be persistent to get a real person.
Actions to Take Right Now
If you are ready to clean up your professional presence, don't just jump in. Follow this checklist to ensure you don't lose your data.
- Download your data: Go to the "Settings & Privacy" of the account you’re going to close. Find "Get a copy of your data." Download the "Large data archive." This gives you a spreadsheet of your connections, your messages, and your profile content. If something goes wrong, you at least have a record of who you were connected to.
- Screenshot everything: It sounds old school, but take screenshots of your old profile’s "Experience" and "Recommendations" sections. You’ll want those descriptions for your primary account.
- Notify your inner circle: If you have active conversations in the LinkedIn Inbox of the old account, tell those people you’re moving. The messages will not be transferred.
- Check your email settings: After the merge, go to your primary account and make sure the "old" email address is verified. This ensures you can still log in even if you forget which email you used.
Merging is a "measure twice, cut once" situation. Once you confirm that final prompt, the old profile is purged. But once the dust settles, you’ll have a single, powerful professional brand instead of a fragmented mess. It’s worth the 15 minutes of effort to stop people from wondering which "you" is the real one.