It can happen that you find yourself with multiple profiles on LinkedIn, and usually this is simply a case of having set up a profile in the past, forgotten about it and then recreated a new one as you start to use LinkedIn more actively again.
Whatever the reason, to get the best out of LinkedIn, you will need to ensure that you focus all of your attention onto a single account. Unfortunately, you cannot merge multiple profiles so what you’ll need to do is get all of your connections into the account that will remain – ideally the one that is most complete or has the most connections or any recommendations – and then close the other account(s).
We should do this in two stages:
- Transfer contacts from the old account(s) to be closed into the main one
- Close the old accounts
1. Transferring Contacts
To transfer contacts from your old account, log into it on LinkedIn and then click onto your “My Connections” page in the “Contacts” menu as below.
Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the “Export Connections” link that you’ll find there. You should then be presented with the screen as below.
Select the “Microsoft Outlook (CSV file)” option, click on Export and then save the file somewhere on your PC where you will be able to find it again.
Now log into your profile that you will be using going forward. Click on the “Add Connections” link which is in the top right hand corner of the screen. You’ll see the screen below where you should click on the “Import your desktop email contacts” link.
Browse to where you saved the contacts file on your PC and click “Upload File”. This should mean that all of your contacts should now have been uploaded and you should now have the choice of sending them an invitation to them. The system will indicate which are already on LinkedIn and which you would be sending an email to invite them – they should of course all be in LinkedIn since you are transferring them. In any case, you can tick which ones you want (or don’t want) to send.
The message you send them can’t currently be customised and will appear in the following format:
When they confirm you will have added them to your new profile.
2. Closing the old accounts
The second step is to the close the account or accounts that you no longer intend to use. To achieve this, simply log back into the old account (do make sure that it IS the old account!) and then go to the “Settings” page which is currently accessed by hovering over your login name in the top right hand corner of the site.
Once on the settings page, Then log in to the old profile you want to close. Go to “Settings” (top right of page) and click on the “Account” section in the bottom left hand corner – you will see “Close Your Account” to its right and then just follow the instructions. Please make sure that it’s the right profile though, as there is no “undo”!
