Another of the most frequently asked questions within the LinkedIn Answers section is how to delete or remove a connection or, I guess more accurately, how to disconnect from someone on LinkedIn that you are currently connected to.
[Updated May 2013 to include the method to do this with the new formats on LinkedIn as well.]
Do check alternatives
Just as an initial comment, no doubt you have a good reason for this but do bear in mind that once you have removed a connection, you will not be able to simply reconnect with them – instead it’s something that currently will need to be done through the LinkedIn Customer Services.
There may, also be other ways to achieve what you want without removing them – for example, if you are fed up with the number of updates they are making then you can hide these while still remaining connected. If you don’t want them to be able to see your connections then you can hide them, although this will apply to all of your connections, you can just turn that on and off on an individual basis. Essentially it may not require the rather final act of removing them as a connection.
How to go about it
However, if it does require this, then this is the way to achieve that. This has changed as of Spring 2013 because of changes LinkedIn is currently rolling out across the members, so you may have either of the versions below – both achieve the same result though:
i) If you have the new format, then you would need to go to the ‘Contacts’ page (you may see this now under the ‘Network’ menu item) and then you will need to search for the person you wish to disconnect from using the search box.
Once you have found them, hover over their name and three options should appear under their name, namely “Tag,” “Message” and “More”. Click on “More” and then select “Remove Connection” from the dropdown menu as shown below.
ii) If you still have the old format, go to the Contact section in the main menu then you’ll find “My Connections” there where you will see a list of all of your current contacts on LinkedIn.
In the top right hand corner of that listing, there is a link marked with “Remove Connections” as you can see below.
Clicking on that, you will see the list again and this time simply with a checkbox next to each name. All you need to do is tick that next next to connection(s) that you wish to remove and then click on the “Remove Connections” button.
In both cases, one less connection and, in case you wondered, they won’t be informed although it’s possible they will notice they have lost a connection if they keep a close eye on those numbers.
Anyway, if you want to remove a connection then that’s how you do it but, it is fairly drastic, and you do lose the benefit of their network as well, so if there is another way to achieve what you are looking for then I’d advise you look at that first if at all possible.
