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If you can’t log in to LinkedIn, start with the recovery options on the sign-in page—not a phone number or an unsolicited “support” service. Select Forgot password? and try an email address or phone number linked to the account. If you can’t receive a code, choose Can’t access this email? and follow any option to verify your identity. For a hacked or restricted account, use the specific recovery or appeal prompts LinkedIn shows when you try to sign in.
The exact options can vary by account, country, and device. LinkedIn does not offer a reliably verified public customer-service phone number for ordinary account recovery, and identity verification is not a guarantee that an account will be restored.
Choose the route that matches your problem
Being locked out does not always mean your password is wrong. Use this quick guide to avoid repeating a reset that cannot work:
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| What happened? | Start here |
|---|---|
| You forgot your password but can access an account email or phone | Use Forgot password? |
| You no longer have the old email or phone | Start password recovery, then choose Can’t access this email? and, if offered, Don’t have access to any of these? |
| Your account may have been taken over | Secure your email account, then use LinkedIn’s recovery flow and check for its compromise prompts |
| LinkedIn says the account is restricted | Attempt sign-in and follow the displayed verification or appeal instructions |
| You closed the account yourself | Try signing in or use the closure email link; most accounts can be reopened within 14 days |
| The page or code delivery appears broken | Try alternate recovery details and basic browser and email checks, then use the Help Center route if the problem persists |
Reset your password if you still have a recovery method
- Open LinkedIn’s sign-in page and select Forgot password?
- Enter an email address or phone number associated with the account.
- Request and enter the verification code. Depending on the recovery details available, LinkedIn may offer email, text, or a phone call.
- Choose a new password and sign in. LinkedIn may also ask you to complete a two-step verification or another security check.
After you regain access, review the account’s security settings, recovery email addresses, phone numbers, and active sessions. If a code does not arrive, see the troubleshooting steps below rather than requesting codes repeatedly. LinkedIn’s current password-reset guidance describes the available recovery process.
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If you no longer have access to your email
This often happens after changing jobs, leaving school, or losing access to an old mailbox. First, try every address that might be attached to the LinkedIn account: personal, former work, school, and older Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or iCloud addresses. Search those inboxes for old LinkedIn messages, which can help identify the right address.
If you cannot use the address or phone presented for the code, LinkedIn’s documented route is:
- On the sign-in page, select Forgot password? and enter an email address or phone number associated with the account.
- When prompted for a code, select Can’t access this email?
- If it appears, choose Don’t have access to any of these? and continue through the prompts.
- On desktop, LinkedIn may display a QR code to continue the process on a phone. Follow the screen shown for your account.
- Enter a new email address where LinkedIn can reach you. You may also be able to provide the URL of your profile.
- Complete the identity check if LinkedIn requests one.
Screen labels and steps can differ. Follow the options actually displayed, and use LinkedIn’s no-access-to-email instructions if you need the official walkthrough.
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When the account uses a former work or school email
A mailbox controlled by an employer or school is not the same as ownership of your LinkedIn account. If appropriate, ask the organization’s IT team whether it can temporarily restore the mailbox so you can receive a reset message. Do not give IT staff your LinkedIn password or ask them to sign in for you. If you recover the account another way, replace the obsolete address with a personal one and add a second recovery method.
If you lost your phone or two-step verification device
If your account relies on a phone number you no longer control, a reset sent to that number cannot help. LinkedIn says a member who cannot access the number on a phone-only account must verify identity to regain access. A regular mobile or landline number may be supported for phone verification; VoIP numbers are not supported for that route. Your carrier may charge for texts or calls. See LinkedIn’s phone-verification guidance.
Distinguish the issue before trying again: a wrong password, an SMS security challenge, a lost authenticator device, and a missing backup code are different problems. If you cannot complete the two-step challenge or access its device, use the recovery prompts and identity-verification option LinkedIn provides. Do not try to bypass the challenge with an unofficial service.
After recovery, add an email address and current phone number you control, save recovery codes securely if LinkedIn offers them, and configure two-step verification again. An authenticator app can help protect the account, but it cannot substitute for LinkedIn’s recovery process if you lose the device holding it.
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What LinkedIn identity verification involves
LinkedIn uses Persona for some account-recovery identity checks. Depending on the case, you may be asked for a valid, unexpired government-issued ID—such as a passport or driver’s license—and sometimes a selfie or photo. Options can vary by country, account, device, and reason for lockout, so an ID request is not necessarily presented in every recovery case.
- Use only the identity-check flow reached from LinkedIn’s official recovery process.
- If asked to use a smartphone, follow that flow. Photograph the entire document clearly, with no glare, shadows, blur, or cropped edges.
- Use an unexpired document and information that LinkedIn can reasonably match to your profile. A nickname or outdated profile details can complicate a match.
- Never send an ID in reply to an unsolicited message or upload it to a third-party recovery service.
LinkedIn says Persona may share the verification result and certain details with LinkedIn, including full name, year of birth, location, ID type and issuer, and a redacted copy showing the name and portrait. LinkedIn says it does not receive biometric data or ID numbers, expiration dates, or issue dates from the ID. It also says identifying recovery data is generally deleted within 14 days after submission, while some non-identifying data may be retained for fraud prevention. Read LinkedIn’s current identity-verification and privacy details before submitting sensitive information.
Verification is a step in the recovery process, not a promise of approval or account restoration. If your name on LinkedIn differs from your document, provide accurate information through the official flow and follow its instructions; do not alter or misrepresent an ID.
If you think your account was hacked
Possible signs include a password that suddenly stops working, unfamiliar sign-in alerts, changed recovery details, profile edits you did not make, or messages and connection requests you did not send. A public profile can remain visible even when its owner cannot get in, so visibility alone does not prove the account is safe.
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- Search the email account, including spam, for LinkedIn security notices about changed email addresses, passwords, or account activity. Use only links you can verify lead to LinkedIn.
- Use LinkedIn’s official recovery flow. Start with password recovery; if an attacker changed the recovery information, choose the no-access route or follow the compromised-account prompt.
- Tell contacts through another channel if the account may have sent fraudulent messages or requests.
- After recovery, clean up the account: change the LinkedIn password, remove unknown email addresses and phone numbers, end unfamiliar sessions, check profile changes, and reset two-step verification.
Use the LinkedIn Help Center for the relevant recovery guidance. Do not send passwords, one-time codes, browser cookies, or session tokens to anyone claiming to recover the account. Avoid opening multiple cases for the same incident; keep the history together where possible.
If LinkedIn says your account is restricted
A restriction is not necessarily a password problem. LinkedIn says restrictions can relate to suspected compromise, identity or authenticity concerns, prohibited automated activity, scraping, browser extensions, or other violations of its User Agreement or Professional Community Policies. Start by attempting to sign in and follow the displayed identity-verification or appeal instructions. LinkedIn’s explanation is in its account-restrictions guidance.
A temporary security restriction may be resolved through verification. A policy-related restriction may require an appeal and may not be reversed. For a permanent restriction, LinkedIn says access to the account and its features is lost, though its Help Center provides information for questions about the restriction. No recovery route—including submitting ID—guarantees restoration. Review the instructions for permanent restrictions if that is the notice you received.
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If you used automation or scraping tools, stop using them while resolving the issue. Do not try to work around a restriction by creating another profile or using an unofficial service.
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- For email, check spam, junk, promotions, and any employer or school quarantine folder. Check the address for typing errors and look for rules that may move or delete LinkedIn messages.
- For a phone, confirm it is the number linked to the account and can receive texts or calls. Check signal and carrier blocking; possible message or call charges depend on the provider.
- Try another email address or phone number already associated with the account.
- Wait a little before requesting another code. Repeated requests can leave you unsure which message is current; use the newest valid code and follow any on-screen expiry instructions.
- If the app is stuck, try a browser, or vice versa. You can also try a private window or a clean browser session.
- Temporarily disable VPNs, automation tools, and suspicious extensions during recovery; LinkedIn identifies prohibited automation and scraping as possible restriction causes.
- If delivery still fails, use the no-access or identity-verification route, or seek help through LinkedIn’s official Help Center.
Keep any error text and a brief timeline of what you tried. If the process loops or errors, those details are more useful in a support request than opening several duplicate cases.
Contacting LinkedIn support after you regain access
Once signed in, open the Help Center, search for the issue, and select Contact us or the support option offered on that page. Keep the case number, reply in the same case thread, and check the email address associated with your account for responses. Avoid submitting duplicates for one issue.
Support choices depend on the issue, product, account status, and region. A contact option, live chat, phone callback, or immediate human response is not guaranteed for every member. The same is true if you cannot sign in: the available recovery or contact controls may differ, so do not assume there is a universal guest ticket form.
Is there a LinkedIn customer-service phone number?
There is no reliably verified public LinkedIn customer-service phone number that ordinary members should call for account recovery. Start on LinkedIn’s sign-in page and use the official Help Center at linkedin.com/help/linkedin. Be wary of phone numbers in search results, social posts, or paid listings that promise immediate access.
Never pay an “account recovery agent,” share a password or one-time code, send a session cookie, install remote-access software, or upload ID outside LinkedIn’s official flow. Buying Premium solely to get back into a locked account is not a reliable workaround; a paid subscription does not guarantee recovery or bypass identity verification.
If you closed the account yourself
If you intentionally closed your LinkedIn account, most accounts can be reopened within 14 days by trying to sign in or using the link in LinkedIn’s account-closure email. Accounts closed for more than 14 days generally cannot be reopened. Reopening restores connections, but may not restore group memberships, followings, ignored and pending invitations, endorsements, or recommendations. See LinkedIn’s account-reopening guidance.
If you may be trying to recover the wrong profile
People sometimes have an old or duplicate profile tied to a different email address. Search LinkedIn for your name or ask a trusted contact to find the intended profile, then copy its public URL. Try historical personal, work, and school addresses in recovery, and provide the profile URL if the recovery form offers the option. LinkedIn’s guidance for finding information or an old profile may help identify the right account. Creating another profile is not a substitute for recovering the original and can add confusion.
Quick Recap
Make the next lockout less likely
- Add a secondary email address and a current phone number you control.
- Use a unique password and store it in a reputable password manager.
- Enable two-step verification and keep recovery codes somewhere secure and separate from your phone.
- Remove outdated work or school addresses before losing access to those mailboxes.
- Review active sessions and recovery details periodically, especially after a device change or suspected compromise.
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