LinkedIn can be useful for staying connected to people, industry conversations, job opportunities and the activity around your professional profile.
It can also become noisy.
For senior leaders and busy professionals, the aim is not to turn everything off. It is to decide which updates genuinely deserve your attention, and how you would prefer to receive them.
A more considered notification setup can help you stay informed without allowing LinkedIn emails, alerts and prompts to interrupt your day.
Decide what you actually want to hear about
LinkedIn notifications can relate to your activity, your network, messages, jobs, news, Pages you manage and profile updates.
For example, you may want to receive:
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direct messages and connection invitations
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comments or reactions on your own posts
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updates from people and organisations you follow closely
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job alerts, if you are considering a future move
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notifications about a LinkedIn Company Page you manage
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new skill endorsements or recommendations
You may not need immediate alerts for every network update, newsletter, game, news prompt or general platform suggestion.
The right balance will depend on how you use LinkedIn and what you want it to support.
How to manage your notification settings
On desktop:
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Click your profile photo or Me icon at the top of LinkedIn.
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Select Settings & Privacy.
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Choose Notifications from the left-hand menu.
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Under Notifications you receive, select a category.
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Choose the type of notification you want for that activity.
LinkedIn allows you to manage delivery through three channels:
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In-app notifications
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Push notifications to your mobile device
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Email notifications to your primary email address
You can turn each channel on or off for individual notification types, and some email settings also allow you to choose frequency.
Start with messages, job opportunities and activity involving you
A practical place to begin is with the notifications most likely to require a response.
For many professionals, these include:
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messages
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connection invitations
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comments and reactions on their own content
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mentions
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job opportunities
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activity on LinkedIn Pages they manage
You may want these as in-app notifications, while reserving push notifications or email alerts only for the items that need more immediate attention.
Reduce email before you turn everything off
LinkedIn emails can quickly become the most distracting part of the platform.
Rather than unsubscribing from everything, review each category and keep email turned on only for the updates you would be genuinely disappointed to miss.
For example, someone exploring a new role may want email alerts for selected job opportunities. A senior leader who uses LinkedIn primarily for professional visibility may prefer to keep messages and important activity in-app, while turning off most email notifications.
LinkedIn lets you manage email preferences by notification category and, in some areas, choose how often you receive them.
Manage push notifications with care
Push notifications are the alerts that appear on your phone or tablet.
They can be useful when you need to respond quickly to messages or when you are actively managing a Company Page. But they can also create unnecessary interruption.
LinkedIn allows you to turn push notifications on or off by notification category. Keep in mind that LinkedIn notes some push notifications may depend on in-app notifications also being enabled.
A simple approach is to begin with push notifications turned off, then selectively enable only the categories that genuinely need a prompt.
Review Company Page notifications separately
If you manage a LinkedIn Company Page, you can also control updates relating to Page activity.
These may include Page invitations, Page updates, engagement activity, messages, reminders to post and insights such as new followers or Page views. Page notifications can be delivered in-app, by push notification or by email.
For marketing, communications and HR teams, it is worth agreeing internally who should receive these notifications. This avoids multiple people assuming someone else has seen an important message or comment.
Check profile-sharing settings as well
Notification settings control what LinkedIn sends to you.
They are separate from the settings that control whether LinkedIn notifies your network about changes you make to your own profile, such as a new role, education update or work anniversary.
You can manage this under Settings & Privacy → Visibility → Share job changes, education changes and work anniversaries from profile.
This is particularly useful when you are quietly updating your profile before a larger announcement.
Set a rhythm that suits your work
You do not need to respond to LinkedIn in real time.
Many leaders find it more useful to check LinkedIn at a deliberate time a few times each week, rather than allowing notifications to dictate their attention throughout the day.
A considered notification setup gives you more control over the platform. It allows you to stay connected to the people and opportunities that matter, while protecting your focus for the work in front of you.
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Think Bespoke is a Melbourne-based LinkedIn consultancy supporting professionals, leaders and organisations across Australia.
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Karen Hollenbach helps thoughtful professionals, leaders and organisations show up with greater clarity, confidence and purpose.
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