What does open profile mean on LinkedIn?

Nilan SahaMarch 8, 2024

If you have ever tried reaching out to someone on LinkedIn who isn't connected to you, you might have seen that somtimes you need something called InMail Credits and other times you might not need it.

It depends on who has "Open Profile" turned on. When a user turns on open profile anyone can reach out to them without any credits and even if they are outside of the user's network.

How to turn on Open Profile?

Turning on open profile only requires 3 steps. From the menu at the top of your LinkedIn home screen, you have to select the following options -

Settings & Privacy > Data Privacy > Open Profile messages

Should you turn on Open Profile?

At the end of the day it is a personal choice and there are pros and cons to it. Turning on open profile means more people can reach out to you with potential opportunities that might interest you. It also means that a good chunk of these reachouts you get might be straight up spam or not relevant to you at all.

When people have to use credits for reachout they tend to be very specific, and when they do not need credits for reaching out, they cast a wider and possibly less relevant net.