A single message can be deleted in the first 60 minutes, after that the only option is to delete entire conversations. This is true for mobile and desktop users.
I’ll show you the multiple ways you can delete messages and conversations on LinkedIn and hopefully answer any other questions you might have about messaging on LinkedIn.
Steps to Delete LinkedIn Messages for Both Participants
When you delete a conversation or message, it is deleted for all participants, according to LinkedIn’s documentation. So, there’s no need to worry about the other participant still being able to view the message.
However, if the message was written by someone else, you will not be able to delete this—only the author of the message may delete it.
Here’s how you delete a single message on LinkedIn on your desktop device:
- In Messaging click on the conversation and hover over the specific message you want to delete.
- A reactions bar will appear and to the right end of the bar, you will see three dots (‘…’).
- Click on the three dots, and you will see the options ‘Forward,’ ‘Share via email,’ ‘Delete,’ and ‘Edit.’
- Click ‘Delete.’
- You’ll then get a pop-up asking to confirm that you want to delete the message.
- Click ‘Delete’ again and the message will now be gone.
If you only see ‘Forward’ and ‘Share via email,’ that means more than 60 minutes have passed and this individual message cannot be deleted.
Here’s how you delete a conversation on LinkedIn on your desktop device:
- In Messaging, click on the conversation.
- Above the conversation, you will see a bar with the name(s) of the other participants on the left, three dots, and a video call option.
- Click on the three dots.
- You’ll then get several options—click the second option down, ‘Delete.’
How to Delete Messages on the LinkedIn Mobile App?
The steps for deleting LinkedIn messages on mobile are rather similar to desktop, just slightly jostled around for mobile users, and are the same for both Android and iOS.
To delete a single message on mobile:
- Go to Messaging in the top right corner of the app.
- Click on the conservation where the message is located.
- Hold the message you want to delete.
- If the message was sent within the hour, at the bottom of the screen, you will have the options listed below.
- Click ‘Delete’ at the bottom.
- You will be asked to confirm to delete the message.
- Click ‘Delete’ again.
If you only have the options ‘Forward,’ ‘Share via…,’ and ‘Copy,’ this means that 60 minutes have passed, and you can no longer delete this message.
To delete an entire conversation on mobile:
- Go to Messaging in the top right corner.
- Click the three dots to the top right → then ‘Manage chats.’
- The chats will all have checkboxes.
- Select the chats you want to delete.
- At the bottom of the screen, you will have the options—‘Mark unread,’ ‘Delete,’ and ‘Archive.’
- Click ‘Delete.’
How to Mass Delete LinkedIn Messages?
Mass deleting messages on LinkedIn is only slightly different than deleting a single conversation and can be done in two ways. This method can also be used to delete just one conversation.
- In Messaging, click the three dots to the left of where it says ‘Messaging’ above the column with all the different conversations and the search bar.
- The users’ profile pics will change to checkboxes.
- Select all the conversations you want to delete.
- At the top of the column where all the messages can be found, you will notice new symbols have appeared—‘Mark unread,’ ‘Delete,’ and ‘Archive.’
- Click delete.
- A pop-up will appear to confirm the deletion.
- Click ‘Yes, delete.’
As the pop-up explains above, the conversations and their histories will be permanently removed, and you will not be able to recover them.
There is also another way to delete messages in bulk on LinkedIn (I discovered this method before the easier method above).
- Hover over the profile image of the first user whose message you want to delete.
- A checkbox will appear, select it.
- All you need to do is select more messages on the checkbox
- Click the delete button.
- Confirm the deletion.
If you want to delete a series of individual messages that you sent in different conversations, if you did this within the hour, you would have to do this manually. If an hour has passed, your only option would be to delete entire conversations.
You can also read LinkedIn’s documentation on bulk messaging actions here.
Can Deleted LinkedIn Messages Be Retrieved?
No, any message you delete on LinkedIn cannot be retrieved and will disappear for all parties.
All that will be left is a note that shows that there was a message there previously along with the time it was sent and who wrote it.
How to Edit LinkedIn Messages?
Just like deleting a message, editing a message can only be done in the first 60 minutes and in some circumstances may be better than deleting it.
Any edited messages will receive an edited badge notifying all participants that the message has been edited.
You cannot edit the messages of others. If you click on the three dots on another person’s message, you will only have two options, ‘Forward’ and ‘Share via email,’ the same options you will have for your own messages 60 minutes after they are sent.
LinkedIn Messaging Hacks
Deleting messages might not always be the best solution. If you feel you might need the message later, you can archive LinkedIn conversations too.
You can later find archived messages by filtering your messages and selecting ‘Archived.’
Furthermore, LinkedIn says that you can report inappropriate messages, even if they are deleted. You can block or report users by clicking on the message, three dots next to the video call icon at the top of the conversation and clicking ‘Report / Block.’
Lastly, you can change who can and cannot message you in the settings.
Click on your profile icon on the navigation bar → ‘Settings and Privacy’ → ‘Communications’ → ‘Messages.’
You can then toggle on or off message requests, InMail messages, and Sponsored messages. Turning off these messages will keep your mailbox a bit tidier.
