Reclaim Your Professional Identity: How to Get Your LinkedIn Account Back After a Restriction

You’re going along with your typical day, doing what you do, and suddenly you have to provide your identification to LinkedIn. Then you get a notification that your account has been temporarily or permanently restricted. Or, you don’t even get the ID request, just an email that your account has been shut down.

Suddenly, you are invisible. People can’t find you on LinkedIn.

What to do?

Cry?

They must be cracking down on unacceptable behavior because I’ve helped multiple people over the past few weeks get their account back. This may be due to LinkedIn trying to get rid of fake (Yay, we all hate these) or dormant accounts or it may be that they are more on top of behavior that goes against the terms.

Most people sign up for software or social media tools, scroll through any terms or conditions without reading them, and click 'Accept.' It's just human nature. The only terms and rules I've actually read are, you guessed it, LinkedIn.

First of all, why did you get restricted?

Often, they won’t tell you. Some things that seem to set this off include:

1. Multiple log-in instances in different locations, for example the United States and Brazil at the same time

2. Allowing someone to log in as you

3. Using tools that scrape data; the tools will often say they are “safe” but most are not, and you know that I always say, "You can't automate relationships"

4. Opening multiple LinkedIn pages at once, especially using a tool to do it

LinkedIn describes the areas that might lead to a restriction as content violations, profile violations, identity violations, and automated tools violations.

It is important that you are willing to stop doing whatever you did to get restricted, if you are told what it was.

How to attempt to get your account back:

Here are steps to take that may, and I can’t promise it will work, get your account back:

1. Try going to this page:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/help/linkedin/ask/li-default

2. Can you get there?

3. If yes, fill it out. Issue type = restrictions

4. Subject: Can you help me with my account?

5. Text (Make this script your own. The key is to express how important it is to you and that you won’t do whatever you did again. Plus, you really must stick to this. Example:

I was notified that my account was restricted.

LinkedIn is an important part of my business. It is where I make and engage with connections and grow my business by building relationships,?engaging with insights, and more.

I would not purposely do anything that was against the rules, but in reading them, (Insert what you think you might have done to get restricted if you have an idea. For example: I now know I should?not have allowed my marketing person to?log in as me to share posts. I did not originally know this was not allowed.)?

Please allow me to have my account back so I can continue to grow my business.

6. Depending on the response, that may be all you need to do.?

If you can't get to that page:

1. Go to Twitter

2. Follow Linked Help:?https://twitter.com/linkedinhelp

3. Direct message them a similar message to what was shared above, but making it your own.

It is important that you are willing to stop doing whatever you did to get restricted, if you are told what it was.

Want to read the rules?

Jump right to the main Dos and Don'ts:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/legal/user-agreement#dos

Learn more about account restrictions:

Have you experienced an account restriction?

What did you do to get your account back?

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In case this newsletter was forwarded to you and you don't know me, I'm Beth Granger. I'm a trainer, consultant, and speaker?who works with organizations and individuals to unleash the power of LinkedIn and networking. My clients call me part friend, part consultant, part confidante, sales enabler, and LinkedIn Oracle. As an Exactly What to Say ? Certified Guide, I help my clients identify and elevate life’s critical conversations, online and in person. I do not work for LinkedIn but I am frequently invited to beta test new features such as newsletters, LinkedIn Live, and LinkedIn Audio Events.?