How to Change Your LinkedIn URL (Custom Profile Link Guide)

Your LinkedIn profile URL is more than a web address — it's part of your professional identity. The default URL LinkedIn assigns when you create an account typically looks something like linkedin.com/in/firstname-lastname-7b3k29x, with a string of random numbers and letters tacked on. Changing it to something clean and intentional, like linkedin.com/in/yourname, takes less than two minutes and makes a noticeable difference in how your profile looks on a resume, email signature, or business card.

What Is a LinkedIn Custom URL?

LinkedIn gives every member a public profile URL — the link anyone can use to find your profile without being logged in. By default, it's auto-generated from your name plus a random alphanumeric string. A custom URL lets you replace that generated suffix with a string of your own choosing, up to 100 characters using letters, numbers, and hyphens.

This matters for a few practical reasons:

• It looks cleaner on printed materials and email signatures
• It's easier for recruiters or contacts to type directly
• It can contribute to your personal brand in search results
• It signals attention to detail — a small but visible professional habit

How to Change Your LinkedIn URL on Desktop

1. Log into LinkedIn and navigate to your profile page
2. Click the "Edit public profile & URL" button — it appears in the upper-right area of your profile, represented by a pencil or edit icon
3. On the right-hand panel of the public profile editor, find the section labeled "Edit your custom URL"
4. Click the pencil icon next to your current URL
5. Type your preferred URL suffix in the text field (this is the part after linkedin.com/in/)
6. Click Save

LinkedIn will notify you instantly if the URL you've chosen is already taken. You'll need to try a variation.

How to Change Your LinkedIn URL on Mobile

The process is slightly different on the LinkedIn mobile app:

1. Tap your profile photo or the "Me" icon to open your profile
2. Tap "View Profile"
3. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) in the upper right corner of your profile
4. Select "Edit public profile" — this typically opens a browser view
5. Follow the same steps as the desktop process from there

Some versions of the LinkedIn app route you directly to a simplified editor. If you don't see the URL option, switching to a desktop browser is the most reliable path.

Rules and Limits for LinkedIn Custom URLs

Not everything is available as a custom URL. LinkedIn enforces a few constraints worth knowing before you start:

That last point is important: if you've shared your old URL publicly — on a resume, portfolio site, or email — anyone clicking it after you change it may land on a different profile or a dead link.

What Happens to Your Old URL

LinkedIn does not permanently reserve your previous URL once you change it. After a short grace period, it can be claimed by another member. If your old link is embedded anywhere — a PDF resume, a website bio, a speaker profile — those links will break or redirect incorrectly.

Before changing your URL, it's worth auditing where you've shared the existing one. Common places to update include:

• Resume and CV documents
• Email signatures
• Personal websites or portfolio pages
• Conference or event speaker bios
• Social media bios on other platforms

Variables That Affect What URL You Can Get 🔍

The "best" custom URL for your situation depends on factors specific to you:

Your name availability is the most obvious variable. Common names like John Smith are almost certainly taken in their simplest form. People in this situation often use middle initials, professional titles (like johnsmith-cpa), or location qualifiers.

Your professional context shapes what makes sense. Someone job-hunting might prioritize their exact name for searchability. A content creator or entrepreneur might prefer a handle or brand name they already use elsewhere. A freelancer might want consistency with their portfolio domain.

Whether your name has changed adds a layer of consideration. If you've recently changed your name — due to marriage, legal change, or professional rebranding — your old URL might reflect a name you no longer go by, making this an especially relevant update.

LinkedIn account type doesn't restrict URL customization — both free and premium accounts have the same ability to set a custom URL. This is one of the few profile features that isn't paywalled.

A Note on LinkedIn URLs for Company Pages

The steps above apply specifically to personal profile URLs. LinkedIn Company Pages have a separate URL structure (linkedin.com/company/yourcompany) and are managed differently — only page admins can edit them, and the process goes through the Company Page admin settings rather than the personal profile editor.

If you manage both a personal profile and a company page, be aware that they're edited through entirely separate workflows.

When a Simple Name Isn't Available

For highly common names, or for professionals in competitive fields where LinkedIn profiles are dense, getting a clean firstname-lastname URL can be a real challenge. The strategies people use vary considerably — and what works depends on how you use LinkedIn, what you're optimizing for, and how you present yourself across platforms. That calculus looks different for a recent graduate versus a 20-year industry veteran, or for someone in a public-facing role versus an internal specialist.