How to change the “Connect” button to the “Follow” button on LinkedIn
Updated October 2024
I don’t connect with everyone and anyone on LinkedIn.
As a long-time marketer, I know “EVERYONE” is not a strategy.
I do accept new connections into my network regularly, but I also make sure we can provide an exchange of value.
To limit the number of connection requests I receive, I’ve changed my “Connect” button to a “Follow” button. This way, people can follow my updates and we don’t have to be mutually connected. (i.e. They can see my posts, but I won’t see their status updates nor will have access to each others networks).
Why Should You Switch from “Connect” to “Follow”?
- Streamline your network: Only connect with individuals who bring value to your professional journey.
- Increase your followers: Allow people to engage with your content without crowding your feed with irrelevant posts.
- Position yourself as a thought leader: Followers will see your posts, establishing your authority in your field, without diluting the quality of your connections.
Do you want to manage your LinkedIn connections better and ensure you’re building a quality network? Here’s how:
Go to Your LinkedIn Profile:
- Click on your profile picture or “Me” icon in the top navigation bar to access your LinkedIn profile.
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Visibility → Visibility of your profile & network → Followers.
- Ensure the option for “Who can follow you” is set to Everyone on LinkedIn and to make the FOLLOW button primary, simply click the button to ON.
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Hi Leslie, could you update this article to reflect LinkedIn’s recent changes to Settings? Your article appeared at the top of my Google search results (yay you!) but sadly the info is now out of date. Now, people need to go to the Visibility tab and scroll down to Visibility of your LinkedIn Activity and then click on Followers at the bottom.
Will do! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Wendy. Stay tuned.
Can people still connect if they choose to with this option?
Yes they can. It’s not as intuitive, but if they click on the “more” or ellipses, there is a drop down menu to connect.
Hi Leslie, Thanks for your very helpful articles. You’re so right, things on LI aren’t quite as intuitive as one would expect.
I have been trying to change the button on my profile page to no avail. It currently says “Open To”. I would like to chaneg it to follow but I haven’t been able to. I know you know how to do that. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much, Peter
Thanks for your message, Peter. Are you looking in the Privacy & Settings area, or on your personal home page?
Can I change my settings from Follow to Connect? I’m a recuriter and want to see who is interested in what I am saying on Linked In, but now I can’t see them!
The “Follow” button just allows people to see your posts/updates but you’re not actually connected to them. With the Connect button, obviously this allows you to add them to your database of connections. I believe if you follow the same steps as above and turn “Make Follow Primary” to NO, you will change the Follow button back to the Connect button.
I don’t think this setting makes a difference about whether or not you can see who is posting on your profile. Hope this helps.
Hi Dan,
The easiest way to go back to having the “Follow” button is to turn off Creator Mode.
By the way, if you are in Creator mode, you can still see who is following you, but clicking on the link that says “Followers”. You should see at least two links, one that says “Following” and another that says “Followers”.
The people you are Following are most likely first degree connections (unless you follow a lot of people you’re not connected to). The Followers are people who’ve followed your LinkedIn page, but you are not connected yet.
You can always connect with them by sending a personalized invite.
Thanks for the question! Hope this helps.
I have creator mode turned in and follower inky button enabled under visibility…but no follow button appears. Just a message button
Any advice ?
Sorry I haven’t replied sooner, Robyn. Can you email me at leslie@punchmedia.ca with a screen grab? There should be a follow button there.
Hi! Great article. Question: is there a way to take followers from your personal account and invite them to follow your newly created company page?
Hi Daphne,
You can share content from your company page to your personal page as a post and invite people to follow you there. Hopefully this helps!