How Do I Get My LinkedIn URL? A Straightforward Guide

Your LinkedIn URL is probably the link you share more than any other: email signatures, podcast bios, speaker submissions, sales sequences, investor decks. And there's a decent chance the one you've been using looks like linkedin.com/in/john-smith-9b8a7c6d5.

Here's how to find your LinkedIn URL, clean it up, and share it without creating problems for links you've already put out into the world. We'll cover desktop, mobile (iOS and Android), Company Pages, and the one thing most guides get wrong: what actually happens to your old URL when you change it.

Quick answer (desktop): Click your profile photo, select "View Profile," then click "Public profile & URL" in the top-right sidebar. Your full URL is displayed there. You can also copy it directly from your browser's address bar while on your profile page.

What Is a LinkedIn URL?

Your LinkedIn URL is the public web address for your profile, formatted as linkedin.com/in/[your-handle]. It's how anyone finds your profile directly via a browser or search engine.

When you sign up, LinkedIn auto-generates a handle using your name plus random characters to keep URLs unique across the platform. That string of letters and numbers is also called a LinkedIn vanity URL, and it's worth changing. Custom URLs rank better in Google searches for your name, look cleaner in every context where you paste them, and signal the kind of attention to detail that recruiters and investors notice.

For more on optimizing your LinkedIn profile beyond just the URL, the full founder guide covers everything from headlines to featured sections. And if you're building a personal brand on LinkedIn, a clean URL is the fastest credibility signal you can set up in under five minutes.

How to Find Your LinkedIn URL on Desktop

The fastest method: go to your profile and copy the URL directly from your browser's address bar. What you see there is your current public LinkedIn URL.

The more deliberate path, which also gets you to the customization settings, goes like this. Click your profile photo in the top-left corner and select "View Profile." On your profile page, look to the top-right sidebar for the "Public profile & URL" section. Your full URL is displayed there, and clicking the pencil icon takes you to the edit screen where you can customize it.

Bookmark that edit page. You'll want it again when you're ready to clean up the URL.

How to Find Your LinkedIn URL on Mobile

On iOS

Tap your profile photo in the top-left corner of the LinkedIn app, then tap "View Profile." Below your name and headline, tap "Contact info." Your LinkedIn profile URL appears in that list, and you can tap it to copy.

You can also edit your URL from mobile. Tap your Profile URL in the Contact info section, and LinkedIn redirects you to the Public profile settings page where you can customize it. The flow is slightly less convenient than desktop, but it works without needing to switch devices.

On Android

The path is identical on Android: profile photo, "View Profile," "Contact info," then tap your Profile URL to access the settings page.

How to Customize Your LinkedIn URL

To customize your LinkedIn URL, go to "Public profile & URL" on desktop (or through Contact info on mobile), click the pencil icon, and type your preferred handle in the field on the right side of the page.

Per LinkedIn's help page: your custom URL must be between 3 and 100 characters. Letters, numbers, and hyphens are allowed, but no spaces or other special characters. In practice, shorter is better. Most people use first name plus last name, like linkedin.com/in/janesmith.

If your name is already taken, try a middle initial (/in/janeasmith) or a single numeral (/in/janesmith2). Avoid job titles or company names in your URL since you'll change roles and the URL won't change with you.

The best approach is matching your LinkedIn handle to your X/Twitter handle or email prefix so the same name appears everywhere someone might search for you. The update takes effect immediately after you save.

Before You Change Your LinkedIn URL

Here's the detail most guides either skip or get wrong: when you update your LinkedIn URL, the old one doesn't immediately break. LinkedIn keeps your previous custom URL linked to your profile for six months by default, so existing links continue working during that window.

After six months, or if you actively unlink the old URL from your profile settings, it stops resolving and anyone clicking it will see an error.

That six-month grace period sounds generous, but it creates a false sense of security. Links in evergreen materials (your website, published articles, speaker bios) outlast that window easily. If you don't update those references within six months, they break silently.

Before you make the change, run through this list:

• Your email signature
• Your resume PDF
• Your website or portfolio
• Any podcast bios or speaker profiles where you're listed
• Sales sequences and email templates
• Investor decks or pitch materials

LinkedIn limits you to 5 URL changes within any 180-day window. If you've been quoted in articles or have backlinks pointing to your profile, those will eventually break too once the redirect window expires, which is a real SEO consideration for high-profile founders. Pick a URL that reflects how you want to be found for the next several years, then leave it alone.

Where to Use Your LinkedIn URL

The obvious ones: email signature, resume header, business card.

But the places where a clean URL makes a real difference are the ones where you're being evaluated by someone who doesn't know you yet. Podcast guest submission forms, speaker bio pages, and RFP responses all include a LinkedIn field. A clean URL communicates that you've thought about your professional presence. Check out our guide to LinkedIn banner sizes for the same reason: these small visual details compound.

For high-volume sales sequences, there's a performance argument too. Branded short links can lift click-through rates by up to 39% compared to generic short URLs, according to Rebrandly's analysis of branded versus unbranded link performance. That's primarily relevant if you're dropping your LinkedIn URL into cold outreach at scale. Our breakdown of link shorteners for social covers when it's worth the extra step.

How to Find Your LinkedIn Company Page URL

Company Pages use a different URL format: linkedin.com/company/[page-name] instead of /in/. Finding it works the same way as a personal profile: navigate to the page and copy the URL from your browser's address bar.

If you're a Company Page admin and want to customize the URL, go to the page, click "Edit page," and look for the public URL field in the settings. The same character rules apply. This URL goes in press releases, your website's About page, and partnership decks where you want a direct link to the company's LinkedIn presence.

How to Find Someone Else's LinkedIn URL

On desktop, go to their profile and copy the URL from the address bar. On mobile, tap the share icon on their profile to copy the link directly.

This comes up more often than you'd think in social media workflows. If you're scheduling a post that references someone by name, you'll need their profile URL to tag them properly. Most schedulers don't support tagging personal LinkedIn profiles at all, but tools that do (Ordinal included) let you tag personal LinkedIn profiles directly from the editor, which is one of those features you don't realize you need until you've had to post something manually because your scheduler couldn't handle it.

Troubleshooting Common LinkedIn URL Issues

"Custom URL not available" just means someone else already claimed that handle. Try adding a middle initial, a numeral, or dropping to first initial plus last name. "You've reached the maximum number of changes" means you've hit the 5-changes-in-180-days cap and you'll need to wait for the window to reset. If your URL isn't updating after an edit, clear your browser cache and log out, then back in.

Final Thoughts

Customize your LinkedIn URL once, update every place you've previously shared the old link, and then don't touch it again. LinkedIn keeps your old URL active for six months after a change, but that grace period won't cover evergreen materials like your website or published bios. Treat it as a one-time cleanup rather than a setting you revisit.

The URL is step one. What you actually post is what builds the reputation behind it. If you're just getting started, our guide to writing your first post is a good next step, and the founder content example from Causal shows what consistent posting looks like in practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Get My LinkedIn URL on My Phone?

On iOS or Android, tap your profile photo in the top-left corner, select "View Profile," then tap "Contact info." Your LinkedIn profile URL appears in that list and you can copy it from there. You can also edit your URL from the mobile app by tapping your Profile URL in Contact info, which takes you to the Public profile settings page.

How Many Times Can I Change My LinkedIn URL?

LinkedIn allows up to 5 URL changes within any 180-day period. Once you hit that limit, you'll need to wait for the window to reset. Given that old URLs stop redirecting after six months (or immediately if you unlink them), frequent changes create real problems, so treat this as a one-time cleanup rather than an ongoing experiment.

What Happens to My Old LinkedIn URL When I Change It?

LinkedIn keeps your previous custom URL linked to your profile for six months by default. During that window, anyone clicking the old link is still directed to your profile. After six months, or if you manually unlink the old URL from your settings, the link stops working. Update any evergreen references (website, speaker bios, published articles) well before that window closes.

Does Changing My LinkedIn URL Affect SEO?

For most people, the impact is minor but real. Any backlinks pointing to your old URL will continue working during the six-month redirect window, but after that they break. Google can take several weeks to re-index your profile under the new address. If you've been quoted in published articles or have significant inbound links to your profile, factor in a temporary dip before making the switch.

Why Does My LinkedIn URL Have Random Characters in It?

LinkedIn auto-generates a URL at signup using your name plus a random alphanumeric string to keep every URL unique across the platform. You can replace that string with something cleaner, like linkedin.com/in/yourname, by going to "Public profile & URL" settings on desktop or through Contact info on mobile.

How Do I Find Someone Else's LinkedIn URL?

On desktop, go to their profile and copy the URL from your browser's address bar. On mobile, tap the share button on their profile to copy the link. This is the URL you'd use to tag them in an article, share their profile with a colleague, or reference them in a post.

What Are the Rules for a Custom LinkedIn URL?

Your custom LinkedIn URL must be between 3 and 100 characters. Letters, numbers, and hyphens are allowed, but no spaces or other special characters. Most people use first name plus last name. If that's already taken, a middle initial or a number at the end usually works. Keep it consistent with your handles on other platforms so it's easy to recognize and remember.

Can I Get My LinkedIn Company Page URL the Same Way?

The process is similar but not identical. Navigate to your Company Page and copy the URL from your browser's address bar. If you're a page admin, you can also customize it from the "Edit page" settings, the same way you'd edit a personal profile URL.