Do you wonder why you have hidden contacts in LinkedIn [Updated]

Do you wonder what happened to the long forgotten unvisited contacts in LinkedIn?

In 2013, when you used to click on your contacts under network on the navigation bar, you used to see at the bottom of the listings on the left column the word Hidden. And these Hidden contacts were the contacts that LinkedIn decided were less relevant for you, but the ones that you could retrieve at any time.

The Hidden Contacts Feature is Now Gone

Your LinkedIn contacts are still in one place. Click ‘My Network’ on the navigation bar on the top of your profile, then on the left sidebar you will see ‘Manage my Network’ and ‘Connections.’

You will see how the sidebar has changed offering updated categories that are relevant to your network.

By clicking on ‘Connections’ you now see a list of all your connections in order of the most recent connection added to your network on top. You can also search your connections by first or last name.

Hidden Contacts Are Now at the Bottom of Your Contacts List

You can look at hidden contacts now as those connections that are the oldest and often are out of sight. How many of us connected with someone 5 or even 10 years ago and we have not stayed in contact with them.

Forgetting long visited connections or clients, who were important but went down the stack due to the contact overload, is common for LinkedIn users.  Nevertheless, these contacts which are pushed to the back seat for any reason still could hold the importance and relevance for your business engagement even today!

So how should we get in touch?

There are many communication skills and tactics to nurture your LinkedIn network, starting with knowing the current goals of your business. Aligning business goals to a network that can help you meet those goals is critical.

Knowing WHO makes a great connection will help you reconnect. I always recommend a friendly outreach message that is not transactional but warm and friendly.
If the person responds to your outreach, you can take the next step in communication to keep a conversation going.

Another question I get asked quite a lot is “Can I remove a contact/connection from my network?”

Some individuals wish to hide their LinkedIn contacts for more privacy.

The answer is YES, and here are the steps:

There are several ways to remove a connection first, if you navigate to your connections list from the ‘My Network’ navigation bar as noted above, you will see 3 dots … to the right of the message box, click the 3 dots and you will see ‘Remove Connection.’

Once a connection is removed they are not notified and any messaging you may have had is gone.

To remove a connection or delete a contact, visit that person’s profile. In the top area of the profile that shows the person’s name, company, and other details, you see a blue ‘Message’ button and to the right of that is a ‘More’ button. Moving your cursor over the button will show you a drop-down list, which gives you the option to remove the connection

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