Solutions In Finding Hidden Names On LinkedIn

LinkedinAnswers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Can you find hidden names on LinkedIn?  Yes and it works on free accounts.

Please be aware that a free account won’t allow you to view a member’s profile if they are three (3) or more connections away.

However, you will be able to know the name of the person.  Following are the solutions:

1) LinkedIn ID Method

This solution is from Irina Shamaeva.  It is great for finding profile accounts that appear as LinkedIn Member in search results.

• Click on the hidden member’s profile.  Then look at their URL to find their member ID.  Then copy the number.

Finding LinkedIn’s ID URL

• Click on this link (do not send a message).  The link is designed to discover the name.

• Go to URL Box and replace the ID number with the one you want at the end of the link.  You should now see the name.

Enter LinkedIn ID in Message URL

The Name appears here

If the name appears with a partial block e.g. Mark D.  Use your internet research skills to find out who this person is.  I suggest you use the Google Search Method Below.

2) Google Search Method

This method enables you to find names on LinkedIn that are partly blocked/hidden.

An example of this is Mark D Associate Director at Acme Corp

• Go to Google’s search box and enter the following information: name, title, company and LinkedIn (add other details for more targeted search e.g. country)

So the Google’s search box should have – Mark D Associate Director Acme Corp LinkedIn

• Google will bring up the person’s name in the search results

Example:  Mark Daffy Profiles | LinkedIn  with Associate Director and Acme Corp appearing in the rich snippet.

English: Google Logo officially released on May 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3) Copy and Paste Method

This quick way finds the partly blocked names.  It won’t work on names appearing as LinkedIn Member.

• From LinkedIn search results, just copy and paste the name, title and company from the profile summary
• Go to Google Search box and paste it in then hit search or enter

4) Profile View Method

This is a hit and miss method and varies in time when finding the person.  This allows you to find partial block/hidden and LinkedIn Member.

• In your search results on LinkedIn, click on one of the other profiles
• When the profile opens up, go to the section where it says “People Also Viewed“.  There should be a list of people with pictures and titles
• Repeat the above steps to find the profile you want

5) Combination Method

This method will only work for upper management in a company and helps in finding  a name that is blocked/hidden or LinkedIn Member.

• If the name appears as LinkedIn Member or is blocked/hidden and their title is Managing Director of the company.
• Open another screen and go to the company website.  Go to the section on their website where they list the people in the company example team, board members, management, etc.
• The LinkedIn profile of the person should match the person here.

These are the methods I have discovered when I need to find out the names of people on LinkedIn.  If you are a person who has blocked or hidden your name on LinkedIn, then you now know that this feature of LinkedIn is no longer handy.  If you are a person trying to find a name of a person in a particular company, do you will find these tips very handy?  Have you used any of these methods?  Do you have any other methods?

Update from Irina Shamaeva

Let me offer a tip that works in 100% of the cases. (which is not true, say, of Googling the names and phrases; that may not work in some cases).

• Use this link:  http:bit.ly/pymk
• Replace my ID with the ID in question.
• See the full name. Click on it and see the full profile.

Related articles

• LinkedIn Bug; Exposing Full Hidden Names Without A Subscription (buzzfeed.com)
• How to Find the Hidden Person’s Name by Irina Shamaeva (BooleanStrings.com)

About Christopher Seeto

A Brand Enhancer in Communications. I fit naturally with technology, curious about science and avid consumer of news to gain insights. You can follow me on Google+ , LinkedIn , Twitter .