Why do I keep getting emails from LinkedIn?

Last reviewed: September 27, 2026 · Markdown version

Because LinkedIn's email settings are switched on category by category, and turning off one kind leaves the others running. The mail usually comes from one of three places: notifications about your own account, invitations sent to an address LinkedIn does not link to you, or messages from other members. Each has its own off switch, and all of them are on LinkedIn's side, not in Gmail.

1. Notification emails, one category at a time

LinkedIn describes its email controls as a matter of type and timing: "You can manage the types and frequency of emails from LinkedIn and even choose to stop specific emails by unsubscribing" (Manage emails from LinkedIn, LinkedIn Help, read 27 September 2026). The route on a computer:

Click the Me icon, then Settings & Privacy.
Click Notifications on the left.
Open each category and switch off the email toggle for anything you do not want, then set the frequency for what is left.

In the app it is your profile photo → Settings & Privacy → Notifications (same page). The reason it feels endless is structural: LinkedIn's settings page says that for each type of notification "you can choose to receive notifications in-app, via a push notification, or email", and that email notifications go "to the primary email address you’ve given to LinkedIn" (Manage your notification settings, read 27 September 2026). By our reading, switching off a push notification therefore leaves the email version of it alone.

For a single message there is a shortcut: LinkedIn's tip is to "click the Unsubscribe link in the footer of that email", with the caveat "(wherever applicable)" (the Manage emails from LinkedIn page).

2. "Join LinkedIn" invites to an address you already use

If you get invitations to join although you are a member, LinkedIn's explanation is that "Often times this happens if you have a second email such as a work or personal email" (Stop invitation emails to join LinkedIn, read 27 September 2026). It gives two options: add that address to your account as a secondary email (its recommended one, after which invitations arrive as connection requests instead), or unsubscribe that address. If you are not a member at all, the same page says to use the Unsubscribe link in the footer of the invitation.

3. Messages from people, not from LinkedIn

Some of the traffic is other members writing to you. LinkedIn lets you refuse InMail, which it describes as messages Premium members send to members "who aren't connected with them": Me → Settings & Privacy → Data Privacy → Messages, then set "Allow others to send you InMail?" to No (Opt Out of Receiving InMail Messages, read 27 September 2026). The same page describes Sponsored Messaging from recruiters and businesses as "a form of native advertising", not messages.

Check that it is really LinkedIn

Some "LinkedIn" email is not. LinkedIn names three sending addresses it vouches for, linkedin_support@cs.linkedin.com, linkedin@e.linkedin.com and linkedin@el.linkedin.com, and states that "LinkedIn will never ask you for your password or ask you to download any programs". Suspect mail can be forwarded to phishing@linkedin.com (Phishing content, read 27 September 2026). Real LinkedIn email also carries a footer with your name and headline, though LinkedIn adds that it "alone doesn't guarantee that an email is legitimate" (Security footer message in LinkedIn emails, read 27 September 2026). Do not use the unsubscribe link in a message you suspect is fake.

The Gmail side, if LinkedIn's settings are not enough

Unsubscribe in Gmail. Works per list: it "might only unsubscribe you from a single mailing list from the sender", and stopping "may take a few days" (Unsubscribe from an email, read 27 September 2026). Both of Gmail's unsubscribe routes.
A filter. Tick one LinkedIn email, then More → Filter messages like these, and choose to label, archive or delete (Create rules to filter your emails, read 27 September 2026). Since LinkedIn sends from several addresses, check what the filter catches before choosing delete.
Block. "After you block the sender, all future emails from them go to Spam" (Block an email address in Gmail, read 27 September 2026). In our view that is heavy-handed for an account you still use, because password and security mail would go to Spam as well.

Where we fit

Adinand Email Cleaner lists your Gmail by sender, so LinkedIn's backlog shows up as a group you can clear in one decision, and its Unsubscribe button uses the sender's one-click request, the sender's unsubscribe page, or its unsubscribe address, whichever the sender offers. An auto-trash rule is a native Gmail filter, so it keeps working inside Gmail even if you delete the app. Its limits here: it cannot change your LinkedIn settings, a sender that runs several lists may need more than one unsubscribe, and cleared mail goes to Gmail's Trash rather than being deleted outright.