You open LinkedIn messaging and notice some of your connections have a little green dot on their profile photo. Others don't. Some dots are solid, some look like a ring.
It's not random. The green dot is LinkedIn's active status indicator, and it tells you whether the person can be reached right now.
Here's exactly what each version means, and how to control whether your own connections can see yours.
Where the green dots appear
The green dots only show up inside LinkedIn Messaging, on your 1st-degree connections. You won't see them on random profiles you visit. By default, your active status is shared with your connections only.
The two types of green dots
Solid green circle. Your connection is currently active on LinkedIn. If you send them a message, they'll be notified instantly.
Hollow green circle (a ring). Your connection isn't actively using LinkedIn right now, but they have push notifications enabled on the LinkedIn mobile app. They'll still get an instant notification when you message them. On the mobile app, you'll also see a timestamp next to their photo showing when they were last active.
No circle at all. Your connection is either offline or has turned off their active status. You can't tell which from the outside. Your message will still send, but they won't see it until they next open LinkedIn.
That's the whole system. Two states, plus invisible.
Why the dots exist
LinkedIn added active status indicators for the same reason every messaging app has them: to make conversations feel more responsive.
If you see a solid green dot, you know a reply might come within minutes. If there's no dot, you're sending a message into a queue that might get read tomorrow.
For salespeople, recruiters, and anyone doing outreach, this is useful information. Catching someone while they're online increases the chance of a real-time conversation instead of a thread that goes cold over three days.
How to change or turn off your green dot
If you'd rather browse LinkedIn without broadcasting that you're online, you can change who sees your active status, or turn it off completely.
- Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage
- Select Settings & Privacy
- Click Visibility in the left rail
- Under Visibility of your LinkedIn activity, click Manage active status
- Choose one of the three options
Here's the direct link if you want to skip the navigation: Manage active status.
You have three options:
- Your connections only. Only your 1st-degree connections see your green dot. This is the default.
- All LinkedIn members. Anyone on LinkedIn can see when you're active.
- No one. Your green dot is hidden from everyone. You become invisible.
The catch: if you turn off your active status, you also lose the ability to see when your connections are active. LinkedIn keeps it reciprocal. No sharing, no seeing.
When the green dot is worth paying attention to
Reaching out to a warm lead. If you've been waiting for the right moment to message someone, a solid green dot is your cue. They're online. Send the message now and you might get an instant reply instead of a delayed one.
Following up on a job application. If a recruiter has a solid green dot, that's a better moment to send a follow-up than late on a Sunday night. The message is more likely to be read while it's still fresh.
Catching connections during work hours. Some people only check LinkedIn at specific times. The green dot tells you when those windows are.
When the green dot doesn't matter
Cold outreach. Whether someone is online when your first message arrives doesn't change much. They'll see it whenever they check their inbox. If your message is good, they'll respond.
Newsletter or content distribution. No reason to time a post around someone's active status.
Long-form messages. If you're sending something thoughtful that needs a thoughtful reply, the green dot is irrelevant. They need time to think anyway.
The etiquette part
A green dot means someone is on LinkedIn. It doesn't mean they're waiting to hear from you.
Don't follow up on an unread message 10 minutes after sending it because you saw they came online. Don't send three messages in a row because they're "right there." Don't treat the platform like a chat app with people who haven't agreed to chat in real time.
The green dot is information. How you use it is on you.
What about read receipts?
The green dot tells you someone is reachable. Delivery and typing indicators tell you what's happening with the message itself. These are separate features.
When someone reads your message, a small profile photo appears next to it. When they're typing a reply, you see a typing indicator. Both are on by default.
To turn them off:
- Click Me > Settings & Privacy
- Click Data privacy
- Under Messaging experience, click Delivery and typing indicators
- Toggle off
Same reciprocal rule as the green dot: if you turn off your indicators, you also stop seeing everyone else's.
One thing to know: delivery and typing indicators don't appear for InMail messages. If you're a recruiter or salesperson sending InMail, you won't see read status on those.
Cleaning up your network? A green dot tells you who's still active. If you're seeing a lot of profiles with no dot for months, that's a signal those connections might not be active anymore. Install Network Cleaner to review your connections, spot the ones who've gone quiet, and remove the ones who no longer fit your goals.