What is LinkedIn Jail? Why Accounts Get Restricted (and How to Get Yours Back)

I hope you never get mixed up in a LinkedIn ban. It's frustrating, tiring, and messy.

But if it happens, this article will help you break out. And no—I don't mean the usual "upload your passport on Persona" or tagging X's "LinkedIn Help." Those didn't help me.

They didn't help Anuradha Shiv either.

Source: Dark social, Superpath

I am talking about an in-depth, Scofield-esque break.

Quick 🧢 to these amazing creators for sharing their LinkedIn ban stories for this piece:

1. Adedoyin Ogunmola, B2B SaaS Content Marketer

2. Chris Ward Jr, Storyteller & Brand Strategist

3. Daniel Adekunle, Graphics Designer 

4. Emem Ukpong, Product-led Content Marketer 

5. Prosper Egbo-Egbo, UI/UX Designer

First, what's the big deal? Why care about a LinkedIn ban?

Before now, I wouldn't have cared. Like Adedoyin in 2021, I would leave the account, come back a year later, do nothing, get back in, just like that.

But now, in 2025, I care. So much so, I posted every single day of Q1—90 straight days. And I logged everything:

• Date

• Impressions

• Post link

All of it. Tracked in a Google Sheet.

In hindsight, I could've saved myself the manual work with a social media data tool like Measure Studio. It tracks LinkedIn post performance and builds reports—though it's only for Pages, not personal profiles.

But why is posting on LinkedIn so important?

Short answer? "LinkedIn is where B2B prospects live," says Anuradha, a B2B Tech Writer.

When I began to work in B2B SaaS, LinkedIn became my best inbound & outbound channel. Within that 90-day streak, I got:

• A 3-month writing contract

• 2 podcast invites

• 2 inbound prospects

• A brand deal that got canceled after the ban—not because of it

And I'm not the only one.

• Brinda Gulati, Contributor to Shopify, gets 80% (at least) of her business from LinkedIn.

• Anna Burgess, Contributor to Zapier, says the majority of her business comes from LinkedIn.

💡 Do you know?

Content leads check content marketers' LinkedIn-tivities to hire them. Priyanka John, CEO & Founder of 31Cookies says: "We take note of how a writer shows up on LinkedIn. Credibility, curiosity, and consistency there can tell you a lot about how they approach their craft."

Content marketers aside, LinkedIn is dear to B2B companies.

• Eric Doty, Content Lead at Dock, says one of their competitors gets over 70% of its pipeline from LinkedIn.

• Storylane gets 50% of its inbound pipeline from LinkedIn. So much so, they're spending over $1.2M on LinkedIn and Google Ads this year.

Source: Madhav Bhandari, Head of Marketing at Storylane

Bottom line: LinkedIn matters.

What LinkedIn delivers	Why it matters
Clients & contracts	Real business comes from consistent posting
Visibility	Brand deals, podcast invites, press
Inbound engine	Works for freelancers and GTM SaaS
Demand gen	Big brands like Storylane are doubling down

Why do accounts get restricted on LinkedIn?

This is the most frustrating part of LinkedIn jail. They don't always give you an official explanation.

No email, no warning. Just a cold notice: "You've violated the LinkedIn User Agreement and Professional Community Policies."

And it's the same story for everyone I interviewed.

• Prosper was banned for 3 months. No official reason.

• Chris? Banned twice. No warning, no explanation either time.

• Emem: "They didn't say what I did. They just said I violated their terms and conditions."

What's actually in the Terms and Conditions?

Here's what LinkedIn says you can't do:

• No fake identities or impersonation – Don't pretend to be someone else or claim LinkedIn endorsement.

• No scraping or bots – Plugins or tools that automate activity like social media prospecting? Not allowed.

• Respect IP – Don't reuse logos, code, or content without permission.

• Don't mess with LinkedIn systems – No hacking, injecting code, or bypassing limits.

• Stay honest – Fraud, misleading info, and reported abuse can get you kicked.

The thing is, I didn't violate any of that. Yet, I was banned—just like Adedoyin.

So we started guessing.

The "too many connection requests" theory

Adedoyin suspects he was flagged after sending too many connection requests. How many is "too many"?

He had about 50 pending. Maybe that's high—but LinkedIn never said there was a limit.

A Reddit user claimed this could trigger restrictions:

Source: Reddit

But such a claim is not consistent. I sent loads of requests during my 90-day streak. And I wasn't banned then. Maybe because I post and engaged with others' posts?

My case: Failed LinkedIn premium upgrade attempts

This is where it gets weird. I tried upgrading to Premium using a virtual card—under my name. I topped it up after each failed attempt.

After three tries, I gave up. Why was I even upgrading?

To keep my DMs open so that prospects could message me without connection requests.

Two hours later, I was locked out, and I saw this:

Well, follow the onscreen prompt… right?

That's what I thought. Except—it didn't work.

Persona will frustrate you.

Persona (LinkedIn's third-party ID verifier) handles most account verifications—at least in my country. It works... when it works.

In my case? It didn't.

My passport was rejected. You'd think I could try again, but nope.

For the entire 27 days, I only got one chance via the app prompt. After that, all I kept seeing was:

LinkedIn Help on X is helpful, but not enough.

After three failed attempts with Persona, I dug around Reddit and found a support link.

Still no luck. So I reached out to LinkedIn Help on X. Shockingly, the experience was… better.

• Reached out: April 11

• Follow-up: April 14

• Got a reply: April 15

True to their word, I got an email from customer support.

It felt like real progress. Spoiler: It wasn't.

LinkedIn customer support? Don't get me started.

The link they sent led me back to Persona—but not via the app.

I uploaded my passport. Again, rejected. I was told I could try again, so I asked for another shot. That's when things took a nosedive.

"This type of content is not allowed..." What content? What context?

At this point, it felt like I was arguing with an AI chatbot. The replies stopped making sense. So, I paused, read the "policies" back to back, waited 11 days, and then, I reached out again.

Still rejected.

This time, they said my account lacked "legitimate identity." And the cherry on top? I was told the decision was final—meaning not to contact them again.

Daniel had the same experience: "They said they can't restore the account. When I asked why, they said they couldn't disclose the reasons. Even Help on X said the safety team's decision is final."

And Chris? He's been banned twice—like Anuradha. He got the same vague "final decisions."

"I'm reconsidering whether to build on LinkedIn. I get business on other platforms, but this made me question everything. Why invest in a platform that keeps banning me without reason?"

Despite the setback and frustrations, I eventually broke out of the messy LinkedIn jail.

How I got out of LinkedIn jail in 3 steps

Step 1: Have someone make a public post for you

After that "final communication," someone came to my rescue in the form of LinkedIn friend, Oluwafisayomi, and she made this post:

Step 2: Gather attention

Thankfully, the post gained traction. And the MVP, Ben Goodey, Founder of Spicy Margarita, tagged Alicia Teltz in the comments.

Step 3: Reach out to a real employee at LinkedIn

Alicia, Global Client Executive, DACH & UK, responded. She gave me her email, and I shared my case. This time, I got a real customer support agent.

Given my experience with passport verification, I chose the Affidavit of Identity method. It worked.

After I got in, Prosper and Chris used the same method—and it also worked for them.

💡 Tip: Skip steps 1 and 2 if you can. Go straight to step 3. Be upfront about using the Affidavit of Identity verification method. If I had done that earlier with LinkedIn Help on X, I might've escaped sooner.

Life after LinkedIn jail

Technically, I was still "restricted" despite regaining access to my account. When trying to determine how long I should expect this to last, our friend Oakrook said "restrictions get lifted in 4–7 days."

Assumed timeline to get out of restriction (Source: Reddit)

Well, mine dragged on for almost a month. Prosper was locked out for 3 months. Doyin? A year. Even now (when writing this piece), Anuradha and Beatrice are still locked out. Daniel has already given up.

So no, Oakrook. This didn't feel like a "restriction," it felt like an extension of the original ban. And when you try to fix it, all you get is: "This decision is final. Don't message us again."

What about when you finally get back in? There's a real risk you'll lose momentum. Chris did. But I think you should go harder in executing your LinkedIn strategy. LinkedIn is worth the stress. Just focus on the process. That's the only way to stay sane.

Using Measure Studio to grow your LinkedIn strategy

Whether you're starting to take LinkedIn seriously or just coming out of "LinkedIn jail," Measure Studio can be your growth partner.

The features are built to help you.

• Take post benchmarking, for example. It shows how each new post stacks up against your top performers—so you know what content your audience engages with more.

• There's also post grouping, which lets you sort content by theme (like tips, stories, or wins) and compare how each performs over time.

• Then, there are custom dashboards and campaign tracking for when you want to go full nerd mode with your analytics.

Together, the features turn LinkedIn from a grind into a game. The best part? You get full access for free for 2 whole weeks.

Here's your ticket: Try Measure Studio for free!

You're welcome.

Author Bio

Oluwaseun Akinlembola is a freelance content marketer & creator for B2B brands/agencies in the marketing and productivity space. See what he's up to on LinkedIn.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can tagging LinkedIn Help repeatedly speed up recovery?

Not always. It can help get a response, but might not lead to real support or account reinstatement.

Will deleting inactive pending connection requests reduce the ban risk?

Possibly. Since I've been back, I don't have more than 10 pending requests at once. It helps maintain a cleaner account footprint. But there's no official word from LinkedIn confirming this.

Does upgrading to Premium protect my account from bans?

No. A Premium account doesn't guarantee protection. In fact, failed upgrade attempts (like mine) can still trigger restrictions.