LinkedIn endorsements: what they are and how to endorse someone

A LinkedIn endorsement is a one-click confirmation from a 1st-degree connection that you have a skill listed on your profile. There is no written text. The endorser's name and photo appear next to that skill, and that's the whole signal. To endorse someone, open their profile, find the skill and click the Add icon beside it.

The steps and settings below come from LinkedIn Help Center pages checked on November 5, 2026, linked in the sources. Several of those pages haven't been updated in years, so a label on your screen can differ slightly. Where desktop and the app differ, both are shown.

What a LinkedIn endorsement is

LinkedIn's skill endorsements page describes them as skills "validated by 1st-degree connections." Three rules follow from that:

• Only people you're connected to can endorse you.
• They can only endorse skills already on your profile. You can list up to 100.
• You don't have to ask. LinkedIn's own wording: "You don't need to request a skill endorsement to receive one."

An example: Priya worked with you on a pricing project two years ago. She opens your profile, sees Pricing strategy in your skills and clicks Add. Her name and photo now sit next to that skill, and LinkedIn may email you about it if you've kept that notification on. LinkedIn says your most-endorsed skills move to the top of the section.

While endorsing, Priya might get a few extra questions about how well she knows your work. LinkedIn's data collection page says those answers aren't shown to you or anyone else and are only used in aggregate.

How to endorse someone on LinkedIn

LinkedIn's Endorse someone's skills page gives these steps. That page still calls the section Skills & endorsements; newer Help pages call it Skills.

On desktop:

1. Go to the profile of a 1st-degree connection.
2. Scroll to their skills section and find the skill. If they list more than three, click Show more.
3. Click the Add icon to the left of the skill.

In the mobile app:

1. Open the connection's profile.
2. Scroll to the skills section.
3. Tap the Add icon to the left of the skill. If they list more than three, tap See all first.

If you use LinkedIn in English, you can endorse several skills at once. Changed your mind? Click the Checkmark icon next to a skill you endorsed and it turns back into Add. LinkedIn's removal page says the person isn't notified.

How to get endorsements on LinkedIn

Endorsements arrive when people who know your work visit your profile. You can make that more likely without begging for clicks.

1. List skills you can back up. Pick the ones a buyer or hiring manager would look for. Skills attached to a role in your Experience section don't count toward the 100 limit.
2. Put the right skills first. Reorder them (steps below) so the ones tied to your current work show at the top.
3. Ask specific people for specific skills. One direct message beats a mass request. For example: "Hi Sam, would you endorse me for Vendor negotiation on LinkedIn? You watched me run the 2025 renewal, so it means more from you. No worries if not."
4. Check your setting. If I want to be endorsed is switched off, nobody can endorse you.

Hide, reorder or turn off endorsements

Hide an endorsement

From LinkedIn's Hide or show a skill endorsement page, on desktop:

1. Click Me, then View profile.
2. Scroll to Skills and click a skill name.
3. In the pop-up, switch each endorser on or off.

In the app, tap your profile picture, then View Profile, tap the Edit icon in Skills, tap a skill and use the same toggles. Hiding endorsements can change your skill order. A skill whose endorsements are all hidden may drop to the bottom. To stop one person from endorsing you, LinkedIn's only answer is removing the connection, which also removes the endorsements between you.

Reorder your skills

From Display order of skills, on desktop:

1. Click Me, then View Profile.
2. Scroll to Skills and click the Edit icon.
3. Click the More icon in the upper right and choose Reorder.
4. Drag the Sort icon beside the skill to its new place.

In the app, it's Edit, then More, then Reorder, and you press and hold the Reorder icon to drag. Once you list more than three skills, LinkedIn groups them into Industry Knowledge, Tools & Technologies and Interpersonal Skills. You can't move a skill from one group to another.

Turn endorsements off

From Opt out of endorsements, on desktop:

1. Click Me, then View Profile.
2. Scroll to Skills and click the Edit icon.
3. Click the More icon and select Endorsement settings.
4. Switch I want to be endorsed to No, then click Close.

In the app, the same path ends with tapping the Back icon to save. Opting out hides all your current endorsements and stops anyone from adding new ones. If you only want fewer emails, change New skill endorsements under Settings & Privacy, Notifications, Updating your profile instead (notification settings).

One thing to know before editing: you can't translate a skill. Removing it and adding it again in another language permanently deletes its endorsements.

Endorsements vs recommendations vs skill assessments

Recommendations take effort to write, which is why they carry more weight with a reader. You request one from a connection's profile with the More icon and Request a recommendation, or from the Recommendations section of your own profile (request steps). Skill assessments are gone: LinkedIn's Help Center says they're no longer available and suggests showing skills through credentials, jobs, projects and education on your profile instead.

Do LinkedIn endorsements matter?

Here's what LinkedIn actually says. Endorsements reinforce a skill's "weighting," and that increases the likelihood you'll be discovered for opportunities related to the skill. The aggregated feedback from endorsers can also shape the job recommendations, courses and ads LinkedIn shows the person endorsed. LinkedIn doesn't publish how much an endorsement counts, or whether endorsement totals change where you appear in people search. Anyone who quotes you a precise ranking effect is guessing.

Our view, which is opinion rather than LinkedIn policy: endorsements are a weak trust signal on their own. A click costs nothing, so 40 endorsements for Leadership from people who never worked with you tell a reader very little. What they do well is confirm, at a glance, that your listed skills match what you sell.

That matters when you prospect. After you send a connection request, people often open your profile before deciding whether to accept. They read your headline and About section first, then look for proof. Keep your top three skills consistent with your offer: if you sell revenue operations consulting, Revenue operations and Salesforce belong above Microsoft Word. The profile guide covers the rest of the page, and the acceptance rate guide shows where the profile fits among the reasons people accept or ignore you.

Etiquette for reciprocal endorsements

• Endorse only what you've seen. If someone asks why you endorsed them for a skill, you should have an answer.
• You don't owe one back. LinkedIn doesn't ask for reciprocity. If you can't vouch for the skill, a thank-you message is enough.
• Skip endorsement-swap threads. They inflate counts on skills nobody checked, and a reader can't tell which endorsements are real.
• Don't pitch off an endorsement. An endorsement from someone you barely know isn't a buying signal. If you want to start a conversation, give it its own reason.
• Fix mistakes quietly. If you endorsed the wrong skill, remove it. The person isn't notified.