The short answer, case by case
The table sets out four common cases, using LinkedIn's own help pages where they cover them.
| Your situation | What works | The catch |
|---|
| Your photo, still on your profile | Open your profile photo and choose Edit. LinkedIn keeps the original until you upload a new one. | The help page describes cropping and visibility there, not saving the file. |
| Your photo, replaced or deleted | Nothing on LinkedIn. | LinkedIn says it cannot restore or retrieve an old photo. |
| Your photo, via the data download | Settings & Privacy, Data privacy, Download your data. | None of the listed categories names the profile photo, so check the files you receive. |
| Someone else's photo | Guides describe right-click saving on desktop. Whether that gives you the original size is not documented. | The User Agreement and copyright both apply. See the section on other people's photos below. |
Your own photo while it is still on LinkedIn
LinkedIn's help page on changing your photo says it keeps your original until you upload a new one, so that you can keep adjusting the crop. On desktop you reach it through Me, then View profile, then a click on your photo and Edit.
Some third-party guides describe a route through the browser's developer tools to find the source image behind the cropper. LinkedIn does not document that, it is a workaround that can stop working whenever the page changes, and so this page gives no steps for it. A better first move is to find the file you uploaded: your phone's camera roll or the email in which a photographer delivered the shoot.
Why LinkedIn is a poor place to keep your only copy
The User Agreement is blunt about it. LinkedIn says it is not a storage service and has no obligation to provide you a copy of content you shared, except where the law or its Privacy Policy requires it. The help page on profile photos adds that once you delete or replace a photo, LinkedIn cannot get it back for you.
| Rule | What LinkedIn publishes |
|---|
| File size | 8 MB at most |
| Profile photo pixels | Between 400 × 400 and 7680 × 4320 |
| File type | PNG or JPG. GIFs are not supported. |
| Content | The photo must reflect your likeness. Logos, emojis, landscapes, animals, words, flags, childhood photos and other people's likenesses, including stock images, may be removed. |
| Who sees it | Default is Anyone. Four options run from 1st-degree connections only to Anyone. |
For what a face looks like at the small sizes LinkedIn actually displays, see our LinkedIn photo guide.
Does the LinkedIn data download include your photo
The data download is the official route to a copy of what LinkedIn holds on you. From a desktop browser you open Me, Settings & Privacy, Data privacy, then Download your data. A single category arrives by email within minutes and a larger archive within 24 hours; the link then works for 72 hours. The feature is not available on mobile.
Reading the category list on that page, the Profile category is described as basic biographical details such as name and date of birth, and Rich Media as links to media shared on LinkedIn. Neither description mentions the profile photo, so treat it as not confirmed. Request the Profile category first, since it comes quickly, and open the files before you plan around them.
Saving someone else's profile picture
Three separate things apply, and the first two are easy to miss because the photo is visible to everyone.
LinkedIn's terms
The User Agreement prohibits using crawlers or scripts to scrape or copy profiles, and prohibits copying, using, displaying or distributing information from the service without the consent of the content owner. A one-off save by hand is a smaller thing than scraping, but the rule on consent is the same.
Copyright
The UK Intellectual Property Office says photographs are generally protected as artistic works, so copying one or putting it on the internet usually needs the owner's permission. The author is normally the first owner under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. For a selfie that is the person, but for a studio portrait it is often the photographer, which means a profile picture can belong to someone other than the face in it.
Personal data
UK GDPR does not apply to an individual's processing in the course of a purely personal or household activity. Pasting a colleague's face into a sales database or a flyer is not that, so consent and lawful basis come into play. Our page on company headshots and UK GDPR covers the employer side.
What people want the file for, and what to do instead
| What you are trying to do | A better route |
|---|
| Reuse your photo on a CV or another site | Use the original you uploaded. If you cannot find it, ask the photographer, or make a new one. |
| Check who a contact is | Look at the profile on LinkedIn. You do not need a copy to do that. |
| Put a colleague on a team page | Ask for the file and for their agreement, and say where it will appear. |
| Fix a photo that looks soft after saving | Go back to the largest original. Our size and resolution page explains the pixel counts. |
If your original is gone
A profile photo is replaceable. Profilfoto KI makes a new portrait from your own selfies in a style such as LinkedIn Modern or Business Studio, with no studio appointment. You pick between one and ten selfies for each generation, and the first photo is free with a watermark, so you can judge the likeness before paying.
Packages are one-off payments with no subscription: 2 photos for €4.99, 12 for €29 and 40 for €79. Your uploaded selfies are stored in Frankfurt and deleted automatically after 90 days at the latest. We are a small German provider, and a local photographer may suit you better if you want a shoot with direction. Whichever route you take, keep the final file somewhere you control, and read what LinkedIn itself says about good profile pictures before you upload it.
Try your first photo freeQuestions people ask
Can I download my own LinkedIn profile picture?
Not with a download button, because LinkedIn does not offer one for profile photos. While your current photo is still in place, LinkedIn keeps the original behind the Edit view, but its help page describes cropping and adjusting there, not saving. The dependable copy is the file you uploaded, wherever you stored it.
Can I get my old LinkedIn photo back after changing it?
No. LinkedIn states that it keeps the original only until you upload a new photo, and that it cannot restore or retrieve an old photo once you delete it or replace it.
Does the LinkedIn data download include my profile photo?
LinkedIn's page lists the data categories you can request, and none of the descriptions names the profile photo. The Profile category is described as basic biographical details, and Rich Media as links to photos shared on LinkedIn. Request a small category first and look inside before you rely on it.
Is it allowed to download someone else's LinkedIn profile picture?
LinkedIn's User Agreement bars copying information from the service without the consent of the content owner, and a photo is normally protected by copyright. Looking at it on LinkedIn needs no copy. If you need the picture for a CV, a team page or a design, ask the person for the file.
