Finding the right person among six others with the same name, on a phone screen at a crowded event, wastes the moment a conversation could turn into a connection. A scan skips past that: point a phone at a code and a profile opens directly, with the Connect button already on screen.
LinkedIn's own app can show a QR code on your screen for that kind of moment, but a code made here is the version meant for print: a business card, a conference badge, a CV, or the closing slide of a talk, in your own colors, as an SVG that stays sharp at any size. Type your custom profile name and the address is built automatically.
How to create a LinkedIn QR code
Set a clean custom URL first
On a computer, open your profile and choose Edit public profile & URL. Replace the default name-plus-numbers with something like jane-cooper. Do this before printing; changing it later breaks printed codes.
Enter the custom name
In the LinkedIn field, type the part after linkedin.com/in/, or paste the whole profile link. The code opens https://www.linkedin.com/in/ plus that name.
Put company pages in the Link tab
The LinkedIn field builds personal profile addresses. For a company page or a job post, paste the full link in the Link tab instead.
Scan it signed out
Open the result in a private window to check what a stranger sees. Your public profile settings decide how much shows.
LinkedIn's in-app QR code or a printed one
Both open your profile, and neither costs anything. They suit different moments.
LinkedIn's own code
In the mobile app, tap the QR icon in the search bar. Good for swapping profiles face to face with phones in hand.
A MakeQR code
Made for print: an SVG for your designer, your colors or logo, a scan check before download, and no dependence on how the app styles its codes.
Where a LinkedIn profile QR code works best
The code pays off wherever people meet you on paper first.
CVs
A small code in the header, next to your email, lets a recruiter reading a printed CV open your profile and recommendations.
Conference badges and closing slides
People who liked the talk connect on the spot. Leave the slide up during questions so the back rows have time.
Business cards
If the card already has a contact code, pick one. You can put your LinkedIn link in the contact card's website field and print a single code.
The profile address in the code
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ followed by your custom profile name. Phones with the LinkedIn app usually open it there; others show the public profile in the browser, where LinkedIn may ask the visitor to sign in to see more.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-cooper-architectPrint size on CVs, badges and slides
On a CV or a card read in the hand, 2–2.5 cm is enough. On a badge scanned across a table, 3–4 cm. On a projected slide, give the code at least a fifth of the slide height, and more in a large room.
Print it at least 20 mm (2.0 cm) wide
LinkedIn QR code mistakes to avoid
Printing the default URL
The name-plus-numbers address works, but most people customize it a month later and the printed code breaks. Set the custom URL first.
A company page in the profile field
The field turns any link into a /in/ address, so a company link ends up pointing at a personal profile that does not exist. Use the Link tab.
A hidden public profile
If public visibility is switched off, visitors who are not signed in see almost nothing. Check it under the public profile settings.
Static or dynamic for LinkedIn?
A static code suits a CV or a badge you will reprint anyway. Business cards and slide decks tend to outlast a job, and a custom URL can change with a new name or a rebrand. A dynamic code lets you point the same printed code at a new profile, or at your portfolio, and shows how many people scanned after a talk. It needs a free account; two dynamic codes are free forever.
How dynamic QR codes workLinkedIn codes that start conversations
- A graduate adds a LinkedIn code to her printed CV at a career fair.
- A recruiter wears a badge at a trade show with a code to his profile.
- A keynote speaker ends on a slide with a LinkedIn code and the title of the talk.
- A company prints a code to its LinkedIn company page on job ads, made in the Link tab.