Your LinkedIn inbox can quickly become overwhelming, especially if you're a sales development representative, recruiter, or business owner who relies heavily on the platform for communication. With dozens of messages flowing in daily, important conversations can easily get buried under the constant stream of new notifications, connection requests, and less urgent chats.

"I get tonnes of valuable LinkedIn messages, and it's a nightmare to manage!" laments one frustrated LinkedIn user on Reddit. This sentiment is echoed by countless professionals who struggle to keep their LinkedIn communications organized.

In this guide, you'll learn how to effectively archive LinkedIn messages to declutter your inbox and—more importantly—how to set up a system that automatically unarchives them when you need to follow up, ensuring no important conversation falls through the cracks.

How to Archive LinkedIn Messages (The Standard Way)

LinkedIn offers a basic archiving feature that helps you clean up your inbox while preserving messages you might need to reference later. Here's how to use it:

1. Access Your LinkedIn Inbox

Log into your LinkedIn account and click on the messaging icon (speech bubble) located at the top of your homepage.

2. Select the Message to Archive

Find the conversation you wish to archive by scrolling through your inbox.

3. Archive the Conversation

• Click on the More icon (three dots) next to the conversation

• Select Archive from the dropdown menu

This action removes the conversation from your main inbox view while keeping it accessible for future reference.

4. Accessing Archived Messages

To view your archived messages:

• Go to your messaging section

• Scroll down and click on Archived at the bottom of your conversations list

• Or click on the filter icon at the top of your messaging panel and select "Archived"

5. Restore Archived Messages

To move an archived message back to your main inbox:

• Find the message in your archived folder

• Click the More icon (three dots)

• Select Restore

The conversation will now appear again in your main inbox.

Important Notes About LinkedIn Archiving

• Archiving vs. Deleting: Archiving simply moves messages to a different folder, while deleting permanently removes them. Always archive business-critical conversations rather than deleting them.

• Automatic Restoration: When someone replies to an archived conversation, LinkedIn automatically moves it back to your main inbox.

• Sponsored Messages: LinkedIn automatically archives sponsored InMail messages after 20-40 days.

Advanced LinkedIn Message Management Limitations

While LinkedIn's basic archiving feature helps with inbox organization, it has several significant limitations:

1. No Reminder System: There's no native way to set follow-up reminders for archived conversations. If you archive a message planning to respond later, you must remember to check your archived folder.

2. No Organization Within Archives: The archived folder is just one undifferentiated list. You can't categorize archived messages by client, project, or priority.

3. Manual Process: Archiving multiple conversations requires clicking through each one individually, which becomes time-consuming for busy professionals.

4. No Scheduled Unarchiving: LinkedIn doesn't offer a way to automatically unarchive messages at a specific future date or time.

As one sales professional noted on Reddit: "Is there an external message CRM which is fast, can filter by dates, texts, etc., can be tagged, etc.?" This question highlights the gap between LinkedIn's native functionality and what busy professionals actually need.

Best Practices for LinkedIn Message Management

Before introducing advanced solutions, here are some general best practices for managing your LinkedIn inbox:

1. Implement a Regular Cleanup Schedule

Set aside a specific time each week (e.g., Friday afternoon) to process your inbox. This helps prevent the overwhelming feeling of returning to hundreds of unread messages after a busy period.

2. Use a "Touch Once" Approach

When you open a message, decide immediately what to do with it:

• Respond now if it takes less than two minutes

• Schedule a specific time to respond if it requires more attention

• Archive it if no response is needed

3. Prioritize by Relationship Value

Not all LinkedIn messages deserve equal attention. Prioritize responses to:

• Active prospects/clients

• Potential high-value connections

• Former colleagues who might provide referrals

• Messages directly related to your current goals

4. Create External Tracking (If Necessary)

Some professionals maintain a simple spreadsheet with important LinkedIn conversations, including follow-up dates and key discussion points. While not ideal, this can bridge the gap between LinkedIn's limitations and your workflow needs.

How to Automatically Unarchive LinkedIn Messages with Kondo

For professionals who rely heavily on LinkedIn messaging, a more robust solution is needed. This is where Kondo comes in—a tool specifically designed to transform LinkedIn's messaging experience into a more powerful communication hub.

Kondo offers a particularly valuable feature for busy professionals: the ability to set reminders that automatically unarchive conversations at specified times. Here's how to leverage this functionality:

1. Archiving with Reminders in Kondo

Kondo simplifies the archiving process with keyboard shortcuts:

• Navigate to any conversation and press the E key to archive it instantly

• To archive with a reminder, press the H key (for "snooze")

• Select when you want the message to return to your inbox:

  • Later today

  • Tomorrow

  • Next week

  • Custom date and time

When the specified time arrives, the message automatically reappears at the top of your inbox, ensuring you don't forget to follow up.

"This simple yet effective strategy ensures your advertising dollars are going towards your intended audience," notes one Kondo user who manages client communications for a marketing agency.

2. Creating a Follow-up System

Kondo's reminder feature allows you to implement an effective follow-up system:

• For sales prospects: Archive with a reminder based on your sales cadence (e.g., 3 days after initial outreach)

• For recruitment candidates: Set reminders that align with your hiring timeline

• For networking connections: Schedule periodic check-ins every few months

3. Enhancing Organization with Labels

Beyond simple archiving, Kondo allows you to apply custom labels to conversations before archiving them:

1. Press the L key when viewing a conversation

2. Select an existing label or create a new one (e.g., "Hot Lead," "Active Candidate," "Partner")

3. Archive the conversation with a reminder

When the conversation returns to your inbox, it will maintain its label, providing context for why you're following up.

4. Integration with Your Workflow

For teams using CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot, Kondo offers integration capabilities (on Business tier) that can:

• Sync LinkedIn conversation data with your CRM

• Log when reminders are set and completed

• Transfer conversation context to your broader sales or recruitment process

When to Use Automatic Unarchiving

Automatic unarchiving with reminders is particularly valuable in these scenarios:

1. Long Sales Cycles: When nurturing prospects over weeks or months, set strategic follow-up points without cluttering your inbox in the meantime.

2. Recruitment Processes: When a candidate needs time to consider an offer or isn't ready to move forward immediately.

3. Event Follow-ups: Archive conversations with event attendees and set reminders to follow up after the event.

4. Relationship Maintenance: Set periodic reminders to check in with valuable connections who aren't currently active prospects.

5. Information Requests: When you're waiting for information that might take time to gather.

Conclusion

An organized LinkedIn inbox is crucial for professionals who rely on the platform for business development, recruitment, or networking. While LinkedIn's native archiving feature offers basic organization, tools like Kondo provide the advanced functionality needed to ensure important conversations never fall through the cracks.

By implementing a strategic archiving system with automatic unarchiving reminders, you can transform your LinkedIn inbox from a source of stress into a powerful, organized communication hub that supports your professional goals.

Remember that the goal isn't just a clean inbox—it's ensuring that the right conversations resurface at the right time, allowing you to focus on building meaningful professional relationships rather than managing message overload.

To learn more about Kondo's features for LinkedIn message management, visit Kondo's website.