LinkedIn in 2025 became a platform where influencers and sales teams regularly complain about account restrictions, disappearing visibility, and shadow bans. In our 2025–2026 analysis of restricted accounts, most restriction cases we observed were linked to identity instability—when the platform cannot reliably understand who you are or how you behave—rather than the automation method itself.
Our technical analysis of restricted accounts shows a consistent pattern. Unstable IPs trigger many limitations. Behaviors that do not look human—such as inconsistent IP locations, sudden spikes in connection requests, or mixing manual outreach with aggressive browser-based activity—create signals the system flags. LinkedIn appears to flag unpredictable patterns more than the automation method itself.
Our State of Sales on LinkedIn 2026 report (1,200+ B2B sellers across the US and EU, December 2025) reinforces this: 22.9% of sellers listed low acceptance rates and 22.9% listed low message replies as their top challenges.
A proper LinkedIn warm-up strategy addresses both issues by stabilizing your identity and improving how the algorithm perceives your outreach efforts.
This guide walks you through how to warm up your account step by step using behavioral insights, platform-safe patterns, and PhantomBuster’s cloud-based automations that approximate natural activity and reduce restriction risk.
What is the real LinkedIn warm-up problem in 2026?
LinkedIn tends to penalize unnatural patterns more than the tooling you use. Modern sales reps often fall into three specific traps that trigger spam alerts or account restrictions.
LinkedIn doesn’t trust new or inactive accounts
In our dataset, new accounts and dormant profiles behave in ways the system can quickly flag, especially when activity spikes right after inactivity. A profile with almost no history that suddenly sends a burst of connection requests looks identical to a spam actor.
A profile that participates gradually—by viewing profiles, reacting to posts, and sending a small number of messages—looks stable and trustworthy.
The risk of skipping the warm-up phase
Launching full-scale outreach campaigns without a warm-up is a common path to restrictions. When accounts “move” between locations in short windows, LinkedIn treats them as potential risks. LinkedIn interprets sudden spikes in messages or connection requests as risk signals, not enthusiasm. The penalty is twofold:
- You increase the probability of hitting rate limits or temporary locks.
- Sabotaging your acceptance rates because your account has not built any credibility with the network.
In other words, skipping warm-up does not save time. It hurts your pipeline by lowering acceptance and reply rates.
The 2026 warm-up framework (based on observed platform behavior)
To keep your account safe, you need to understand the three core signals LinkedIn uses to evaluate users.
- Identity stability: This is the number one cause of technical restrictions. LinkedIn expects consistent IP behavior and predictable login patterns. PhantomBuster runs actions from a stable cloud IP, helping you avoid the multi-IP signals that can occur when you switch devices or VPNs.
- Engagement authenticity: LinkedIn boosts visibility for users who behave like real contributors. Viewing profiles, reacting to posts, commenting thoughtfully, and sharing industry insights are all signals that tell the algorithm you belong on the platform. Accounts that behave passively one day and aggressively the next are more likely to be flagged.
- Outreach relevance: Connection requests accepted equal algorithmic trust. Low acceptance rates signal potential spam. The warm-up process builds these signals gradually, ensuring you have the credibility needed to scale.
Step 1: Establish LinkedIn identity stability
This is the foundational step that most outdated guides miss. Identity stability is the bedrock of account safety.
In our restricted-account analysis, IP changes (moving from home to office to VPN) and mixed manual/automated activity are common triggers we observed.
How PhantomBuster creates identity stability
LinkedIn evaluates stability through environmental consistency. Accounts that appear to “move” between devices, IPs, or locations within short windows are treated as potential security risks.
Within a single PhantomBuster workspace, all LinkedIn warm-up automations run from one persistent cloud session, so every step shares the same stable context. That means:
- A dedicated, stable cloud session that mirrors long-term human usage
- Fixed cloud IPs that prevent the “location hopping” signals caused by home–office–VPN switches
- Centralized session storage, reducing unexpected logouts and reauthentication prompts
- Clean separation between manual browsing and automated activity so signals don’t conflict
- Steady, low-variance execution patterns that resemble real user rhythms
This design matches the behavior LinkedIn expects from a legitimate account: consistent origin, predictable cadence, and no unexplained environmental changes.
Step 2: Build relevance before outreach
Our report shows that the strongest LinkedIn accounts combine engagement and relevance long before they ever send a request.
Modern warm-up means interacting with relevant content and showing up in your target audience’s feed before you pitch. A warmed-up account sends outreach into familiar territory, not a cold void.
How to build an engagement warm-up workflow with PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster helps you generate the light, human-like engagement signals LinkedIn uses to evaluate authentic activity. These signals warm up your account by building familiarity before any outreach occurs.
Bundle these automations into a scheduled Engagement Warm-Up Workflow:
1. Start with light interactions using the LinkedIn Auto Liker automation: Automatically like or react to posts from profiles or curated lists (10–20 per day). Small interactions like these mirror natural feed browsing patterns and increase your visibility in other users’ notifications. Over time, this builds a subtle pre-outreach presence that real users also create before sending connection requests.
2. Add thoughtful engagement with the LinkedIn Auto Commenter automation: Generate context-aware responses after analyzing the actual content of a prospect’s post. These comments resemble genuine participation in conversations, making your profile appear active, thoughtful, and human well before you begin outreach. Set a low daily cap (3–5 comments). Review and approve each comment before posting. Skip sensitive topics.
3. Optionally, add skill endorsements with the LinkedIn Auto Endorser automation: Endorse a prospect’s skills to create a light-touch interaction that signals goodwill. Use this automation sparingly and only after real interaction (e.g., you engaged on their post). Limit to 1–2 endorsements per day.
This integrated workflow creates an engagement foundation: Auto Liker (10–20/day), pre-approved comments (3–5/day), optional endorsements (1–2/day after prior engagement). These signals help LinkedIn recognize your account as normal, stable, and value-adding, which directly improves the deliverability of later outreach.
Step 3: Gradually increase connection activity for human-like scaling
Warm-up is not about going slow. It is about scaling in human patterns.
In our 2026 report, sellers sending 25–50 personalized connection requests per week often outperform those sending hundreds. The reason: personalization correlates with significantly higher acceptance rates, which strengthens trust signals over time.
The PhantomBuster warm-up progression
We recommend a 4-week ramp-up period:
| Week | Requests per day | How to execute warm-up at this stage? |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 5–10 | Use the AI LinkedIn Message Writer automation to generate highly personalized messages referencing a prospect’s recent posts, comments, or shared articles. Review and edit each note before sending. The goal is to send low-volume outreach with exceptionally high relevance. |
| Week 2 | 10–15 | Keep engagement steady using PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Auto Liker automation (cap to 10–20/day) and LinkedIn Auto Follow automation (cap to 5–10/day). Pair these signals with AI-personalized connection notes that focus on mutual interests, industry insights, or role-specific observations. |
| Week 3 | 15–20 | Introduce a light outreach sequence using PhantomBuster’s connection and follow-up workflow. Start with one personalized touch per week. Ensure every message contains a meaningful, personalized hook. Maintain consistent engagement patterns across days. |
| Week 4 | 20–30 | Full warm-up is nearly complete. Target broader lists while ensuring messages still reference real triggers such as job changes, company news, or post activity. Avoid sudden jumps in volume. |
Step 4: Personalize early touches
Our 2026 study shows that personalization is the strongest predictor of successful outreach. A warm-up is not complete unless your early touches feel tailored, relevant, and human.
LinkedIn interprets relevance as intent, and intent as legitimacy. That is why personalized early outreach builds both trust and deliverability.
How PhantomBuster’s AI-powered automations speed up personalization
You can use PhantomBuster to build a Personalization Workflow that maintains quality at scale:
1. Generate context-aware connection notes with AI LinkedIn Message Writer: This automation creates connection notes based on a prospect’s digital footprint. It scans recent posts, comments, mutual interests, industry keywords, and profile history to write openings that feel specific rather than templated. Review and edit each note before sending. Enforce at least one personalization token per message.
2. Enrich profiles for deeper personalization with AI LinkedIn Profile Enricher automation:This automation extracts skills, role priorities, tenure, certifications, and contextual cues from a user’s profile to enrich your outreach message. These details help you reference something real about the prospect, which differentiates you from cold senders and improves early credibility.
This personalization workflow helps your profile feel more relevant and familiar to prospects early, increasing the likelihood they’ll engage with your outreach.
Step 5: Become a “visible account” (warm-up = being seen)
A warm account isn’t just sending requests; it is present in the feed. In our dataset, consistently active accounts saw fewer restrictions than inactive peers.
Why visibility increases account safety
Our analysis showed that:
- Accounts with consistent engagement patterns experience fewer restrictions
- Visibility correlates with healthy acceptance rates
- LinkedIn profiles with recent activity appear more legitimate to the algorithm
You don’t need to be a top creator, but you do need to be a visible participant. Comment on 3–5 posts a day (prioritize manual comments; if using automation, cap to 3–5 reviewed comments/day and 10–20 likes/day). Share valuable content or industry news, and engage with LinkedIn groups related to your niche. This signals to the algorithm that you are a legitimate user.
Step 6: Know when warm-up is complete
A warmed-up LinkedIn account is one that the system trusts. Common readiness signals include: acceptance rates stabilizing at 40–60% for two or more weeks, daily accepted requests, and stable impressions on your posts (based on our report).
Once you hit these benchmarks, you can use PhantomBuster to run automated outreach campaigns, extract data from Sales Navigator, and increase volume to approximately 20–30 requests per day—while monitoring acceptance rates and watching for any warning prompts.
Warm-up is algorithm training, and PhantomBuster provides a structured way to do it
LinkedIn account warm-up isn’t an outdated “play it safe” trick; it is the foundational behavior LinkedIn expects from genuine users.
Our data supports this: personalization drives acceptance, stability prevents restrictions, and consistency activates the algorithm.
PhantomBuster’s cloud automations centralize your warm-up, add AI-assisted personalization, and keep pacing consistent—controls that are hard to maintain manually.
FAQ about warming up LinkedIn accounts
Why do LinkedIn accounts need warming up?
Without warm-up, too many connection requests too early can trigger spam flags and limit your reach. LinkedIn’s system evaluates behavioral stability before allowing you to scale outreach. New or poorly optimized profiles must establish identity consistency, natural human behavior, and a visible presence across the professional network.
How many connection requests per day are safe during warm-up?
A safe outreach strategy begins with 5–10 requests per day, gradually increasing to 20–30 over several weeks. Sending too many requests at once, especially with generic connection requests, is one of the fastest ways to damage trust with LinkedIn’s algorithms.
Does PhantomBuster mimic human behavior during warm-up?
PhantomBuster runs from a stable cloud environment and can automate profile visits, likes, and (optionally) pre-approved comments with conservative pacing. Use manual review and low daily caps to reduce risk. These signals reduce the likelihood of restrictions and strengthen your presence.
What causes “LinkedIn jail,” and how do I avoid it?
LinkedIn jail occurs when your behavior does not align with natural, human usage. Sudden spikes in outreach, inconsistent login locations, and self-promotion without engagement commonly trigger warnings. A structured warm-up, personalized messaging, and avoiding too many requests early on will help prevent spam flags.
Do I need Sales Navigator to warm up my account?
No, you don’t need a Sales Navigator account to warm up. Sales Navigator becomes useful later when refining targeting, identifying relevant skills, and improving lead generation quality, but it is not required for establishing credibility or building early meaningful connections.
How long does warm-up take?
Most accounts need 2–4 weeks, depending on recent activity, audience engagement, and profile health. Inactive accounts or those returning from restrictions may require more time to rebuild trust signals.
What warm-up tasks can PhantomBuster automate?
PhantomBuster supports tasks that LinkedIn’s system interprets as authentic:
- Auto-visiting profiles to generate inbound interest
- Liking and commenting on posts to boost visibility
- Personalized connection notes using AI-driven message templates
- Conservative pacing presets so activity resembles typical human rhythms
- Multi-channel preparation: enrich profiles and identify ideal audiences
How does warm-up affect acceptance rates?
Warming up increases visibility, improves your profile credibility, and ensures your first message lands with context. This significantly enhances acceptance rates because your LinkedIn presence looks active, relevant, and trustworthy to new connections.
Does posting content matter during warm-up?
Yes. Sharing posts relevant to your audience, reacting to industry news, or writing even small blog post–style updates improves perceived credibility and visibility. A simple content strategy or content calendar helps signal that you are a legitimate member of the professional network, not an automated account.
Can PhantomBuster warm up multiple accounts at once?
Yes, agencies and teams managing several brands use PhantomBuster’s cloud-based automation tools to warm up multiple LinkedIn accounts simultaneously. Because actions run through stable cloud servers, each account maintains consistent behavior patterns while keeping each account’s environment consistent and within conservative activity limits.
Start your LinkedIn warm-up workflow in PhantomBuster
Here’s how to begin:
- Connect your LinkedIn account to PhantomBuster’s secure cloud environment
- Launch the LinkedIn Auto Liker automation with a daily cap of 10–20 likes
- Queue 3–5 reviewed comments per day using LinkedIn Auto Commenter (with manual review enabled)
- Send 5–10 personalized connection requests per day using AI LinkedIn Message Writer—review each message before sending
- Monitor your acceptance rate for two weeks, targeting 40%+ acceptance before scaling
Once your acceptance rate stabilizes above 40% for two consecutive weeks and you receive daily accepted requests, you’re ready to scale your outreach volume and expand your workflow.