XING Help Center

Here you’ll find answers to your questions, and information about XING features. You can also contact the XING Support team if you need any other assistance.

Send and receive messages

  • How can I report spam, unwanted messages or contact requests?
    If you received an unwanted private message, please open it and click on "Report as spam" under "Options" on the right-hand side of the page.

    If you received an unwanted contact request, please open it and click on "Report as spam" under "more"

    . You also have the option to block another member from viewing your profile. However, you should take the following points into account before doing so:

    The person you're thinking about blocking will still be able to find you using the search feature, but won't be able to view your profile details. You can only block non-contacts. To do so, please proceed as follows:

    - Call up the member profile you want to block.
    - In the top right-hand corner of the profile, click on "more".
    - Select the last option, "Block this user".

    If you'd like to unblock someone from viewing your profile, follow the above steps and select "Unblock this user".
  • What emails do I get from XING?

    Upon registration XING sends you an email to confirm your email address and another email to welcome you on XING.

    Depending on your settings, as a XING member you may receive notifications in the following situations:

    • When a XING member sends you a message via XING. The message itself will be included in the notification email.
    • When a XING member posts an entry in your guest book
    • When you receive a contact request from a XING member
    • When a person you have invited to XING signs up
    • If you are a XING Jobs user: When there is an important update regarding your XING Jobs account

    Additionally, you can subscribe to the following notifications:

    • The weekly XING newsletter including your personal statistics and useful tips
    • Birthday reminders
    • Information regarding XING offers and interesting XING features

    You can also manage your notifications, newsletters and offers by going to "Settings (cog symbol in the left sidebar) > Notifications".

    XING never shares your email address with third parties. Read our privacy policy to find out more about the safety of your data on XING.

  • How can I send a message to one of my contacts?
    You can select a member from your Contacts, for example, and click on the "Message" symbol. You will then be forwarded to a page where you can write your message.
  • How can I modify my settings on receiving XING notification emails?
    There are various notification settings which you can change on the "Home → Settings → Notifications" page. Here you can decide, for example, whether you would like to be notified by email if somebody sends you a private message via XING, adds you as a contact, or makes an entry in your guestbook. You can also decide whether you would like to receive emails regarding your Jobs account and your active offers, and whether you would like to receive a XING newsletter informing you about special offers and interesting product features, and whether you would like to receive newsletters from your groups. Finally, you can decide whether the emails should be sent in HTML format or simple text format.
  • Can I send messages to several people at once?
    You can send messages to up to 10 direct contacts in your personal network on XING. Depending on the type of membership you have, you can either send a reply to the sender only or send a message to up to 10 recipients at the same time.

    Please bear in mind that XING is intended to be a platform for personal networking that enables members communicate with one another on an individual and personal level.
  • Why can I reply to a private message in the email notification directly, without logging into XING first?
    Every time you receive an email notification from XING with a new private message, you can conveniently reply to that message without logging into XING. In order to prevent unauthorized use of your XING account by other people, we have made that reply option only available via the link that's included in the notification sent to your private email address. All other actions on XING require that you log in. Should you still be concerned about the safety of these settings, you can deactivate them at any time. You'll find a link to your privacy settings in the notification email below the "Reply" button.
  • What file formats can be sent as attachments?
    The attachments feature provides you with a quick and secure way of sending presentations, images and other files to various people. You can send files in the following formats: .PDF, .DOC (Word), .DOCX (Word), .TXT (text), .RTF (rich text), .XLS (Excel), .XSLX (Excel), .PPT (PowerPoint), .PPTX (PowerPoint), .JPG (image), .JPEG (image), .PNG (image), .BMP (image), .GIF (image), .TIF (image), .TIFF (image), .PSD (Photoshop), .AI (Illustrator), .INDD (InDesign). Executable file formats such as .EXE are not supported. There is a total limit of 100 MB per message, meaning that you can send several attachments as long as they don't exceed 100 MB. Your account has a storage limit of 1 GB.
  • What is the attachment size limit?
    There is a total limit of 100 MB per message, meaning that you can send several attachments as long as they don't exceed 100 MB. Attachments can be sent in all the usual formats such as Word files, PDFs, JPEGs, etc. but not executable files such as .EXE. Your account has a storage limit of 1 GB.
  • Are attachments secure when I send them via XING?
    Sending attachments via XING is much more secure than sending them by email as they're only stored on XING servers in Germany. The entire XING platform is also covered by SSL encryption, meaning that your attachments are also encrypted when sent. All that is actually sent is a link.

    Nevertheless, we recommend you use anti-virus software to scan any files you receive.
  • Who can send and receive attachments?
    The attachments feature is available in full to all Premium members at no extra cost. Basic members can only receive attachments. Attachments cannot be sent to non-XING members.
  • How do I know if my attachments exceed the 100 MB limit?
    When you upload attachments, we check them to see how large they are. If an attachment exceeds the 100 MB limit, you'll receive a notification.
  • How do I know if my account reaches the 1 GB storage limit?
    When you upload attachments, we check them to see how large they are. If your account reaches the 1 GB limit, you'll receive a notification. There is a limit of 1 GB per month during the introductory phase.
  • Problems reading and sending messages
    A lot of problems that occur in connection with reading and sending messages are due to outdated browsers, so please check to see if you're running the latest version of your browser, i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.

    If you're still having problems, please check whether you've installed a browser add-on (e.g. Google toolbar) that may be causing this to happen and then deactivate it. If that doesn't work, please delete your browser's cache (if you're not sure how to do this, search for cache in your browser's help files).

    If this problem still persists, please feel free to contact us and provide the following information:

    - Your operating system (e.g. Windows 7 Home Premium, OS X 10.8, etc.)
    - Your browser and version (e.g. Google Chrome 23, Firefox 10, etc.)
    - If possible, a screenshot clearly illustrating the problem

    Please then send this information to us via the contact form.
  • Why can't I send messages to non-contacts (any more)?
    You can only send messages to non-contacts if you have a Premium, Sales or Recruiter membership. Please also note the following:

    If you took out your Premium membership before September 26, 2012, you can send up to 20 messages a day to non-contacts. If you took out your Premium membership after September 26, 2012, you can send up to 20 messages a month to non-contacts (only the first message in a conversation is counted). If you have a Sales membership there is a limit of 50 messages a day to non-contacts, while Recruiter members can send up to 75 messages a day to non-contacts.

    We think these limits help to prevent intentional misuse due to spam and other online sales pitches. We realize this may hinder some members in their daily work on XING, but we still offer the option to send contact requests, add guest book entries, and bookmark members for you to come back to at a later date.
  • Where can I find my sent messages?
    To view your sent messages, go to "Home > Messages" and select the "Sent messages" option in the "Filter messages" box.