LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn’s global online learning platform for business, creative, technology, and professional-development skills.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
LinkedIn Learning is an online professional education platform operated by LinkedIn and owned by Microsoft. It provides on-demand video instruction, learning paths, certificates of completion, and organizational learning tools for individuals, businesses, educational institutions, and public libraries. Its principal subject areas are business, creative work, technology, and certification-oriented professional skills. The service originated with Lynda.com, a training company established in 1995 by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin. Weinman, a special-effects animator and multimedia educator, initially developed learning materials to support her books, classes, and digital-arts school. The business evolved from a specialist resource for design and multimedia practitioners into a subscription-based library of professionally produced software, creative, and business courses. Its emphasis on screen-recorded demonstrations and instruction from practitioners gave it a distinctive position between conventional publishing, classroom training, and emerging massive open online course platforms. Lynda.com expanded its capabilities through international growth and acquisitions. In 2013 it acquired video2brain, an Austrian online-training provider with course operations in English, German, French, and Spanish. In 2014 it acquired Compilr, a Canadian company associated with browser-based coding practice and development tools. These moves broadened the service’s geographic reach and strengthened its technology-training proposition. LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com in 2015. The transaction brought a substantial professional-learning catalog into LinkedIn’s employment, recruiting, and professional-network ecosystem. Lynda.com was subsequently integrated and rebranded as LinkedIn Learning in October 2017. Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, completed in December 2016, made LinkedIn Learning part of Microsoft’s wider productivity, enterprise, and workplace-software portfolio. The platform’s consumer offering is centered on subscription access to a large course library. Courses commonly include short video lessons, exercise files or demonstrations where applicable, quizzes or practice activities, and a shareable certificate after completion. Learning paths organize multiple courses around broader objectives such as digital marketing, social-media advertising, leadership, software development, data analysis, or creative production. Content is presented by subject-matter experts, executives, educators, and working practitioners; examples include leadership instruction from former LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner and advertising instruction from specialists such as AJ Wilcox. For organizations, LinkedIn Learning provides administrative and reporting features through products such as Learning Hub. Administrators can assign courses, create collections and learning paths, promote selected content on an organization’s learning homepage, and use campaigns or challenges to encourage participation. This makes the service a corporate learning and development tool as well as a consumer education subscription. The platform also supports institutional access arrangements, including library and education-related distribution, although some changes to library-user access requirements generated criticism. LinkedIn Learning’s positioning is closely connected to employability and career mobility. Unlike general entertainment-oriented video platforms, it frames learning around practical workplace outcomes: acquiring software proficiency, improving management and communication, understanding marketing and advertising tools, preparing for certifications, and demonstrating completed study through a professional-network profile. The service remains active and globally available, with course coverage continually changing as technologies, workplace practices, and certification requirements develop.
History
LinkedIn Learning traces its origins to Lynda.com, founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin in California. Weinman was a special-effects animator, author, and multimedia educator, while Heavin worked as an artist. The early business grew out of their teaching and publishing activities and was intended to help learners understand digital-art and multimedia tools. Its original subject emphasis was therefore closely tied to design, web production, and creative software rather than to the broad professional curriculum associated with the modern LinkedIn Learning service. As internet access and digital production expanded, Lynda.com developed an online library of video-based instruction. The format emphasized practical demonstrations, allowing learners to follow an instructor through software workflows and professional techniques. Over time, the catalog expanded into business, technology, management, marketing, and other workplace subjects. This helped the company move beyond a niche design-training audience and compete in the growing market for subscription-based online education. Lynda.com also pursued international and technological expansion. In February 2013, it acquired video2brain, an Austria-based provider of online courses in web design, programming, and related subjects. video2brain’s multilingual presence strengthened Lynda.com’s ability to serve learners in English, German, French, and Spanish. In 2014, Lynda.com acquired Compilr, a Canadian startup associated with online coding tools and browser-based programming practice. The acquisitions complemented Lynda.com’s core video library by adding international content and technology capabilities. LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com in 2015. The deal connected a mature professional-training catalog with LinkedIn’s professional graph, employment data, recruiting products, and member profiles. The strategic logic was to support skills development alongside career discovery and hiring: learners could study workplace topics, complete courses, and potentially display evidence of learning in the same professional environment used for networking and job seeking. Microsoft announced its acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016, and the transaction was completed in December of that year. LinkedIn Learning consequently became part of Microsoft’s broader workplace and productivity ecosystem. In October 2017, Lynda.com was integrated and renamed LinkedIn Learning. The rebrand preserved the training service’s underlying role while associating it more directly with LinkedIn’s global professional identity. The renamed platform developed both an individual subscription model and enterprise learning products. Its library was organized around broad areas including Business, Creative, Technology, and Certifications. Courses were generally delivered as modular video lessons led by practitioners, educators, executives, or recognized specialists. Learning paths grouped related courses into structured programs, while completion certificates gave learners a portable record that could be shared through LinkedIn or elsewhere. For employers and institutions, LinkedIn Learning added administrative functions for assigning content, curating collections, tracking participation, and promoting selected learning initiatives. Learning Hub administrators can use campaigns to feature courses, collections, or learning paths on an organization’s learning homepage. Promotional resources also support recurring challenges and themed learning programs, such as diversity and inclusion or marketing-skills initiatives. These tools reflect the platform’s shift from a simple course library toward an integrated learning-and-development service. The service has also faced issues common to large digital education platforms. In 2019, a policy requiring public-library users to create LinkedIn profiles in order to access LinkedIn Learning generated criticism from librarians and the American Library Association. The controversy highlighted the tension between LinkedIn’s identity-centered business model and the privacy and open-access expectations associated with public libraries. LinkedIn Learning remains an active global platform. Its catalog changes as software, artificial intelligence, marketing methods, management practices, and professional certification requirements evolve. Its central proposition remains practical career development: short, accessible lessons that help individuals and organizations build job-related skills while connecting learning activity to the wider LinkedIn professional ecosystem.
- 2019
Public-library access policy changes
[1]LinkedIn Learning requires users accessing the platform through public libraries to create LinkedIn profiles, prompting criticism from library advocates.
- 2017
Launch of the LinkedIn Learning brand
[1]Lynda.com is merged into LinkedIn’s product ecosystem and renamed LinkedIn Learning.
- 2016
Microsoft acquires LinkedIn
[1]Microsoft completes its acquisition of LinkedIn, placing the Lynda.com learning business within Microsoft’s corporate ownership structure.
- 2015
LinkedIn acquires Lynda.com
[1]LinkedIn purchases Lynda.com and begins integrating its professional-learning catalog with LinkedIn’s networking and career products.
- 2014
Acquisition of Compilr
[1]Lynda.com acquires Compilr, a Canadian startup associated with browser-based coding practice and online development tools.
- 2013
Acquisition of video2brain
[1]Lynda.com acquires video2brain, expanding its multilingual online-training capabilities in web design, programming, and related subjects.
- 1995
Lynda.com is founded
[1]Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin establish the company that would later become LinkedIn Learning, initially supporting digital-art education, books, and classes.
Products and positioning
A professional, career-oriented digital learning service that combines practitioner-led video instruction with LinkedIn’s professional identity, employment, and enterprise ecosystem.
Online education
On-demand course library
A subscription-access catalog of instructor-led video courses covering business, creative practice, technology, marketing, leadership, software, and certification-related skills. Lessons are typically divided into short chapters designed for self-paced study.
Structured professional training
Learning paths
Curated sequences of courses organized around a broader development objective, such as digital marketing, social-media advertising, leadership, or technology skills. Paths provide a more structured alternative to selecting individual courses.
Credentialing feature
Shareable certificates
Certificates of completion that learners can use to document finished LinkedIn Learning courses. They are designed as evidence of participation and skill development rather than as independently accredited academic degrees.
Corporate learning
LinkedIn Learning for business
An organizational offering that gives employers access to course content, assignment tools, curated collections, learner analytics, and administrative controls for workforce development.
Learning management and administration
Learning Hub
An administrative environment through which organizations can promote courses, collections, and learning paths, create internal campaigns, and feature learning initiatives on an organizational homepage.
Marketing campaigns
- Monthly Learning Challenges
Global · Enterprise customers
LinkedIn Learning provides promotional assets and calendars that organizations can adapt for recurring learning challenges. Themes can be customized around workforce priorities, including diversity and inclusion, career development, or technical skills.
Outcome. The program is intended to increase learner engagement and participation in employer-sponsored training.
- Organizational content-promotion campaigns
Enterprise customers
Learning Hub administrators can create internal campaigns to promote a course, collection, or learning path on their company’s LinkedIn Learning homepage, using a title, message, and selected content.
Outcome. The feature gives employers a way to direct attention toward priority training without changing the underlying course catalog.
Brand decisions
2019
Require LinkedIn profiles for public-library accessStrategyBackground
LinkedIn aligned access to its library-distributed learning service with its broader identity-based platform model.
Action taken
Users accessing LinkedIn Learning through public libraries were required to create LinkedIn profiles.
Aftermath
Librarians and the American Library Association criticized the policy, raising concerns about privacy and barriers to public access.
2017
Rebrand Lynda.com as LinkedIn LearningStrategyBackground
Following acquisition and integration, LinkedIn repositioned the former Lynda.com service as part of its professional identity and career platform.
Action taken
The service was merged into the LinkedIn product family and adopted the LinkedIn Learning name.
Aftermath
The brand became LinkedIn’s dedicated learning platform while retaining its subscription course model and expanded subject catalog.
2015
Acquire Lynda.com and integrate professional learningM&ABackground
LinkedIn sought to add structured professional education to its networking, recruiting, and career-development ecosystem.
Action taken
LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com and incorporated its course library and learning operations.
Aftermath
The acquisition ultimately led to the Lynda.com service being renamed LinkedIn Learning in 2017.
Recent events
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