“Microsoft Word” is not a skill to flex.
It’s 2026. I’m going to assume you know how to open Word. And if you don’t, that’s not something LinkedIn can fix for you.
And yet…there it sits. On profiles of people with decades of experience and advanced degrees. Taking up space that could belong to something that actually makes you look good.
(In addition to that fabulous haircut you’re sporting.)
Your Skills section is real estate. Limited real estate. So use it like it matters, and cull the dead weight.
What skills should you remove from your LinkedIn profile?
Start with the ones that aren’t yours anymore.
Customer service from your first “real” job out of school? Gone.
Organizational skills from your college days? Vamoose!
Social media from when you managed that boutique between jobs, back before you were anything close to a social media person? Evanesco!
The test is simple. Is this relevant to what you do now, or what you’re trying to do next? If the answer is no, it’s not a skill. It’s clutter wearing a skill costume.
Keep it relevant to your career. Keep it focused on your goal. And stop stuffing the section because some part of your brain still thinks more is better.
It isn’t. More is just more.
”Microsoft Word” is not a skill. Neither is “Critical Thinking.”
There’s a whole category of entries that feel like they’re helping and aren’t.
“Microsoft Word.” “Email.” “Time management.” “Critical Thinking.” Those aren’t differentiators. They’re the baseline.
Listing them is like putting “shows up on time” on a résumé. (Congratulations?)
And they’re unprovable on your profile. What does “Critical Thinking” as a standalone skill actually demonstrate? Nothing. Anyone can type it. There’s no work behind it, no endorsement worth anything, no line in your Experience section that backs it up.
A skill that proves nothing isn’t neutral. It’s taking a slot from one that would.
100 skills is a ceiling, not a goal
Here’s where people go sideways.
LinkedIn lets you add up to 100 skills. Most people read that as a target and start filling it.
That is not a goal. It’s a ceiling. The most you’re allowed, not the number you should be reaching for.
And the slots aren’t just cosmetic. LinkedIn uses your skills to decide which searches you turn up in. So every piece of junk you keep is you raising your hand for a search you don’t want to win. Nobody’s hiring for “Microsoft Word.” All you’re doing is diluting the searches that actually matter.
(That’s how you end up with “Microsoft Word” sitting right next to your real expertise, quietly dragging the whole section down to its level.)
What the best LinkedIn Skills sections have in common
The professionals with the most effective Skills sections aren’t the ones with the most skills.
They’re the ones with the fewest, most relevant, best-supported skills. Each one attached to actual experience somewhere on the profile that proves it’s real.
Not a wishlist. Evidence.
Fewer. Sharper. Backed up.
That’s it. That’s the whole strategy.