As of May 28, 2026, Specialized Profiles are no longer available on Upwork
What does this mean?
In short, creating and maintaining Specialized Profiles is no longer necessary. Your Upwork profile will now act dynamically, meaning your most relevant work and skills will be highlighted first for every client and every opportunity automatically. Learn more below:
Why is Upwork removing Specialized Profiles?
Specialized Profiles were introduced to help freelancers showcase different facets of their expertise, but they also meant you had to maintain multiple versions of your profile. Meanwhile, our latest data shows that clients now prefer to understand your full range of skills and experience in one place, leading to improved hire rates when proposals are submitted with your main profile.
As a result, we’ve evolved your Upwork profile so clients will instantly see your most relevant work first, while still getting a full picture of your experience and performance, without requiring you to manually curate and manage multiple profiles to stay competitive.
What’s staying the same after Specialized Profiles are removed?
- Clients have access to the full content of your Upwork profile
- Your complete performance history, including work history, earnings, and portfolio are fully preserved and stay intact in your Upwork profile
- Your visibility in search stays the same and this change does not affect your search rankings
- Your proposals remain in your control. This change does not affect the content of your proposals or what you choose to emphasize in them
Can my Specialized Profile still be accessed after May 28, 2026?
No, after May 28, 2026, your Specialized Profile and its content will no longer be accessible or retrievable by you or customer support.
Existing proposals submitted through Specialized Profiles before May 28th deprecation will remain visible to clients until June 28, 2026.
What will happen to the content in my Specialized Profile(s)?
The portfolio items, earnings, and work history, including reviews, from jobs you’ve completed using your Specialized Profile are automatically incorporated into your primary profile.
The title, overview, and skills from your Specialized Profiles will not automatically transfer to your primary profile. If that’s content you’d like to appear in your primary profile, you can copy it into your primary profile by editing your profile as you normally would.
What if I recently submitted a proposal using a Specialized Profile? Will clients still see it?
Yes, proposals submitted through Specialized Profiles before they’re deprecated on May 28, 2026 will continue to be visible to clients through June 28, 2026.
How do my main Upwork profile and proposals appear to clients?
When clients find and open your profile from search results, they’ll see your full profile. When clients view your work history and skills sections, the most relevant experience is highlighted and appears first based on their search query.
The same applies when you submit a proposal: clients are presented with your full profile, and the work history, reviews, portfolio items, and skills that best match their job post are highlighted and appear first in their respective sections.
How the Work history section of your profile appears to a client in search:
How the Portfolio section appears to a client when reviewing your proposal:
Can I still highlight different services I offer?
Absolutely. You’ll still be able to show a range of skills in your Upwork profile and your most relevant work and skills will be highlighted first for every client and every opportunity automatically.
Do I need to do anything to my main Upwork profile as a result of Specialized Profiles being removed?
While no action from you is required, consider taking this opportunity to ensure your Upwork profile reflects how you want to show up to clients.
- Complete your profile. Complete, up-to-date profiles are critical for successful client matching and visibility
- Optimize your profile for matching. Ensure your title, description, and skills reflect your current expertise. You may want to pull in relevant content from your Specialized Profile before it’s deleted by us
- Refresh your portfolio and add/update your video intro. Include a mix of strong, relevant samples to showcase your experience and versatility. Use a video to help clients get to know you. Learn more: How to enhance your freelancer profile
- New to Upwork and still building your presence? Along with the best practices above, you can request testimonials from past clients and add personal or sample projects to your portfolio to showcase experience in the work you want to do