How to Export LinkedIn Contacts (2026)

LinkedIn lets you download all your first-degree connections as a CSV file. The export is free and takes about two minutes to request. Here’s how to do it and what to expect.

You need to do this on desktop. LinkedIn’s mobile app just tells you to visit the desktop site for data exports.

How to Export Your LinkedIn Connections

1. Click your profile picture in the navigation bar.
2. Click Settings & Privacy in the dropdown.
3. In the left sidebar, click Data privacy.
4. Click Get a copy of your data.
5. Select the first option: Download larger data archive. There’s no option to download just your connections.
6. Click Request archive.

LinkedIn sends the archive to the email address on your account in two parts. The first part includes Connections.csv and generally doesn’t take 24 hours despite what the page says. The second part with the rest of your data follows later.

The email contains a download link. Click it to download a ZIP file. Inside the ZIP, look for Connections.csv. That’s your contact list.

What’s in the Export

Your LinkedIn export contains seven columns:

One thing to watch for: the CSV file starts with a few lines of notes about missing emails before the actual column headers. If you open it in Excel and the data looks wrong, delete those top lines so the headers are on row 1.

The Missing Email Problem

This is the biggest limitation of the LinkedIn export. Most of your connections won’t have an email address in the file.

LinkedIn only includes an email for connections who have enabled “Allow connections to export my email” in their privacy settings. This setting is off by default. In practice, expect 10% to 20% of your connections to have an email in the export.

There’s no way to force this from your side. You can’t see who has the setting enabled before you export. You just get the file and see what’s there.

How to Fill in Missing Emails

Contact enrichment tools. Services that match a name and company to a verified email address. BoothIQ does this automatically for contacts you capture. You provide the name and company, it finds the email.

Manual lookup. Check the person’s LinkedIn profile (some display their email publicly), their company website’s team page, or use a tool like Hunter.io. This works for a handful of contacts but doesn’t scale.

Skip them. If you’re only importing contacts you plan to email, filter out rows without an email before importing into your CRM. You’ll have a smaller list, but every contact will be reachable.

Export LinkedIn Contacts to Excel

The Connections.csv file opens directly in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app. Just double-click it.

If the file opens with all data crammed into one column, your spreadsheet is using the wrong delimiter. In Excel: open a blank workbook, go to Data > From Text/CSV, select the file, and make sure the delimiter is set to Comma.

From Excel, you can sort, filter, and clean your data before importing it into a CRM. Common cleanup steps:

• Remove rows without an email address (if you only want emailable contacts)
• Delete connections you don’t need (recruiters, old colleagues, etc.)
• Add a column for lead source (e.g., “LinkedIn”) for CRM tracking
• Rename column headers to match your CRM’s expected format

Import LinkedIn Contacts into Your CRM

Once you have your CSV, the next step is getting it into your CRM. The process is different for each platform because they expect different column headers and have different import tools.

HubSpot

LinkedIn’s column headers don’t match HubSpot’s format. “Email Address” needs to become “Email.” “Company” needs to become “Company Name.” “Position” needs to become “Job Title.” You can rename them manually in a spreadsheet, or use the BoothIQ CSV Formatter to remap them automatically.

Once your headers match, use HubSpot’s built-in import tool: Contacts > Import > File from computer. Map each column, create an import list, and you’re done.

For the full walkthrough: How to Import LinkedIn Contacts to HubSpot

Salesforce

LinkedIn uses “Email Address” where Salesforce expects “Email,” and “Position” where Salesforce expects “Title.” “Company” matches as-is. Rename the headers, add a “Lead Source” column with “LinkedIn” as the value for every row, and use Salesforce’s Data Import Wizard to upload.

For the full walkthrough: How to Import LinkedIn Contacts to Salesforce

Other CRMs

Most CRMs accept CSV imports with a column mapping step. The general approach is the same: rename LinkedIn’s column headers to match what your CRM expects, then use the CRM’s import tool. The BoothIQ CSV Formatter supports HubSpot and Salesforce header formats. For other CRMs, rename the columns manually in a spreadsheet.

What LinkedIn Doesn’t Export

A few things people expect to find in the export but won’t:

Phone numbers. Not included, even if a connection has a phone number on their profile.

Notes and tags. Any notes you’ve added to connections or tags from LinkedIn’s relationship management features are not in the export.

Second and third-degree connections. The export only includes first-degree connections (people you’re directly connected with). You can’t export people you’re not connected to.

Profile photos. The export is a CSV. No images.

How Often Can You Export?

LinkedIn doesn’t limit how often you request an export. You can download your connections daily if you want. Each export includes your full connection list at that point in time. You can’t export only new connections since your last download.

If you reimport to a CRM regularly, your CRM’s duplicate matching (by email) handles the overlap. Existing records get updated. New connections get created.

Exporting from LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has its own export, but it’s worse than the free version in one key way. You can export saved leads to CSV, capped at 2,500 per list, but the export strips out email addresses. Even connections who shared their email in the regular export won’t have one here.

Sales Navigator exports are more useful for building prospecting lists with specific filters (industry, company size, seniority level) than for exporting your existing connections. For your full connection list, use the standard LinkedIn export described above.

A Faster Path for Event Contacts

If you met someone at a conference and want them in your CRM, the LinkedIn export is the long way around. You’d need to connect with them first, wait for them to accept, request a new export, find them in the CSV, and then import that one row.

BoothIQ skips all of that. Scan their badge or business card and the contact syncs to your CRM with field mapping and event tags already set. No CSV, no import wizard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I export my LinkedIn contacts?

Yes. LinkedIn lets you export all your first-degree connections as a CSV file. Go to Settings & Privacy > Data privacy > Get a copy of your data, select the full archive option, and click Request archive. LinkedIn emails you the file. The page says 24 hours but it’s generally much faster.

Is the LinkedIn contact export free?

Yes. Exporting your connections is a standard LinkedIn feature available on all accounts, including free ones. You don’t need LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator.

Why are emails missing from my LinkedIn export?

LinkedIn only includes emails for connections who have enabled “Allow connections to export my email” in their privacy settings. This setting is off by default. Most of your connections won’t have shared their email, so expect 80% to 90% of rows to have a blank email field.

Can I export LinkedIn contacts to Excel?

Yes. The export file is a standard CSV that opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app. Double-click the file to open it, or use Excel’s Data > From Text/CSV import if the columns don’t separate correctly.

Can I export second-degree LinkedIn connections?

No. LinkedIn only lets you export first-degree connections (people you’re directly connected with). There’s no way to export second or third-degree connections through LinkedIn’s data export tool.

How do I export LinkedIn contacts to my CRM?

Export your connections from LinkedIn as a CSV, rename the column headers to match your CRM’s expected format, then use your CRM’s import tool. We have step-by-step guides for importing to HubSpot and importing to Salesforce.

References

• Downloading Your Data from LinkedIn — LinkedIn Help Center
• Export Connections from LinkedIn — LinkedIn Help Center
• LinkedIn Privacy Settings — LinkedIn Help Center

Skip the Export Entirely

If you’re adding event contacts to your CRM, the export/import cycle is unnecessary overhead. BoothIQ captures contacts at trade shows by scanning badges and business cards, then syncs them to HubSpot or Salesforce. No CSV, no column renaming. Contacts show up in your CRM before you’ve left the booth.