How to Export Contacts in LinkedIn: A Step-by-Step Guide

In today’s digital age, your LinkedIn connections are more than just a list of professional contacts—they are invaluable resources for networking, sales, hiring, and more. But what happens when you need to access these contacts outside of LinkedIn? Whether you want to back them up, manage them in a CRM, or generate leads, understanding how to export contacts in LinkedIn is a crucial skill.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about exporting contacts from LinkedIn, including how to download them to Excel, retrieve phone numbers and emails, and even use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator for deeper insights. Along the way, we’ll sprinkle in some anecdotes and tips that will make this process more engaging and easy to follow. So, let’s dive into how to export contacts in LinkedIn!

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Why Exporting LinkedIn Contacts Matters

Before jumping into the “how,” let’s explore the “why.” Why would someone want to export LinkedIn contacts?

Imagine this: Sarah is a marketing executive with thousands of LinkedIn connections. One day, she decides to switch jobs and needs to update her contacts list. Instead of manually sifting through each contact, Sarah chooses to export her LinkedIn contacts to Excel—saving hours of time.

The ability to quickly export your connections has significant benefits:

1. Backup Your Network: Keeping an offline copy ensures that you never lose access to your professional contacts, even if something happens to your LinkedIn account.
2. Improved Networking: You can access the contact information in a manageable format, allowing you to personalize follow-ups and manage relationships better.
3. Lead Generation and Sales: If you’re in sales or marketing, having a list of contacts with emails and phone numbers can supercharge your outreach efforts.
4. Efficient Recruitment: Exporting connections can also help recruiters and HR professionals easily filter through potential candidates for job openings.

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How to Export Contacts in LinkedIn to Excel: A Step-by-Step Guide

The most common way people export their LinkedIn contacts is by downloading them into an Excel file. This method is quick, simple, and ensures that you have all your LinkedIn contacts in a structured format.

Step 1: Log into LinkedIn

Start by logging into your LinkedIn account. Once you’re in, click on your profile picture in the top right corner to open the drop-down menu.

Step 2: Go to Settings & Privacy

From the drop-down menu, click on “Settings & Privacy.” This will take you to a page with multiple settings tabs. Scroll down to find Data Privacy.

Step 3: Request Your Data

Under the Data Privacy section, look for the option titled “Get a copy of your data.” Once you click on it, you’ll see a list of data types you can download. Select “Connections.”

Step 4: Download the File

After submitting the request, LinkedIn will send you an email with a download link. This email usually arrives within 10-15 minutes. Open the link to download the Excel file, which will contain details about your contacts like names, job titles, and company names.

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How to Export LinkedIn Contacts with Phone Numbers

Many professionals rely on phone calls to maintain relationships, making it essential to have phone numbers. However, LinkedIn doesn’t always include phone numbers in the standard contact export unless the contact has opted to share this information.

Here’s how to export LinkedIn contacts with phone numbers:

1. Follow the Export Steps: Use the same steps outlined above to export your contacts to Excel.
2. Check for Phone Numbers: Once you’ve downloaded the file, open it and review the information for each contact. If they’ve shared their phone number with you on LinkedIn, it will appear in this file.

Important Note: Phone numbers are often omitted from exports unless explicitly shared by your connections. However, you can use tools like Lusha or Hunter.io to enhance your contact list with phone numbers.

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How to Export LinkedIn Contacts with Email Addresses

Now, if you’re looking to engage your contacts through email marketing or direct outreach, you’ll need to know how to export LinkedIn contacts with email addresses. Emails are critical for personalized communication, and exporting them is just as straightforward.

Step 1: Request Your Data

Go through the steps mentioned earlier to download your LinkedIn connections.

Step 2: Look for Emails

The exported file will contain email addresses if your contacts have chosen to share them with you. If their email isn’t available in the file, LinkedIn’s privacy policies may prevent it from being shared.

For those missing emails, you can use tools like Apollo or ContactOut to find professional emails based on their LinkedIn profiles.

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How to Export Contacts in LinkedIn from Sales Navigator

For those using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, the process is slightly different but offers even more options. Sales Navigator users have access to a broader range of contacts, including leads, accounts, and more detailed insights. Here’s a guide on how to export contacts from LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

Step 1: Access Sales Navigator

Ensure you have a Sales Navigator subscription. Navigate to Sales Navigator by clicking on the “Work” icon in the top-right corner of LinkedIn.

Step 2: Select Leads and Accounts

In Sales Navigator, you can save leads and accounts to specific lists. Once you’ve organized your leads, you can proceed with the export.

Step 3: Export Using Evaboot

To export the data, use a tool like Evaboot, which allows you to export up to 2,500 contacts per day. Evaboot also provides the option to enrich the data, so you get both emails and phone numbers.

This is particularly useful for sales teams looking to generate outreach lists.

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How to Export Followers from LinkedIn Company Page

If you manage a LinkedIn company page, exporting your followers’ data can provide valuable insights for marketing and engagement strategies. While LinkedIn does not allow direct export of followers, there are workarounds.

Step 1: Access Your Company Page

Navigate to your LinkedIn company page by logging into your admin account.

Step 2: View Analytics

Click on the Analytics tab to access data on your followers. Although LinkedIn does not allow a direct export of followers, the analytics provide insights into their demographics and engagement.

Step 3: Use a Scraping Tool

To extract this data, you can use web scraping tools like Phantombuster or Captain Data to export followers and their available contact information.

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How to Export Someone Else’s LinkedIn Contacts

Let’s say you’ve connected with a fellow professional, and you’re wondering if you can access and export someone else’s LinkedIn contacts. Unfortunately, LinkedIn’s privacy settings prevent direct access to another person’s contact list without their consent.

However, here are a few ethical workarounds:

1. Send a Connection Request: Once connected, you can access and export the contact details they have shared with you.
2. Use Publicly Available Data: Tools like Dux-Soup allow you to scrape publicly available data from LinkedIn profiles, but be sure to comply with LinkedIn’s terms of service.

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How to Export LinkedIn Profile Data

Sometimes, you might want to download your entire LinkedIn profile data, including your work history, education, skills, and endorsements. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Go to Settings & Privacy

Once again, go to your LinkedIn Settings and open the Data Privacy section.

Step 2: Request Your Data

Under “Get a copy of your data,” select “Profile” to download all the information related to your LinkedIn profile.

This method ensures that you have a backup of your professional data in case something happens to your account.

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Using LinkedIn Data Export Tool

LinkedIn’s built-in data export tool simplifies the process of downloading your entire data set, including connections, messages, and profile information.

Step 1: Access the Tool

Navigate to your LinkedIn Data Export Tool in the Settings & Privacy section.

Step 2: Select Data Types

You can choose the types of data you want to export—Connections, Messages, Profile, and more. After making your selections, LinkedIn will generate a file for you to download.

This feature is especially useful for professionals who want a full backup of their LinkedIn activity.

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Read More about: Can People See If You Viewed Their LinkedIn?, How Can You View a LinkedIn Profile Anonymously?, and Can You Schedule Posts on LinkedIn?

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Wrapping Up: Maximize Your LinkedIn Network

Knowing how to export contacts in LinkedIn is more than just a technical skill—it’s a powerful way to ensure you never lose your professional network. From backing up contacts to using tools like Sales Navigator, LinkedIn data export tool, and even ethical data scraping tools, the ability to extract your contacts is an invaluable resource.

Whether you need to export connections for sales, recruitment, or networking, the tips in this guide will set you up for success.

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Now that you know how to export your LinkedIn contacts, why not take the next step and manage your network like a pro? Tools like Sales Navigator and CRM integration can help you get the most out of your LinkedIn connections!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):