How to Easily Export LinkedIn Contacts in 2026
Your LinkedIn connections are a valuable asset. Whether you're moving to a new CRM, building an email list, or just want a backup of your network, exporting your contacts is something every LinkedIn user should know how to do.
The good news: LinkedIn actually makes this reasonably straightforward through their native data export feature. The less good news: what you get is more limited than you might expect.
Here's exactly how to do it, what you'll receive, and what to do with the data afterward.
TL;DR
- LinkedIn's native export gives you name, company, position, and sometimes email (often blank)
- The export does NOT include LinkedIn profile URLs — you'll need a separate tool for those
- You can also export contacts to Excel using Outly's CSV export from a LinkedIn search
- Group member exports require a third-party tool
- The 3 biggest drawbacks: no emails, no URLs, static snapshot
How to Export LinkedIn Contacts to Excel/CSV
Step 1: Locate the Settings
- Go to linkedin.com and log in
- Click your profile photo in the top right corner
- Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu
Step 2: Choose the Data You Want Archived
- Click Data Privacy in the left sidebar
- Find Get a copy of your data
- Select Connections (you can also select other data types if you want a full archive)
- Click Request archive
Step 3: Wait for Your Download
LinkedIn will email you a download link within 10 minutes to 24 hours, depending on how much data you have. The email goes to your primary LinkedIn email address.
Once you receive the email:
- Click the download link
- Download the ZIP file
- Extract it — you'll find a file called
Connections.csv
Open it in Excel or Google Sheets. Done.
Does This Process Export LinkedIn Contacts with Their Email Address and Phone Numbers?
Partially. The Connections.csv file includes:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Email Address (only if the connection has made their email visible to connections)
- Company
- Position
- Connected On (the date you connected)
What's not included:
- Phone numbers
- Profile photos
- LinkedIn profile URLs
- Any messages you've exchanged
Can You Export LinkedIn Contacts With Their Email Addresses?
The email address field is often empty. LinkedIn only includes it if the connection has explicitly set their email to be visible to connections. For most people, that field will be blank.
Note: To get email addresses for your connections, you need an enrichment tool like Apollo, Lusha, or Hunter.io. Feed your contact list (name + company) into the tool and it will find business email addresses where available. Match rates typically run 40-70%.
How to Download LinkedIn Contacts to Excel Using Outly
If you want more data than LinkedIn's native export provides — especially LinkedIn profile URLs and enriched contact information — Outly gives you a better workflow.
Step 1: Get the LinkedIn Search URL
Run a search on LinkedIn for the contacts you want to export. You can search by name, company, job title, or any combination. Once you have your results, copy the URL from your browser's address bar.
Step 2: Open Outly
Log into Outly and navigate to the campaign creation section. Select "LinkedIn Search" as your lead source.
Step 3: Search for Your Prospects
Paste the LinkedIn search URL into Outly. The platform will pull the profiles from your search and display them as a lead list. You can preview the list and filter further if needed.
Step 4: Download Your CSV File
Click the export button to download your lead list as a CSV. The file includes name, job title, company, LinkedIn URL, and any enrichment data Outly has pulled.
This gives you a much more complete dataset than LinkedIn's native export, including the profile URLs that LinkedIn's own export inexplicably leaves out.
How to Export All the Members of My LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn doesn't provide a native way to export group members. This is a deliberate limitation — LinkedIn wants group activity to stay on the platform.
To export group members, you have a few options:
Option 1: Manual export (small groups) For groups with fewer than 100 members, manually copying names and profiles into a spreadsheet is tedious but doable. Click through the member list and copy the relevant information.
Option 2: Use a data tool Tools like PhantomBuster have specific automations for LinkedIn group member extraction. These work within LinkedIn's rate limits and export member data to CSV.
Option 3: Connect with members directly Rather than exporting the list, connect with group members individually. Once connected, they'll appear in your connections export. This is slower but builds actual relationships rather than just a data list.
Caution: Any tool that scrapes LinkedIn group data in bulk violates LinkedIn's Terms of Service. Stick to tools that work within LinkedIn's API limits or use their own databases.
3 Big Drawbacks of Exporting Your LinkedIn Contacts to Excel
1. Email Addresses Are Sparse
Most connections won't have their email visible. Don't expect a full email list from your LinkedIn export. In practice, you might get email addresses for 10-20% of your connections at best.
2. No Profile URLs
The native export is text-only and doesn't include LinkedIn URLs, which limits how useful it is for re-finding people or running outreach. You'll need to manually search for people or use a tool to match names to profiles.
3. Static Snapshot
The export is a point-in-time snapshot. People change jobs, titles, and companies constantly. Your export will be outdated within months. Anyone who's changed roles since you exported won't have their current information in your spreadsheet.
How to Export Lead Lists into a CSV File Using Outly
For prospecting purposes — where you want to build a list of people who match your ideal customer profile, not just your existing connections — Outly's workflow is more powerful than LinkedIn's native export.
Here's the full workflow:
- Define your target audience in LinkedIn search or Sales Navigator using filters for job title, company size, industry, and geography
- Copy the search URL from your browser
- Paste it into Outly and let the platform pull the matching profiles
- Review and filter the list to remove anyone who doesn't fit
- Export to CSV with a single click
The resulting CSV includes LinkedIn profile URLs, which LinkedIn's own export doesn't provide. You can then enrich this list with email addresses using Apollo or Lusha.
Can Outly Do More for You?
Yes. Beyond exporting, Outly can:
- Automatically send personalized connection requests to everyone on your list
- Follow up with a message sequence when they accept
- Track who's replied and who needs another touch
- Flag leads who've changed jobs recently (a strong buying signal)
Note: Outly's Starter plan starts at $39.99/mo and the Pro plan at $79.99/mo. Both include CSV export and automated outreach.
Conclusion
Exporting your LinkedIn contacts is useful, but the real value of your LinkedIn network is in the ongoing relationships, not a static spreadsheet.
LinkedIn's native export is free and easy, but it's limited. No profile URLs, sparse email addresses, and a snapshot that goes stale quickly. For most use cases, pairing the native export with an enrichment tool or using Outly's more complete export workflow will get you much further.
If you want to stay active with your network at scale — sending personalized messages, following up with connections, running outreach campaigns — Outly automates LinkedIn engagement without the manual effort. You keep the relationships warm, Outly handles the volume.
Ready to turn your LinkedIn network into a pipeline? Start your free trial with Outly. Starter plan from $39.99/mo.
