How to Export Leads from LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Complete Guide

Privacy Concerns

LinkedIn prioritizes user privacy. Allowing unrestricted data exports could enable spam, harassment, or misuse of personal information. They want to prevent bulk scraping of member data.

Platform Lock-In

LinkedIn benefits from keeping you on their platform. If you could easily export all your leads, you might cancel your Sales Navigator subscription. Limited exports encourage continued use.

Terms of Service

LinkedIn's terms explicitly prohibit scraping and automated data collection. They want to control how their data is accessed and used.

Supported CRM Integrations

LinkedIn Sales Navigator integrates natively with:

• Salesforce
• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• HubSpot (via third-party connector)

How to Set Up Salesforce Integration

1. Go to Settings in Sales Navigator
2. Select "Preferences"
3. Click "CRM" from the menu
4. Select Salesforce and authenticate your account
5. Once connected, you can sync leads and accounts directly to Salesforce

After integration, you can save leads from Sales Navigator and they'll automatically sync to Salesforce. From there, you can export using Salesforce's native export tools.

Pros of Official Integrations

• Fully compliant with LinkedIn's terms
• Automatic syncing keeps data fresh
• No risk of account suspension
• Official support from LinkedIn

Cons of Official Integrations

• Requires an expensive CRM subscription
• Limited to specific CRM platforms
• Setup can be complex
• Doesn't work for one-time exports

Step-by-Step Process

1. Go to your Saved Leads in Sales Navigator
2. Open a lead profile
3. Copy their name, title, company, location, and any other relevant information
4. Paste into Excel or Google Sheets
5. Repeat for each lead

Tips for Manual Export

• Create a template spreadsheet with consistent columns (Name, Title, Company, LinkedIn URL, etc.)
• Use keyboard shortcuts to speed up copying
• Open multiple tabs to work through leads faster
• Set a timer—do batches of 10-15 leads at a time to avoid burnout

Pros

• Free and fully compliant
• Works without any tools or integrations
• Complete control over what data you capture

Cons

• Extremely time-consuming for large lists
• High risk of errors and inconsistencies
• Not scalable beyond 20-30 leads

Popular Export Tools

How to Use Third-Party Tools

Most tools follow a similar process:

1. Install the tool (usually a Chrome extension or cloud service)
2. Connect your LinkedIn/Sales Navigator account
3. Navigate to a Sales Navigator search or your saved leads
4. Activate the export tool
5. The tool extracts visible profile data into a CSV or Excel file

Pros of Third-Party Tools

• Much faster than manual export
• Can handle hundreds of leads
• Affordable compared to enterprise CRMs
• Often include enrichment (email finding, phone numbers)

Cons and Risks

• Technically against LinkedIn's Terms of Service
• Risk of account restrictions or suspension
• Tools can break when LinkedIn updates their platform
• Requires giving third-party access to your account
• Export quality varies depending on the tool

How to Minimize Risk

If you choose to use third-party tools, reduce risk by:

• Using tools that mimic human behavior (slow, irregular activity)
• Limiting export volume (don't export 1,000 leads in one day)
• Using a secondary LinkedIn account if possible
• Choosing reputable tools with good reviews
• Reading and understanding the tool's approach to compliance

Technical Approach

Most custom solutions use tools like:

• Puppeteer (Node.js browser automation)
• Selenium (multi-language browser automation)
• Playwright (modern browser automation)

These tools can navigate Sales Navigator, extract profile data, and save it to a database or spreadsheet.

High-Level Process

1. Set up browser automation to log into LinkedIn
2. Navigate to Sales Navigator search or saved leads
3. Loop through each profile
4. Extract name, title, company, location, etc. from the HTML
5. Save data to CSV or database
6. Add delays and randomization to mimic human behavior

Pros

• Full control over what data you extract
• Can customize to your exact needs
• No ongoing subscription costs
• Can integrate directly with your systems

Cons

• Requires technical expertise
• Time-consuming to build and maintain
• Still against LinkedIn's Terms of Service
• Breaks when LinkedIn changes their platform
• Highest risk of account suspension if not done carefully

What's Visible in Search Results

• Name
• Current job title
• Company
• Location
• Profile picture
• Shared connections (number)

Manual Screenshot + OCR Method

For small lists (10-20 leads), you can:

1. Take screenshots of your search results
2. Use OCR (optical character recognition) tools like Google Lens or Adobe Acrobat to extract text
3. Clean up the data in a spreadsheet

This is clunky but works in a pinch and doesn't violate terms.

1. Respect LinkedIn's Limits

LinkedIn monitors unusual activity. If you're exporting hundreds of leads per day, you'll get flagged. Keep exports reasonable—no more than 50-100 profiles per day if using third-party tools.

2. Use Exported Data Responsibly

Just because you can export someone's information doesn't mean you should spam them. Use exported data for targeted, personalized outreach—not mass emailing.

3. Keep Data Secure

Exported lead data contains personal information. Store it securely, don't share it unnecessarily, and comply with data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.).

4. Enrich Data After Export

LinkedIn profiles often lack email addresses and phone numbers. Use enrichment tools like Hunter.io, Apollo.io, or Clearbit to find contact information for your exported leads.

5. Keep Your CRM Updated

If you're exporting to a CRM, make sure to update lead status, add notes, and track your outreach. Exported data is only valuable if you actually use it.

Use Official CRM Integration If:

• You already use Salesforce or Dynamics 365
• You need ongoing, automatic syncing
• Compliance and risk mitigation are priorities
• Budget isn't a constraint

Use Manual Copy-Paste If:

• You only need to export 10-20 leads
• You want zero risk of account issues
• You don't want to spend money on tools
• You need maximum control over data quality

Use Third-Party Tools If:

• You need to export 50-500 leads regularly
• You don't have a major CRM
• You understand and accept the risks
• You want email/phone enrichment included

Build Custom Solution If:

• You have technical resources
• You need highly customized data extraction
• You want to integrate directly with your systems
• Long-term cost savings matter more than upfront investment

Use Lead Lists and Tags

Sales Navigator allows you to create custom lead lists and add tags. Use these features to organize prospects without exporting.

Add Notes to Profiles

You can add private notes to any profile in Sales Navigator. Use this to track outreach, conversation history, and next steps.

Use InMail and Messaging

Instead of exporting to email prospects externally, use InMail and LinkedIn messaging to reach out directly on the platform.