How to Export LinkedIn Contacts of your 1st-Degree Connections in 2025

Ever wished you could grab all your LinkedIn contacts and your connection’s contacts (and their emails) in one neat file?

LinkedIn does allow you to export your 1st degree connections. And you’ll find lots of tutorials online telling you how to do it.

But what about the connections of your connections (aka 2nd-degree contacts)?

Most guides stop there. And when you do find ways to pull the data, it usually comes with missing emails or unverified info.

That’s why, in this article, I’ll cover 2 working methods of exporting your contacts + your connection’s contacts along with verified business emails.

Here’s a quick side-by-side snapshot:

But why’d you need to export this information?

Why Export Your LinkedIn Contacts (and Their Contacts Too)

Your LinkedIn network is one of your most valuable business assets.

But leaving it locked up on LinkedIn means you’re at the platform’s mercy.

Algorithms change, accounts get restricted, and suddenly your hard-earned professional network is harder to reach.

By exporting your contacts, you can:

1. Back up your entire network so you’re never locked out.
2. Sync those connections into your CRM and keep them fresh.
3. Run warm outreach campaigns to people who already know you.

When you also export the connections of your connections, your reach multiplies overnight.

That means:

1. A much bigger pool of potential hires, leads, or partners.
2. New warm introductions just one step away.
3. More opportunities to grow your business faster.

For recruiters, it’s a talent goldmine. For founders and growth marketers, it’s a massive new pipeline.

But is it even legal?

Is It Legal to Export LinkedIn Data in 2025?

Short answer: yes, if you do it the right way.

LinkedIn’s own export tool is 100% safe and compliant.

Plus using Sales Navigator and trusted tools like Lobstr.io to export data you can already view is also allowed.

Want the full breakdown? We’ve got a separate deep dive on the legal side you can check out for all the details.

Now the big question… How to do it?

How to export your LinkedIn contacts from basic account?

If you only need your 1st-degree contacts, LinkedIn’s built-in export is the simplest way.

1. Click your Me icon at the top of LinkedIn
2. Go to Settings & Privacy
3. Go to Data privacy
4. Download your connections data

Step 1: Click your Me icon at the top of LinkedIn

Step 2: Choose Settings & Privacy

You will receive a download link in your email in the next 24 hours, click it and download the CSV file.

Step 3: Go to Data privacy settings

Step 4: Download your connections data

It takes up to 24 hours to get full data using this method.

You will find 7 data points in the CSV file:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Profile URL
4. Email Address (if available)
5. Current company
6. Current position
7. Date of Connection

This method only gives you your 1st degree connections, and you’ll only see emails if they were shared publicly. Plus you’ll have to wait for 24 hours.

Before using the list, run the CSV through an email verifier. It’ll filter out invalid or inactive emails and save you headaches later.

P.S. You can also use data enrichment tools and email finder APIs to find the missing emails.

But what if I want to export all my LinkedIn connections?

Export LinkedIn connections through Sales Navigator with verified emails

Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s premium prospecting tool.

It’s way better than a basic account because it gives you more filters, shows you deeper network levels, and lets you organize prospects into neat lead lists.

I’ve already broken down its use cases,features, and pricing here:

Here’s what you can collect with it:

1. Your 1st, 2nd, and even 3rd-degree connections
2. LinkedIn users who share a group with you
3. The 1st-degree connections of any specific 1st-degree contact in your network

How do you find them?

How to find the right LinkedIn connections with Sales Navigator?

It’s a simple, 3 step process:

1. Open Sales Navigator leads search
2. Go to Connections filter
3. Choose the connection degree

Step 1: Open Sales Navigator leads search

Step 2: Go to Connections filter

Step 3: Choose the connection degree

You can choose either or all from 1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree, or even members who share a group with you.

For example, I want to find all my 2nd and 3rd degree connections.

This is way more data than you can get from your basic LinkedIn account.

That’s just the start.

You can narrow it down even more to get the exact decision-makers you want.

Use extra filters like job title, seniority, company size, location, and industry. Or type specific keywords in the search box to match prospects with laser precision.

If you want to get really good at this, check out my complete guide on how to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

But how do I export it to an Excel file?

There’s no download or export button anywhere.

How to export your LinkedIn connections and enrich them with verified emails?

Now that you’ve found your perfect lead list in Sales Navigator, it’s time to collect it.

The best way to do it is… Use Lobstr.io.

What is Lobstr.io?

Our Sales Navigator Leads Scraper takes your leads search and turns it into a clean, ready-to-use dataset.

1. Exports all Sales Navigator lead data in one go
2. Enriches with verified professional emails (under 3% bounce rate)
3. Exports data in CSV format, Google Sheets, or Amazon S3
4. Offers API to work with workflow automation tools like n8n, Make, and Zapier
5. Can schedule automatic exports of new connections

Step-by-Step guide

I have already published a full tutorial with every little detail about using Sales Navigator Leads Scraper.

But since we don't need a lot of tweaks, here’s the 3-step process for a quick overview:

1. Initiate
2. Setup
3. Delivery

Step 1: Initiate

Then create a new Sales Navigator Leads Scraper (Squid) and select your synced account.

Step 2: Setup

Paste the URL of your Sales Navigator search page into the task.

And that’s it.

Step 3: Delivery

In the live console, click the delivery icon and choose where the data should go.

You can connect Google Sheets, Amazon S3, SFTP, or use Webhook in Delivery settings for automatic updates.

What data do you get?

When you export your leads with the Lobstr.io Sales Navigator Leads Scraper, you don’t just get names and emails.

You get a fully enriched dataset including:

1. Name
2. Email and Email Status (verified, unverified, etc.)
3. LinkedIn Profile URL
4. Position and Profile Headline
5. Seniority Level
6. Is Open Profile (if their profile is publicly open
7. Years and Months in Current Position
8. Years and Months at Current Company
9. Is LinkedIn Premium Subscriber
10. Location and Profile Summary
11. Connection Degree (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
12. Started On date
13. Picture URL
14. Is Saved Lead in Sales Navigator
15. Number of Current Jobs

You’ll also get rich company-level data:

1. Company Name and Description
2. Company Website and LinkedIn URL
3. Company Type and Industry
4. Company Location and Specialties
5. Company Revenue Range
6. Company Employee Count
7. Company Founded Year
8. Company Profile Picture

This means every export is a fully detailed snapshot of both the person and the company they work for, perfect for highly targeted outreach and advanced lead segmentation.

But how do I collect LinkedIn contacts data of specific 1st degree connections from my network?

How to export LinkedIn contacts of your 1st-degree connections?

Now that you know how to export your own contacts and build lead lists in Sales Navigator, the next question is:

Can you actually export the contacts of your connections?

Yes, you can, and it’s easier than you think.

The process is almost identical to what we just covered for exporting your own contacts with Sales Navigator.

The only difference is the filter you’ll use:

1. Instead of the Connections filter, switch to Connections of.
2. Type the name of one of your 1st-degree connections into the search box.

Sales Navigator will show you all of that person’s 1st-degree connections.

Once you have the list, you can collect and enrich it using the Lobstr.io Sales Navigator Leads Scraper just like before.

And that’s it.

Before wrapping up, let me answer some FAQs.

FAQs

Can I export contacts by location, industry, or job title?

Yes. Sales Navigator’s advanced filters make it easy to narrow contacts down by these factors before exporting.

Can I transfer contacts from one LinkedIn account to another?

No. LinkedIn doesn’t allow direct contact transfers between accounts.

Can I import contacts into my CRM or tools like HubSpot?

Yes. Most CRMs (including HubSpot) accept CSV imports.

Sales Navigator does offer direct CRM export but you'll need an Advanced Plus plan which costs $1600/year.

Can I export contacts into Gmail?

Yes. Once you have your CSV export, you can import it into Gmail’s contacts list. Google will sync those contacts with your account.

How can I use LinkedIn exports for lead generation?

Exporting your LinkedIn connections gives you a ready-made lead list. You can enrich the data with verified emails, then use it for outreach or CRM nurturing.

Conclusion

That’s a wrap on how to export LinkedIn contacts from your own network and your 1st-degree connections.