LinkedIn Sales Navigator does not give you a native one-click CSV export of all your saved leads. What it does allow is a selective export of leads that are also in your CRM via the CRM sync features (Advanced and Advanced Plus tiers), plus a limited manual export path. Understanding what is inside LinkedIn's terms, what sits in a grey area, and what is clearly prohibited will save your account and your data investment.
What LinkedIn Allows: The Official Export Paths
LinkedIn permits users to export their own data, including connections, under its Download Your Data feature (found in Settings). This gives you a CSV of your first-degree connections with name, company, email (if they made it visible), and connected date. It does not include the full search results you see in Sales Navigator.
The officially supported route to get Sales Navigator lists into your CRM is:
- Native CRM sync (Advanced Plus tier): Sales Navigator connects directly to Salesforce and HubSpot, syncing lead and account data. This is the cleanest, ToS-compliant path.
- Smart Links exports: Available on Advanced tier, primarily for tracking content engagement rather than bulk list export.
- Manual "Save to CRM" per contact: Time-consuming but compliant for smaller lists.
Third-Party Export Tools: Risk Profile
A number of browser-extension and automation tools scrape Sales Navigator search results and export them as a spreadsheet. LinkedIn's terms of service prohibit scraping or automated data collection from its platform. Using these tools carries real risk:
- Account warnings or temporary restrictions for unusual activity
- Permanent account ban for repeated violations
- Loss of the data investment in your saved leads and search filters
The risk level varies by tool, frequency, and volume. Low-volume, human-paced use of some browser extensions has historically been tolerated, but LinkedIn has periodically cracked down. If your LinkedIn account is the core of your pipeline-building, the risk-to-reward calculation often does not favour aggressive scraping. Read more about safe LinkedIn practices in the LinkedIn connection request limit guide.
Safer Alternatives for Enriched Lead Lists
Instead of scraping Sales Navigator directly, many teams use a two-step approach:
- Build the list in Sales Navigator using its advanced filters (seniority, headcount growth, job change signals, geography). Note the names and companies manually or save them to Sales Navigator lists.
- Enrich via a third-party data tool such as Apollo, Clay, or Hunter.io using the names and company domains you identified. These tools have their own data licences and operate independently of LinkedIn's ToS.
This approach gets you email addresses, direct-dial phones, and company data without touching LinkedIn's scraping prohibition. Apollo costs $49 to $119 per user per month; Clay starts at $149 per month. See the full lead generation tools comparison for pricing detail.
What Data You Can Legally Export from LinkedIn
| Data Type | Export Method | Within ToS? |
|---|---|---|
| Your 1st-degree connections | LinkedIn Download Your Data | Yes |
| Sales Navigator saved leads (to CRM) | Native CRM sync (Adv Plus) | Yes |
| Sales Navigator search results | No native export; scraping required | No |
| InMail conversation history | LinkedIn Download Your Data | Yes |
| Profile data of non-connections | Only via API with permission | Restricted |
How to Action Exported Lists Without Burning Your Account
Once you have a list, whether from a CRM sync or a manually curated set, how you outreach matters as much as how you sourced the data. Key principles:
- Send LinkedIn connection requests at a paced rate, roughly 100 per week for established accounts, ramping lower for newer ones.
- Keep pending (unaccepted) invites under 500. Withdraw old ones regularly to keep the queue clean.
- Personalise at the first-message level. A generic opening to a scraped list is both lower-performing and more likely to generate "I don't know this person" reports.
- Use a multi-channel approach: follow up people who do not accept a connection request via email if you have their address, rather than repeatedly nudging on LinkedIn.
For a sequenced multi-channel approach that handles LinkedIn, email, and WhatsApp pacing in one place, see the outbound sales automation guide.
GDPR and Data Privacy Considerations
If you operate in or sell to the EU, UK, or other privacy-regulated markets, exporting personal data from LinkedIn and storing it in your own systems creates data controller obligations. Ensure you have a lawful basis for processing (typically "legitimate interests" for B2B prospecting), document it, and maintain a way for contacts to request deletion. This applies regardless of whether the export method itself is within LinkedIn's ToS.
Can I download a CSV of my Sales Navigator search results?
Not via a native LinkedIn feature. LinkedIn does not provide a bulk CSV export of Sales Navigator search results. The compliant options are the native CRM sync (Advanced Plus tier) for saving leads to Salesforce or HubSpot, or manually noting companies and enriching data via a separate tool like Apollo or Clay.
Are browser extensions for exporting Sales Navigator leads safe?
They carry real risk. LinkedIn's ToS prohibits automated scraping of its platform, and extensions that bulk-export search results fall into this category. LinkedIn has restricted and banned accounts for this activity. For light manual use some teams accept the risk, but for a primary prospecting account it is not advisable.
What is the best way to get Sales Navigator leads into my CRM?
The cleanest path is the native CRM sync available on the Advanced Plus tier, which connects directly to Salesforce and HubSpot. If you are on Core tier, the next best option is building your target list in Sales Navigator, identifying company domains, and enriching those via Apollo or a similar tool with its own data licence.
Does using a lead export tool affect my LinkedIn connection request limits?
Not directly, but account activity patterns influence how LinkedIn's systems assess your account. Unusual spikes in profile views (which often accompany scraping activity) combined with high invite volume can increase restriction risk. Safe sending limits of around 100 connection requests per week for established accounts apply regardless of how you source your list.
How do I enrich Sales Navigator leads with email addresses?
Identify the prospect's name and company domain from Sales Navigator, then run them through an enrichment tool like Apollo, Hunter.io, or Clay. These tools maintain their own contact databases with email addresses and direct-dial phones sourced independently of LinkedIn. Costs range from $0 for limited free tiers up to $119 per user per month for Apollo's full plan.
PhewDo ingests your enriched lead lists and runs LinkedIn, email, and WhatsApp outreach with AI personalisation and safe pacing built in. No scraping, no ToS risk, and no manual follow-up management. See how it works at phewdo.com/app.