How to Export LinkedIn Search Results to Excel

LinkedIn offers an extensive network of professionals, making it an excellent platform for recruiters, marketers, and sales professionals to find leads, potential employees, or business partners. However, there may come a time when you need to export your LinkedIn search results to Excel for further analysis, outreach, or record-keeping.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn doesn’t provide a built-in feature to directly export search results into an Excel file. However, there are several ways to achieve this efficiently. In this guide, we’ll walk you through various methods, from manual techniques to using third-party tools, that can help you export LinkedIn search results to Excel.

1. Manual Copy and Paste Method

If you have a limited number of search results and don’t need frequent exports, the manual copy-paste method might be the quickest solution.

Steps:

1. Perform a search on LinkedIn for the people or companies you want to export.
2. Scroll through the results and manually copy the necessary information (names, job titles, company names, etc.).
3. Paste the information into an Excel spreadsheet.
4. Organize the data into appropriate columns (e.g., name, position, company, location).

Pros:

• Free and straightforward.
• No additional tools required.

Cons:

• Time-consuming for large sets of data.
• Limited automation.

2. LinkedIn Data Export

LinkedIn allows you to export data from your connections, but this option doesn’t directly let you export search results. However, if you’ve already connected with the individuals from your search, you can export their contact details and other relevant information through LinkedIn’s data export feature.

Steps:

1. Go to LinkedIn and log into your account.
2. Click on the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
3. Select Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu.
4. Click on the Data Privacy tab on the left side.
5. Scroll down to the Download your data section and click Get a copy of your data.
6. Select Connections and click Request archive.
7. Once the export is ready, LinkedIn will send you an email with a link to download the file. The file will be in CSV format, which can be easily opened in Excel.

Pros:

• Free.
• Provides detailed information on your connections.

Cons:

• Limited to your existing connections.
• Cannot export search results from users who aren’t your connections.

3. Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium tool designed for professionals who need advanced search capabilities and lead generation features. While Sales Navigator doesn’t directly export search results into Excel, it offers features that make data collection easier. You can save leads and accounts, which you can then export using third-party tools.

Steps:

1. Sign up for LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
2. Use Sales Navigator’s advanced search feature to find leads based on job title, company, industry, location, and more.
3. Save the relevant leads you want to export.
4. Use a third-party tool (like Dux-Soup or LinkedIn Helper) to export saved leads into Excel.

Pros:

• Advanced search capabilities.
• Easier to organize and save search results.
• Provides detailed lead information.

Cons:

• Requires a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription.
• Need to use third-party tools for exporting.

4. Using LinkedIn Automation Tools

Several LinkedIn automation tools can help you export search results directly into Excel or CSV files. These tools scrape the data from LinkedIn profiles based on your search criteria and allow you to export it into structured formats for use in Excel.

Popular Tools:

1. PhantomBuster: A cloud-based automation tool that scrapes LinkedIn profiles based on your search results and exports them into a spreadsheet.
2. Dux-Soup: A browser extension that automates LinkedIn profile visits and can extract relevant information like name, job title, company, and location, exporting it into an Excel file.
3. Octopus CRM: A LinkedIn automation tool that allows you to scrape and export LinkedIn profiles, as well as manage messaging and follow-up sequences.
4. TexAu: A LinkedIn data extractor that helps you automate the process of scraping search results and exporting them to Excel.

Steps (Using PhantomBuster as an Example):

1. Sign up for PhantomBuster and install the PhantomBuster browser extension.
2. Choose the LinkedIn Profile Scraper tool from the PhantomBuster dashboard.
3. Set up your PhantomBuster account by providing your LinkedIn session cookie (instructions are provided by the tool).
4. Perform a search on LinkedIn and copy the URL of the search results page.
5. Paste the URL into PhantomBuster and set the number of profiles you want to scrape.
6. Run the extraction process, and once completed, download the data in CSV format.
7. Open the CSV file in Excel to view and organize the results.

Pros:

• Automates the process of collecting and exporting data.
• Ideal for large-scale lead generation and data analysis.
• Extracts detailed information from profiles (e.g., name, title, company, location, etc.).

Cons:

• Most tools are paid or offer limited free versions.
• Potentially risky if LinkedIn detects excessive automation (use with care to avoid violations of LinkedIn’s terms of service).

5. Using Browser Extensions

Browser extensions like DataMiner and Instant Data Scraper can scrape data directly from LinkedIn search result pages and export it to Excel. These tools work by extracting the structured data from the webpage, allowing you to download the information as a CSV or Excel file.

Steps (Using DataMiner as an Example):

1. Install the DataMiner Chrome or Firefox extension.
2. Go to LinkedIn and perform your search for people or companies.
3. Once the search results are displayed, click on the DataMiner extension icon.
4. Select a scraping recipe (DataMiner has several predefined templates for LinkedIn profiles).
5. DataMiner will scrape the data from the search results page.
6. Once the extraction is complete, you can export the data into a CSV or Excel file.

Pros:

• Fast and efficient for scraping search results.
• Customizable scraping options.
• Free and paid versions are available.

Cons:

• Some technical know-how may be needed to configure templates.
• LinkedIn updates can break scraping templates, requiring frequent adjustments.

Conclusion

Exporting LinkedIn search results to Excel can be done in several ways depending on your needs and resources. For smaller, one-off exports, the manual copy-paste method or LinkedIn’s data export tool may be sufficient. If you need more advanced features, automation tools like PhantomBuster or Dux-Soup are excellent options for large-scale data extraction. Alternatively, browser extensions like DataMiner offer a straightforward solution for scraping search results.