Looking to export your LinkedIn contacts—with their email addresses—without spending hours copy-pasting or fighting with messy spreadsheets? You’re not alone. Tons of folks need their network off LinkedIn, whether for outreach, job hunting, or just keeping a backup. But here’s the catch: LinkedIn doesn’t make it easy (or even possible, most of the time) to get those precious email addresses out. That’s where tools like Wiza come in.
This guide is for anyone who’s tired of hitting dead ends with LinkedIn exports, wants the real scoop on what works, and doesn’t have time for guesswork. I’ll walk you through how to get your contacts (with emails), the limits of the process, and a few pitfalls to avoid.
Why Export LinkedIn Contacts (and Why It's Harder Than It Should Be)
Let’s get this out of the way: LinkedIn wants you on LinkedIn. They don’t love the idea of people exporting their entire network with personal emails and taking the show elsewhere. That’s why, if you use LinkedIn’s built-in “download your data” tool, you’ll get a bland CSV with names and job titles, but no emails (unless your connections have made theirs public—which is rare).
Why bother exporting with emails? - Back up your network (in case you lose access). - Personalized outreach—outside of LinkedIn’s clunky messaging. - Import contacts to a CRM, newsletter, or just keep organized records.
If you’ve already tried the standard export and were disappointed, you’re in the right place.
What Is Wiza (and What Does It Actually Do)?
Wiza is a web-based tool built to scrape LinkedIn search results and company pages, then find and verify emails for those people. Instead of just copying names, it uses a mix of scraping and email-finding tech to get you valid business email addresses for your LinkedIn contacts, leads, or prospects.
Let’s be real: - Wiza can’t magically pull personal emails for all your contacts. You’ll mostly get business emails (and sometimes nothing if they can’t find it). - It’s not free, but there’s a pay-as-you-go model. - It works best for exporting search results (like all your 1st-degree connections), not just whatever LinkedIn would normally export.
Before You Start: What You’ll Need
- A LinkedIn account (free or premium).
- A Wiza account (you can sign up in a couple minutes).
- Google Chrome (Wiza works as a Chrome extension).
- A clear idea of which LinkedIn contacts you want to export—everyone, just certain folks, your whole network, etc.
Heads up: LinkedIn frowns on aggressive scraping. If you’re trying to pull thousands of contacts in one go, take it slow and don’t get greedy.
Step 1: Set Up Wiza
- Go to Wiza and sign up.
- They’ll ask for an email and password. Nothing too wild.
- Install the Wiza Chrome extension.
- You’ll find a prompt after signing up, or just grab it from the Chrome Web Store.
- Log in to both LinkedIn and Wiza in Chrome.
- Make sure you’re running the extension in the same browser where you’re logged into LinkedIn.
Pro tip: Close other tabs and avoid running a bunch of automation tools at once. LinkedIn’s more likely to flag weird activity if you’re jumping between tools.
Step 2: Find the Contacts You Want to Export
Wiza works by scanning LinkedIn search results, not your contacts page directly. So, you need to create a search that shows the people you want.
To export your own connections: 1. Go to LinkedIn and click “My Network” > “Connections.” 2. Use the filters (location, company, etc.) if you want to narrow things down. 3. Copy the URL of the page—this is your search result.
If you want contacts outside your network: - Use LinkedIn Search to find people (by company, industry, title, etc.). - Save the search URL.
Why not just use the export tool? - LinkedIn’s export feature omits most emails for privacy reasons. - Wiza works around this by using search results and finding emails elsewhere.
Watch out for: - LinkedIn limits how many search results you can view (especially if you’re on the free plan). If you’ve got thousands of contacts, you’ll need to break it up.
Step 3: Run a Wiza Scan
- Open the LinkedIn search or connections page you want to scrape.
- Click the Wiza extension icon in Chrome.
- It’ll prompt you to “Scan this search.”
- Choose how many profiles you want to scan.
- Wiza will tell you how many results are in your search. You can select all, or just a chunk.
- If you’re on the free LinkedIn plan, you’ll probably be limited to 1,000 search results max (that’s LinkedIn’s limit, not Wiza’s).
- Name your scan and start.
- Wiza will go through each profile in the background. This can take a few minutes, depending on how many you chose.
Pro tip: Don’t try to scrape thousands at once. If you’ve got a big network, split it into smaller batches (by location, company, etc.) to avoid raising any LinkedIn alarms.
Step 4: Export and Download Your Data
- When the scan finishes, go to your Wiza dashboard.
- Click on your scan to see the results.
- You’ll see names, job titles, companies, and—most importantly—emails (if found).
- Download as CSV.
- Click the export/download button. Now you’ve got a spreadsheet you can open in Excel, Google Sheets, or import into your CRM.
What you’ll actually get: - Usually, you’ll see business emails (like john.doe@company.com). - Sometimes you’ll see “not found” or blanks if Wiza can’t find a valid address. - Don’t expect personal Gmail or Yahoo addresses—Wiza doesn’t break privacy rules.
Reality check: Don’t expect 100% coverage. Even with a paid Wiza plan, you’ll usually get emails for 30–70% of your connections, depending on their privacy settings and whether Wiza’s database can match them to a work email.
Limitations, Gotchas, and What to Ignore
- LinkedIn’s rules: Technically, scraping is against LinkedIn’s terms. Wiza tries to play it safe, but there’s always risk (especially if you’re aggressive).
- Email accuracy: Wiza verifies emails, but no tool is perfect. Always expect a few bounces or misses.
- Pricing: Wiza isn’t free. You pay per contact/email found. Budget for this—don’t expect to export 10,000 contacts for nothing.
- Privacy: Respect your contacts’ privacy. Don’t spam or misuse the data.
- Don’t bother with “free email finder” browser extensions—most are junk or just resell the same data.
If you just need a backup of your LinkedIn connections (without emails): - LinkedIn’s native export tool is fine for names, companies, and job titles. But if you want emails, Wiza (or a similar tool) is your best bet.
What To Do With Your Exported Contacts
This is where most people overcomplicate things. You don’t need a 20-step automation right away. Here’s what’s actually useful:
- Review and clean up the spreadsheet first. Remove duplicates, fix weird formatting, and spot obvious errors.
- Import into your CRM or email tool if you’re planning outreach—but don’t just blast everyone. Personal messages beat spam every time.
- Keep the file secure. Respect privacy—don’t share it around.
- Update it periodically. Networks change, people move jobs, emails go stale.
Pro Tips and Honest Advice
- Start small. Test with 50–100 contacts before you try your full network.
- Don’t get greedy. LinkedIn can restrict your account if you scrape too much, too fast.
- Wiza isn’t magic. No tool will get every email, and LinkedIn’s always updating their defenses.
- If you get stuck, Wiza’s support is responsive—but don’t expect miracles if LinkedIn changes something overnight.
- Always use the latest version of Chrome and the Wiza extension.
Wrapping Up
Exporting LinkedIn contacts with emails isn’t as easy as hitting a button, but it’s doable with the right approach and expectations. Wiza streamlines the process, but it’s not a get-everything-for-free hack. Take your time, keep things simple, and focus on quality over quantity. A clean, well-organized list of 200 real contacts beats a messy, outdated dump of 2,000 any day. Iterate, adjust, and don’t overthink it.