If you spend your days hunting for leads, you know the grind: too many tabs, too many spreadsheets, not enough time in the day. This guide’s for anyone who wants to speed up real-time prospecting on LinkedIn, company sites, or anywhere else—without getting bogged down by clunky tools or empty promises. We're talking practical, step-by-step use of the Scrab Chrome extension. No fluff, just what you need to know.
What is Scrab, Really? (And Who Should Care)
Scrab is a Chrome extension that scrapes contact data and company info from LinkedIn and a bunch of other sites, letting you build prospect lists in real time. If you’re doing outbound sales, recruiting, or market research—and you spend a lot of time clicking through profiles—Scrab can help you skip the copy-paste slog.
Should you care? If you:
- Prospect on LinkedIn or similar sites
- Value speed more than fancy dashboards
- Want something straightforward, not a bloated CRM
If your company has strict compliance needs or you’re nervous about browser extensions, you might want to look elsewhere. But for solo operators, startups, or small teams, Scrab is worth a look.
Step 1: Install Scrab and Set Up Your Workspace
Before you can start grabbing prospects, you need Scrab in your browser and a basic setup.
- Install the Extension
- Go to the Chrome Web Store, search for “Scrab,” and hit “Add to Chrome.”
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Pin it to your toolbar for easy access. (Don’t bury it under the puzzle piece.)
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Create an Account (If Needed)
- Some versions let you use it free with limited features; most require a login.
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Use a work email if you want to keep things separate from your personal Gmail.
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Set Your Preferences
- This is mostly for notifications or default export formats. Don’t overthink it—the defaults work for most people.
Pro Tip: Scrab sometimes asks for a lot of permissions. If that makes you uneasy, read them closely. It’s the price you pay for scraping data in real time.
Step 2: Connect to LinkedIn (or Wherever You Prospect)
Scrab shines on LinkedIn, but it works on other sites too. Most people start here.
- Open LinkedIn and Sign In
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It only works when you’re logged in, obviously.
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Navigate to the Right Place
- Go to a list of profiles (search results, company employees, group members—whatever fits your target).
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Scrab’s icon should light up or show a badge when it senses data it can grab.
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Check for Warnings
- If LinkedIn changes its layout (which happens), Scrab might break temporarily. Don’t panic—just check for updates or wait a day.
What to Ignore: Don’t bother with Scrab on random web pages—it’s not a magic wand. Stick to structured lists of people or companies.
Step 3: Start Scraping Prospects
Here’s where you actually capture data.
- Click the Scrab Icon
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A sidebar or popup appears, showing options for scraping the current page.
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Select What to Grab
- Usually, you can choose “all profiles on this page,” “selected,” or sometimes scrape a single profile.
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If you get rate-limited or blocked, slow down. LinkedIn isn’t shy about flagging bots.
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Check the Preview
- Scrab will show you a preview of what it found: names, titles, companies, sometimes emails (if it can guess them or find them publicly).
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Don’t expect 100% accuracy. Emails, in particular, are hit-or-miss.
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Start the Scrape
- Hit “Start” or “Add.” Scrab will process the list and build a table.
- For big lists, it might take a few minutes. If it stalls, refresh and try again.
Pro Tip: Don’t try to scrape 1,000 profiles at once. You’ll get throttled, and your account could get locked. 50–100 at a time is safer.
Step 4: Review, Edit, and Clean Your List
Here’s where most people get lazy and regret it later.
- Look for Duplicates
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Scrab tries to filter them, but it’s not perfect. Skim for obvious repeats.
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Check for Junk Data
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Sometimes, you’ll scrape half-filled profiles, fake accounts, or outdated info. Delete these now—it’ll save you pain later.
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Edit Fields
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If you spot a misspelled name or missing company, fix it in the extension before exporting.
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Tag or Annotate (Optional)
- Some Scrab plans let you add tags or notes. Use them if you actually need them; otherwise, don’t overcomplicate things.
What Doesn’t Work: Relying on automation to clean up everything. Manual review takes a minute but saves you hours later.
Step 5: Export and Use Your Data
Now the important part—getting your prospects out of Scrab and into your actual workflow.
- Export Options
- CSV is the most common. Sometimes, you can export to Excel or directly to a CRM (if you trust the integration).
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For most, CSV is enough. You can open it in Google Sheets or Excel.
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Map Fields
- Make sure the columns match what you need (Name, Company, Email, LinkedIn URL, etc.).
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Delete columns you don’t care about—no one needs 20 columns of fluff.
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Import Into Your Tool of Choice
- If you use a CRM, follow its import steps.
- If you’re just emailing or connecting, paste the data into your tool and get started.
Pro Tip: Always check your exported file for weird formatting—extra spaces, broken columns, or non-standard characters. Fix them before you upload anywhere else.
Step 6: Stay Safe and Avoid Getting Banned
LinkedIn and other sites don’t love scraping, so don’t get greedy.
- Limit Your Activity: Scrape in small batches, and mix in real browsing.
- Don’t Use Multiple Scrapers: Running Scrab alongside other tools increases your risk.
- Watch for Captchas or Lockouts: If you get flagged, back off for a few days.
Honest Take: No tool is totally “safe” for scraping. You’re always taking some risk. Be sensible, and you’ll likely be fine.
What Scrab Does Well (And Where It Falls Short)
What Works: - Fast, simple scraping from LinkedIn and similar sites - Good for building quick lists without learning a new system - Decent accuracy on basic fields (name, title, company)
Where It Struggles: - Email accuracy is hit-or-miss (sometimes it’s just guessing) - Not great for deep data enrichment or fancy reporting - Can be buggy when sites change layouts
Ignore the Hype: Scrab isn’t a magic lead machine. It’s a time-saver, not a replacement for real research or outreach.
A Few Workflow Tips That Actually Help
- Set a daily prospecting window: Scrape, clean, and export in one go—don’t let data pile up.
- Use tags sparingly: Unless you’re managing a huge team, simple is better.
- Keep a backup: Save your exported files somewhere easy to find. Chrome extensions can break or get pulled at any time.
- Stay up to date: Scrab updates often. If it stops working, check for a new version before pulling your hair out.
Wrapping Up
Scrab won’t do your prospecting for you, but it makes the grunt work a lot faster. Get it set up, keep your workflow simple, and don’t chase every shiny feature. Focus on building lists you’ll actually use. If you screw something up, fix it and move on. The goal is progress, not perfection.