Having access to email addresses of LinkedIn users can be extremely valuable for sales and marketing purposes. However, LinkedIn does not make email addresses publicly available as part of their platform’s privacy policy. So how can you get LinkedIn user emails for free?
What is the LinkedIn email extractor extension?
The LinkedIn email extractor is a browser extension that allows you to extract and export LinkedIn user email addresses for free. It works by scraping profile pages and gathering email addresses that might be publicly available.
Here’s how it works:
- Install the extension in your Chrome or Firefox browser
- Search for profiles on LinkedIn you want emails for
- The extension will scan the profiles and extract any available emails
- You can then export the emails in a spreadsheet format
The extension is able to pull emails that might be visible on the profile in the “Contact info” section. However, most LinkedIn users choose to keep their emails private. So the extension likely won’t find emails for every profile.
Is using a LinkedIn email extractor against the rules?
Technically using an email scraper on LinkedIn goes against their Terms of Service. LinkedIn does not allow automated scraping of their platform, and extracting emails en masse could get your account flagged.
However, many individual users still use email extractors without running into issues. LinkedIn mainly targets companies that are scraping at large scales. But there is still some risk of having your account temporarily locked for violating their ToS.
What are some alternative options?
If you don’t want to take the risk of using an email extractor, what are some alternative options for getting LinkedIn emails?
Search for emails manually
The safest option is to search for emails manually. Although time consuming, you can often find email addresses in a few locations:
- Contact info section
- Experience descriptions
- About or summary text
You likely won’t find many emails, but if done ethically this approach shouldn’t cause issues.
Use email verification tools
You can also use email verification tools to verify and find valid email patterns. Here’s how it works:
- Manually collect a list of possible email formats, like [email protected]
- Plug the possible emails into an email verification tool
- It will validate real vs fake emails on your list
This requires some guesswork to build your initial list, but can generate some valid emails.
Pay for a third-party email list
Another option is to buy an email list from a third-party data provider. There are services that sell access to business email lists scraped from sites like LinkedIn.
The downside is you’ll have to pay, and the emails may not be fully accurate or up-to-date. But if you need quantity, this is one potential route.
Top tips for finding LinkedIn emails
If you do choose to use a LinkedIn email scraper, here are some top tips to find the most emails:
- Target individual contributors more than executives. Higher level individuals are less likely to make their emails public.
- Look for people in engineering, consulting, finance, and other technical roles. They tend to share their work emails more openly than those in other functions.
- Search for generic titles like “Founder” “Owner” or “President” along with a company name. Small business owners often list emails in their profiles.
- Try both the mobile app and desktop site. Sometimes different email addresses are visible in each location.
Refine your scrapers keywords
Also make sure to refine the keywords and filters used by your scraper. This can significantly improve the number of emails found. Some advanced configurations to try:
- Keywords: “email”, “@”, “contact”, “e-mail”, “available upon request”
- Titles: Engineer, Founder, Owner, Executive, Partner, Recruiter, Sales
- Companies: {insert niche relevant companies}
- Locations: Silicon Valley, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, etc.
Should you scrape or rely on consent?
At the end of the day, there is an ethical question around extracting any emails from LinkedIn without consent.
Some would argue that public data is fair game. But there is also benefit in building relationships more organically through LinkedIn’s system.
So consider both your goals and the context before deciding to scrape. Building trust and consent can become a competitive advantage vs harvesting emails at scale.
Conclusion
Extracting LinkedIn emails can be tempting for sales prospecting and recruiting. But always balance your needs against doing it ethically. Manual searches, third-party lists, and verification tools provide lower risk alternatives in most cases.
If you do decide to use a scraper, target individual contributors, refine keywords, and consider consent. With the right approach, you can build marketing and recruiting lists while maintaining trust with LinkedIn users.
