Watch it in 70 seconds
From LinkedIn’s export to your first warm path: the export, the .zip, and who you now know at your target accounts.
How to download your LinkedIn connections
Five steps, a couple of minutes of yours. LinkedIn says preparing the file can take up to 24 hours, so request it first. You never give Ask Nathan your LinkedIn password.
The five steps
Open LinkedIn's export page. Go to Me → Settings & Privacy → Data privacy → Get a copy of your data, or use the direct link on this page.
Keep “Download larger data archive”. Leave the first option selected: it's the one that includes your connections. LinkedIn no longer offers connections on their own.
Click “Request archive”. LinkedIn asks for your LinkedIn password, on LinkedIn. You never give Ask Nathan your LinkedIn password. LinkedIn says the file can take up to 24 hours, so request it as soon as you can.
Download the file from LinkedIn's email. It arrives as a .zip, and LinkedIn's download link expires after 72 hours. There's no need to open it.
Drop it into Ask Nathan, zip and all. Ask Nathan opens it in your browser and reads only Connections.csv; the rest of the archive never leaves your computer. You see what's in it before anything is imported.
Last checked October 2026. LinkedIn moves this menu from time to time.
Now you have 2,000 names. Which ones matter?
LinkedIn tells you who you know. It doesn’t tell you how well, and it doesn’t know which accounts you’re trying to get into. A connection you accepted years ago reads the same as a former colleague you still meet every month.
Ask Nathan reads your LinkedIn connections alongside your pipeline (the accounts you need) and your calendar (who you actually meet, and how recently). Who you know, who you need and how well you know them, joined into one answer: who can get you in.
What happens to the file
Drop the .zip in as LinkedIn sends it. Ask Nathan opens it in your browser, finds Connections.csv and shows you what’s in it before anything is imported. Ask Nathan uses it to find your paths and nothing else. LinkedIn connections stay below “verified”: they can suggest a path, never establish one. See Trust & data.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my export have almost no email addresses?
LinkedIn includes a connection's address only when that person chose to share it — about 1 in 40. Ask Nathan matches on name and company instead.
How long does LinkedIn take?
LinkedIn says your download can take up to 24 hours, so request it as soon as you can. Your connections now come only in the larger data archive, LinkedIn's first option; the download link expires after 72 hours.
Does Ask Nathan see the rest of my archive?
No. Drop the .zip in as it is: Ask Nathan opens it in your browser and reads only Connections.csv. The rest of the archive never leaves your computer.
Is exporting my connections allowed?
Yes. It's LinkedIn's own export of your own data. Ask Nathan never scrapes LinkedIn and isn't a LinkedIn integration: you bring the file.
Can I do this on my phone?
It's much easier on a computer. LinkedIn's data-export settings are hard to reach in the mobile app.
See it on your own accounts
Upload a CSV or paste account context. No CRM connection required.