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LinkedIn ConnectionsHubSpot

How to import LinkedIn Connections into HubSpot

7 of the 7 columns in a LinkedIn Connections export, mapped into 9 HubSpot fields under HubSpot's own names.

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Free · 19 KB · Excel 365 or Google Sheets

Check your LinkedIn Connections export first

Built on LinkedIn Connections’ export columnsChecked against HubSpot’s import rulesUpdated October 15, 2026

One LinkedIn Connections row, through the templatecopied as it ischanged on the way1explained below
  • First Name to First NameSarah
  • Last Name to Last NamePentland
  • Email Address to Email
  • Company to Company NameOrbit
  • Position to Job TitleHead of Marketing
  • URL to LinkedIn URLlinkedin.com/in/sarah-pentland-example
  • Not in the export to Lifecycle Stage1set to LeadLead
  • Not in the export to Lead Status1set to NewNew
  • Connected On to Notes2joined, with labelsLinkedIn connected: 14 Aug 2026

How to export your LinkedIn connections

LinkedIn exports your first-degree connections as a CSV file. You ask for it under Settings & Privacy on a computer, and LinkedIn emails you a link to download it.

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Settings & Privacy.
  2. Click Data privacy on the left.
  3. Under How LinkedIn uses your data, click Download your data.
  4. Select Connections and click Request archive.
  5. Download the file from the link in the email LinkedIn sends you. LinkedIn lists Connections as available within 48 hours, and the link works for 72 hours.

Some connections will have a blank Email Address: LinkedIn includes an email only when the connection allows it. HubSpot matches contacts on email, so Operelio's push skips a row with no email and lists it as skipped. The checker below counts them.

The file can start with three lines before the column names: "Notes:", a paragraph and a blank line. The Excel template takes your export pasted at A1, so paste from the First Name row, not from the lines above it. Operelio skips those lines when you upload the file, and the checker below does too.

LinkedIn says the CSV format doesn't support all characters, so names in languages with extended character sets, such as Chinese, Japanese or Hebrew, aren't supported.

LinkedIn and HubSpot help pages read October 13, 2026:

Where LinkedIn Connections and HubSpot don’t line up

1

No lifecycle stage or lead status in the export

LinkedIn Connections' export has no lifecycle stage or lead status column. In HubSpot, an import can move a contact's lifecycle stage forward but never back.

The template sets Lifecycle Stage to Lead and Lead Status to New on every row. Change either, or drop them, before you import if your process differs.

ExportNo column
HubSpotLead · New
2

One column kept in Notes

This template gives Connected On no HubSpot field of its own. A HubSpot contact has no Notes field: imported with contacts and notes together, the text becomes a note on the contact.

The template writes them into Notes, each with its label, and leaves empty ones out.

ExportConnected On 14 Aug 2026
HubSpotLinkedIn connected: 14 Aug 2026

Check your LinkedIn Connections export before you import it

Looks for the 7 columns this template reads, and what HubSpot would skip.

Drop your LinkedIn Connections CSV here

Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and results are counts only.

LinkedIn Connections to HubSpot in three steps

Step 1Export from LinkedIn Connections

Follow the steps in How to export your LinkedIn connections above.

Step 2Paste into the template
  1. Paste the export at A1 of Paste your export here.
  2. Start here checks all 7 columns were found.
  3. Save HubSpot Contacts import as a CSV.

Works in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Google Sheets. Excel 2019 and older, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice can't run the formulas this file uses.

Just the 9 headers as a CSV

Step 3Import into HubSpot
  1. On the Contacts page, click Add contacts in the top right and choose Import, or go to Data Management, then Data Integration.
  2. Click Import data, choose the advanced import for all objects, select Contacts and Notes and click Next.
  3. Upload your file, keep Create and update contacts as the import type, and click Next.
  4. Check the column mapping. Email is the unique identifier, and the Notes column goes to Note body. Click Next.
  5. Name the import, check the consent box and click Finish import.
HubSpot's importer, screen by screen

Operelio, with the same template

Fixes the capitals in names, removes duplicate and blank rows, which the Excel file leaves to you. On every plan. Email verification, a check against your HubSpot records and dropdowns, and the push, from Starter.

Use this template in Operelio

Questions

Where does LinkedIn Connections' export fill Email, which HubSpot requires?

Email comes from LinkedIn Connections' Email Address column. The checker above counts the rows with Email blank.

Where does Connected On go?

Into one note on each contact, labeled like "LinkedIn connected: 14 Aug 2026". Importing the same contacts again adds a second note.

What's the difference between this and the Sales Navigator export?

The Connections export comes from your personal LinkedIn data archive and includes everyone you're connected to. Sales Navigator exports come from curated lead lists and include more fields like Industry and Location.

Duplicates and undoing an import: HubSpot import questions.

How this page was checked

The row above is made up. Help pages read September 28, 2026:

Try this template free

Upload your LinkedIn Connections export and download a file HubSpot can import. No credit card needed. The push into HubSpot is from Starter.

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