How to import LinkedIn contacts into HubSpot (no duplicates)

Short answer

On LinkedIn, go to Settings & Privacy → Data privacy → Get a copy of your data, request your connections, and download the file from the email LinkedIn sends.
Keep only the people you want in your CRM and rename the columns to HubSpot's property names (URL becomes LinkedIn URL).
In HubSpot, import the file as Contacts and check the column mapping.

Watch out: the file only has emails for connections who allow it, and HubSpot matches imported contacts by email. Rows without an email are created as new contacts every time, so import each person only once.

What the LinkedIn file contains (and what it doesn't)

The export is a spreadsheet of your first-degree connections. LinkedIn doesn't document the columns, but exports usually have First Name, Last Name, URL, Email Address, Company, Position and Connected On. Check your own file, as older exports differ.

Emails are mostly missing. LinkedIn's help page says you'll "only see email addresses for connections who have allowed" it. Most people haven't.
It's a snapshot. Company and position are what the profile said on the day you exported. Nothing updates afterwards.
Only your connections. People you've only messaged, or found in search or Sales Navigator, aren't in it.

Step 1: export your connections from LinkedIn

On linkedin.com, click Me (your photo) and choose Settings & Privacy.
Open Data privacy, then Get a copy of your data.
Choose Connections (or the full archive, which includes them) and click Request archive.
LinkedIn emails you a download link. Download the archive and open Connections.csv.

Step 2: prepare the file for HubSpot

Open the file in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.

Remove any lines above the column headings, if the file starts with notes, so the first row is the headings.
Keep only the people you'd actually sell to or work with. A CRM full of former colleagues and recruiters is harder to use, and on paid HubSpot marketing plans, contacts set as marketing contacts count towards your bill.
Rename the columns so HubSpot maps them without asking:

LinkedIn column	HubSpot property	Notes
First Name	First name
Last Name	Last name
URL	LinkedIn URL	HubSpot's built-in property (internal name `hs_linkedin_url`)
Email Address	Email	Empty for most rows
Company	Company name	A text property on the contact. It doesn't create or link a company record
Position	Job title
Connected On	Skip, or a custom date property	When you connected, not when they joined the company

Tip: make the LinkedIn addresses consistent before importing. Use one form, such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe, with no trailing slash and nothing after a ?. It makes them searchable in HubSpot later.

Step 3: import into HubSpot

In HubSpot, go to Contacts and click Import.
Start an import from a file on your computer, with one file and one object: Contacts.
Upload the file. On the mapping screen, check that each column points to the property in the table above, and choose Don't import column for anything you don't want.
Name the import and finish. You can find every contact from it later under the import's name, which is handy if you need to undo it.

If a row's email matches a contact already in HubSpot, HubSpot updates that contact instead of creating a new one. It only changes the columns you mapped, and doesn't delete anything.

Why the second import creates duplicates, and how to avoid them

HubSpot recognises an existing contact by Email, by Record ID, or by a custom property set to require unique values. Its help page is explicit: without one of those, "each row of your import file will be imported as a new contact record." The built-in LinkedIn URL property isn't one of them.

Because most LinkedIn rows have no email, importing the same connections a second time (say, a fresh export next quarter) creates a second copy of everyone without an email. Ways round it:

Import once, then add new people one at a time. The simplest fix.
Only import the new rows. Sort the new export by Connected On and keep only connections made since your last import.
Use a unique property. If your HubSpot plan lets you set a custom property to "require unique values", create one for the LinkedIn address and use it as the import's unique identifier.
Clean up afterwards. Where your plan includes it, HubSpot's duplicate management tool suggests pairs to merge. It mostly finds people by name and email, so LinkedIn-only rows are harder for it.

Don't try to fix the missing emails by guessing addresses or buying a list. Guessed emails bounce, and bounces hurt your sending reputation.

For new people: add them as you meet them

The export is good for a one-off start. After that, most of the people worth adding are ones you meet day to day: someone who replied, a lead in Sales Navigator, a speaker you'll follow up with. Re-exporting for those is slow and brings the duplicate problem back.

Adding them from their profile, as you look at them, avoids both problems. You can do it by hand (copy the profile address into the LinkedIn URL property) or with a browser extension that checks HubSpot first.

Questions

Can I export my LinkedIn connections with their email addresses?

Only for connections who allow their connections to see or download their email address. For most people the email column is empty.

Does HubSpot use the LinkedIn URL to avoid duplicates when importing?

No. Imports match contacts on Email, Record ID, or a custom property that requires unique values. The default LinkedIn URL property isn't a unique identifier, so rows without an email are created as new contacts.

Will the import create company records?

Not from the Company column alone: it fills the contact's Company name property. HubSpot can create and link companies from email domains if that setting is on, but most LinkedIn rows have no email.

Can I export my Sales Navigator leads to HubSpot?

Sales Navigator has no spreadsheet export of lead lists. The official route is LinkedIn CRM Sync, which needs Sales Navigator Advanced Plus and a Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise seat. Otherwise add leads one by one from their lead page.

How long does LinkedIn take to send the file?

LinkedIn emails a link when the archive is ready. Connections on their own usually come faster than the full archive.

Sources

Checked on 7 November 2026. Product plans and limits change; check the vendor's page before you buy.