LinkedIn does not export contacts directly as a VCF file. It exports a CSV file containing first name, last name, email (only for connections who share it), company, job title and connection date. To get a VCF file, you need two steps: first export the CSV from LinkedIn settings, then convert that CSV to VCF using Univik VCF Converter. The resulting VCF will have names, companies and titles but email addresses only for the small percentage of connections who made theirs visible.
The Thing Nobody Tells You First
You want to export your LinkedIn contacts to a VCF file so you can import them into your phone or email client. You go to LinkedIn settings, find the export option and download your data. Then you open the file and it is a CSV. Not a VCF.
That is not a bug. LinkedIn does not offer VCF export. It never has. The process to get a VCF file from LinkedIn always involves two steps export CSV from LinkedIn, then convert that CSV to VCF.
Most guides skip that explanation and jump straight to steps. That is why readers end up confused and why the search for a better answer continues.
This guide covers both steps completely. It also covers the other thing most guides skip: why your email column will likely be mostly empty.
What LinkedIn Actually Gives You
Before you export anything, know what you are actually getting. LinkedIn’s Connections export is a snapshot of your first-degree connections only. It produces a file called Connections.csv inside a ZIP archive.
| Field | Included? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | Always included |
| Last Name | Yes | Always included |
| Email Address | Sometimes | Only if the connection has enabled “Allow connections to export my email” off by default. Most emails will be blank. |
| Company | Yes | Current company as listed on their profile |
| Job Title / Position | Yes | Current title as listed on their profile |
| Connected On | Yes | Date you connected |
| Phone Number | No | LinkedIn does not export phone numbers. Free or Premium. No exceptions. |
| Profile URL | No | Not included in the native LinkedIn export |
| 2nd or 3rd degree connections | No | Only 1st-degree connections are exportable |
Languages with extended character sets are not fully supported
LinkedIn’s official help page confirms that CSV and vCard formats do not support all characters. Contact names in Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew or other languages with extended character sets may not export correctly. Check your output file if your network includes contacts who use non-Latin scripts.
Step 1: Export Your LinkedIn Connections as CSV
Open LinkedIn and go to your profile menu. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage. Select Settings and Privacy from the dropdown.
Find the data export option. In the left sidebar, click Data Privacy. Scroll down to the section called “How LinkedIn uses your data” and click Get a copy of your data.
Select Connections only not the full archive. LinkedIn gives you two options: download your full data archive or select specific data. Choose the specific data option and tick only Connections. The full archive is large and takes much longer. You only need the Connections file.
Click Request archive. LinkedIn sends an email to your registered address with a download link. The Connections file typically arrives within a few minutes to a few hours. The full archive can take up to 24 hours another reason to request only the Connections file.
Download and extract the ZIP file. The email contains a link back to LinkedIn. Click it and then click Download archive. You get a ZIP file. Extract it and find the file named Connections.csv. That is your contact list.
Check the file before converting. Open Connections.csv in Excel or Google Sheets. The first few rows may contain notes about missing email data delete those rows so your column headers are on row 1. Check how many rows have an email address filled in. For most users with a few hundred to a few thousand connections, only 10 to 20% will have emails.
Step 2: Convert the CSV to VCF
This is the step most guides leave out. LinkedIn gives you a CSV. Your phone, email client and address book apps expect VCF. You need to bridge the gap.
The conversion maps CSV columns to vCard fields. First Name maps to N:firstname, Company maps to ORG:, Email maps to EMAIL: and so on. A good converter handles this mapping automatically and produces a valid VCF file you can import directly.
The simplest option is a dedicated VCF converter that accepts CSV input. Univik VCF Converter handles this on Windows. Load the Connections.csv file, confirm the field mapping (the tool shows you which CSV column maps to which vCard property), then export to VCF format.
What to check in the field mapping step
LinkedIn’s CSV uses column names like “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Email Address,” “Company,” “Position” and “Connected On.” A good converter recognises these automatically. The one field that sometimes needs manual mapping is “Position” some converters expect “Job Title” instead. Map it to the TITLE: vCard property to ensure it appears correctly when you import the VCF into your address book.
Why Your Email Column Is Empty
This is the most common frustration with LinkedIn exports and it is worth understanding clearly.
LinkedIn has a privacy setting called “Allow connections to export my email.” It is turned off by default for every account. That means, unless a connection has specifically gone into their LinkedIn privacy settings and switched this option on, their email address will not appear in your export even if they have an email address on their profile that you can see when viewing it.
In practice, only a small fraction of LinkedIn users enable this setting. On a network of 1,000 connections, you might get 50 to 200 email addresses. The rest of the Email Address column will be blank.
This is not something you can change or work around through the official LinkedIn export. LinkedIn enforces this deliberately and it is correct behaviour under GDPR and global privacy standards.
You cannot export phone numbers at all. LinkedIn does not include phone numbers in any export. Free account or Premium. This is a hard platform limit, not a configuration issue.
You cannot export 2nd or 3rd degree connections. Only 1st-degree connections people you are directly connected to appear in the export. People you follow but are not connected to are not included.
The file is a static snapshot. The export captures your network at the moment of download. If someone updates their job title or company the next day, your VCF will have the old information. LinkedIn does not provide a live sync.
Browser extensions that claim to extract emails carry risk. Some tools promise to pull emails from LinkedIn profiles that the official export misses. LinkedIn’s Terms of Service prohibit automated data extraction. Accounts caught using these tools can be restricted or permanently banned.
What to Do With the VCF File
Once you have the VCF, the most common uses:
Import to Phone Contacts
Transfer the VCF to your iPhone or Android and tap to import. Your LinkedIn connections become phone contacts with name, company and title. See our guides for importing VCF to iPhone and importing VCF to Android for the full steps.
Import to Email Client
Import the VCF into Outlook, Google Contacts or Apple Contacts. Contacts with email addresses become reachable directly from your email client without going back to LinkedIn.
Archive Your Network
Store a dated VCF snapshot of your LinkedIn network as a backup. If your LinkedIn account is ever restricted or you leave the platform, you retain a copy of your connection data.
Migrate to a CRM
Many CRMs accept VCF imports directly. This gives you a structured starting point for a contacts database without manual entry. If duplicates appear after import, use Univik vCard Duplicate Remover to clean them before importing to the CRM.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does LinkedIn export contacts as VCF directly?
No. LinkedIn’s native export produces a CSV file called Connections.csv, not a VCF. To get a VCF file you need to convert the CSV after downloading it. The two-step process is: export CSV from LinkedIn settings, then run the CSV through a CSV-to-VCF converter.
Why are so many email addresses missing from my LinkedIn export?
LinkedIn only includes an email address in the export when the connection has specifically enabled “Allow connections to export my email” in their privacy settings. This setting is off by default. Most of your connections will not have it enabled, so their email column will be blank. This is enforced at the platform level and cannot be changed or bypassed through the official export.
Can I export LinkedIn contacts with phone numbers?
No. LinkedIn does not include phone numbers in any contact export, regardless of account type. Free or Premium, the phone number field is not part of the data LinkedIn provides in connection exports.
How long does it take to get the LinkedIn Connections export?
If you request only the Connections file (rather than the full data archive), the email with the download link usually arrives within a few minutes to a couple of hours. The full archive can take up to 24 hours. Always select the specific “Connections” option rather than the full archive to get your data faster.
Will the VCF import update if I add new connections on LinkedIn?
No. The export is a static snapshot at the time of download. New connections added after the export will not appear in the VCF. You need to repeat the export and conversion process whenever you want a fresh copy.
Can I export connections from LinkedIn mobile app?
No. The data export feature is only available through LinkedIn on a desktop browser. You cannot request a connections export from the LinkedIn iOS or Android app. Open LinkedIn in a browser, go to Settings and Privacy, then Data Privacy, then Get a copy of your data.
Conclusion
Exporting LinkedIn contacts to VCF takes two steps because LinkedIn does not offer VCF export directly. Export the CSV from LinkedIn settings, convert it to VCF and import the result wherever you need it. What you get is a clean contact file with names, companies and titles and email addresses for whoever in your network has chosen to share them.
The empty email column is not a malfunction. It is LinkedIn’s privacy model working exactly as designed. Plan for it and your expectations match the output.
Are you exporting to import into a phone, an email client or a CRM? The answer changes how you should clean the CSV before converting and whether a VCF is actually the right format for your destination.