How to Export Candidates from LinkedIn Recruiter to Excel/CSV

What LinkedIn Recruiter's native export can and can't do — including Recruiter projects — the fields you'll actually get, and how to export applicants from LinkedIn Jobs without paying for a Recruiter seat.

Recruiter vs. LinkedIn Jobs — Know Which Product You Have

Before trying to export, confirm which LinkedIn product you're actually in. The export options are different:

  • LinkedIn Jobs — where you post a job and receive applicants. No bulk export. This is what most small and mid-sized companies use.
  • LinkedIn Recruiter (and Recruiter Lite) — a separate, paid product for sourcing and managing candidates in Projects. Has limited native export features.
  • Talent Hub / Recruiter System Connect (RSC) — an ATS integration layer, not an end-user export tool.

If you're looking at a page titled "Applicants" on a job post, you're in LinkedIn Jobs. If you're looking at "Projects", "Pipeline", or "Talent Pool", you're in Recruiter.

What You Can Export from LinkedIn Recruiter (Natively)

LinkedIn Recruiter does offer some native export features, but they are narrower than most teams expect.

Typical native export path:

  1. Open a Recruiter Project
  2. Select candidates in the pipeline (individually or as a filtered list)
  3. Click the "More" or actions menu
  4. Choose an export option — available actions depend on your seat type, admin settings, and region

What you generally get (when export is available at all) is a limited CSV with a subset of profile fields: name, current title, company, location, and the LinkedIn profile URL. Some plans allow PDF profile exports as well.

What you typically do NOT get from Recruiter exports:

  • The applicant's resume file as they uploaded it
  • Screening question answers from LinkedIn Jobs applications
  • Emails and phone numbers (unless surfaced through InMail or RSC integrations)
  • A simple per-job applicant list (Recruiter is Project-based, not job-based)

Export behavior also varies by region (EU restrictions are stricter), by seat type (Recruiter vs. Recruiter Lite vs. Talent Hub), and by admin policy at your company. Always check your current plan's documentation.

Why Recruiter Exports Often Disappoint Hiring Teams

Teams buy Recruiter expecting a clean "export my candidates to Excel" button. The reality is closer to this:

  • Recruiter is optimized for in-tool workflow, not data portability
  • Exports are designed for ATS sync, not human review in a spreadsheet
  • The best candidate data (notes, screening answers, resume PDFs) often stays trapped in the UI
  • Every seat needed to review candidates costs thousands of dollars per year

If your goal is just "give the hiring manager a spreadsheet of applicants with their resumes," Recruiter is not the shortest path.

How to Export LinkedIn Recruiter Projects to Excel

One of the most common searches is "how to export LinkedIn Recruiter projects to Excel." Recruiter organizes work in Projects, not job posts — so the export path is project-based:

  1. Open LinkedIn Recruiter / Recruiter Lite and go to your Project
  2. Filter the pipeline to the candidates you want (stage, source, or saved search)
  3. Select candidates (batch limits are common — often 25–100 per export, plan-dependent)
  4. Use More / actions → choose the available CSV or profile export option
  5. Download and open in Excel — then check which columns actually arrived

Expect a summary CSV (name, title, company, location, profile URL) more often than a full hiring packet. Resume PDFs uploaded through LinkedIn Jobs applications, screening-question answers, and reliable emails/phones are frequently missing from native Recruiter project exports.

If your real goal is "every applicant to this job, with resumes, in Excel," you may be using the wrong product surface — see the LinkedIn Jobs path below.

Step-by-Step: Exporting from LinkedIn Recruiter

If you do have a Recruiter seat and want to use the native export:

  1. Log in to linkedin.com/talent/ (Recruiter) or Recruiter Lite
  2. Open the Project that contains the candidates you want to export
  3. Filter the pipeline (by stage, source, or saved search) to narrow the list
  4. Select candidates using the checkboxes — there may be a per-export cap (commonly 25 or 100 per batch, varies by plan)
  5. Click the More / actions menu and choose the available export option (typically CSV or PDF profiles)
  6. Download the file; check that the fields you need are actually present

For large pipelines you will need to repeat this in batches. There is no "export all" for most plans.

Exporting Applicants Without a Recruiter Seat

Most companies don't actually need Recruiter — they just need to export applicants from jobs they already posted on LinkedIn Jobs. That's what ApplicantSync does.

ApplicantSync is a free Chrome extension that works on the Applicants tab of your own LinkedIn job posts. It captures the data LinkedIn shows you as the poster and turns it into a structured dataset with:

  • Full applicant list per job
  • Resume files and shareable resume URLs
  • Screening questions and each applicant's answers
  • Email and phone (when provided)
  • Parsed experience and education
  • CSV or XLSX export in one click

No Recruiter seat, no credential sharing, no per-user fees. If your hiring need is "I want my applicants in a spreadsheet with their resumes," this is a much shorter path than Recruiter.

When Recruiter Is Still the Right Answer

ApplicantSync is focused on inbound applicants to your own jobs. If you actually need to source passive candidates — searching the LinkedIn graph, running InMail campaigns, tracking pipelines across dozens of roles — Recruiter is the right tool and ApplicantSync won't replace it.

Many teams do both: Recruiter for sourcing, ApplicantSync for processing inbound applicants and sharing them with hiring managers who don't have Recruiter seats.

Compliance Notes

Whichever tool you use, you remain responsible for how exported candidate data is stored and shared:

  • Follow LinkedIn's terms of service for the product you're using
  • Respect GDPR/CCPA and other local privacy regulations — you are the data controller once data leaves the platform
  • Limit access to candidate data to people with a legitimate hiring need
  • Have a clear retention policy — don't keep candidate data indefinitely

ApplicantSync is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn®.

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn Recruiter can export candidates — just not as completely, cheaply, or flexibly as most teams expect. For pure sourcing pipelines, that's fine. For the very common need of "I posted a job, I want my applicants in Excel with their resumes," a Chrome extension is a much better match than an enterprise sourcing tool.

Get the Chrome Extension

Related Resources

LinkedIn Recruiter export FAQ

Can you export LinkedIn job applicants?

Yes. LinkedIn does not offer a built-in bulk export, but ApplicantSync — a free Chrome extension — exports every applicant from a LinkedIn job posting to CSV or Excel in one click, including resumes, contact info, screening answers, and parsed work experience. It runs inside your own LinkedIn session, so there is no scraping, no API call, and no LinkedIn password required.

How do I export LinkedIn applicants to Excel?

Install the ApplicantSync Chrome extension, open your LinkedIn job’s Manage Candidates page, and click the export button the extension adds to the page. Choose Excel (XLSX) as the format. You will get a single .xlsx file with one row per applicant: name, email, phone, screening Q&A, applied date, parsed experience, and links to each resume.

Can I export LinkedIn applicants to CSV?

Yes — CSV is one of the two export formats ApplicantSync supports (the other is Excel/XLSX). Pick CSV when you need to import applicants into an ATS, CRM, or any system that takes flat-file feeds. Same fields, same data, just a different file format.

Is there a Chrome extension to export LinkedIn applicants?

ApplicantSync is a free Chrome extension that adds an export button directly to LinkedIn’s job manager. It runs under your own LinkedIn session — no second login, no password sharing. Once installed, every job you manage has a one-click export to CSV, Excel, or your shared team dashboard.

Can I share LinkedIn applicants with my team?

Yes. ApplicantSync’s shared dashboard lets you invite teammates by email — hiring managers, agencies, or anyone without a LinkedIn account. Each teammate sees the synced applicants, resumes, and screening answers without ever logging into LinkedIn, which keeps you compliant with LinkedIn’s Terms of Service (which prohibits credential sharing).

How do I export LinkedIn Recruiter projects to Excel?

Open a Recruiter Project, filter and select candidates, then use the More/actions menu to export CSV or profile PDFs when your plan allows it. Native project exports are usually limited summary fields — not full resumes or LinkedIn Jobs screening answers. For job-post applicants with resumes, use ApplicantSync on the Applicants tab instead.

Can I export candidates from LinkedIn Recruiter to CSV?

Often yes, depending on seat type, admin settings, and region. The CSV typically includes name, current title, company, location, and profile URL. It usually does not include uploaded resume files or screening-question answers from LinkedIn Jobs applications.

Is there a cheaper way to export LinkedIn applicants without Recruiter?

Yes. If you only need applicants who applied to jobs you posted on LinkedIn Jobs, ApplicantSync exports them to CSV or Excel — including resumes and screening answers when visible — without a Recruiter seat.