How to Find Former Employees of Any Company on LinkedIn (2026 Guide)

You want to know who worked at a specific company on LinkedIn?

Whether you're doing sales, recruiting, or just curious, LinkedIn gives you access to the people who worked in a company.

In this guide, I'll show you:

• See former employees on LinkedIn
• Use Sales Navigator to filter them with precision
• Export their data (with emails) using GiveMeLeads
• Find high-quality leads using advanced filters

Let's dive in.

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How to Find Former Employees on LinkedIn

Here's the simple way to do it, without any paid tool.

Open LinkedIn and search the company page

Go to LinkedIn.

In the search bar, type the name of the company you're targeting. Let's take "Salesforce" as an example.

Then, click on the right company in the dropdown list.

Use "All Filters" in LinkedIn Search

A bonus method you can use is to leverage the "All filters" function in a LinkedIn search.

For that you have to:

1. Type the company name into the LinkedIn search bar
2. Click on "All filters"
3. Scroll down and select the company under "Past company"
4. Click on "Show results"

If you want to find qualified leads, you can use some other filters like:

• Connections (1st, 2nd or 3rd connection degree)
• Current company
• Locations
• School
• Industry
• Profile language
• Keywords (first name, last name, job title, etc)

Why Finding Former Employees Is a Smart Move

Here's why it matters:

• Market research: Former employees often speak more freely about the company's internal structure, tools, and culture. Great for getting honest insights.
• Lead generation: They may have moved into decision-making roles elsewhere — perfect for warm outreach with a shared context.
• Recruiting: If someone left a competitor recently, they could be open to new opportunities and already trained in your niche.
• Networking: Former employees can introduce you to current team members or leadership — without the gatekeeping.

How to Find Former Employees with LinkedIn Sales Navigator

The best way to find former employees is to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

You can apply advanced filters, segment the contacts, get alerts, and access way more valuable data than what you get from LinkedIn.

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Now it's time for a step-by-step guide to see the current employees in any company.

Go to the Lead Filter page

When you're on the homepage on LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you just have to click on "Lead filters".

Select the company on the "Past company" Filter

As you can see, there are a lot of advanced filters on this lead page.

The one you're looking for is "Past Company". This filter lets you see people who worked in a company.

So for that:

1. Type the company
2. Click on "Include"

Split your search on LinkedIn Sales Navigator

With Sales Navigator, you can only see 2500 results.

So if you have more than 2500 people in a company, you need to split your search into several chunks.

The best way to do that is to use some filters like:

• Company headcount
• Geography
• Years of experience
• Years in current company
• Etc

Then, you save your searches in lead lists.

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How to Export Former Employees Using Sales Navigator

Follow the 6 steps to export your leads from LinkedIn Sales Navigator with their verified emails:

1. Create a GiveMeLeads account
2. Download the Chrome Extension
3. Select your target on LinkedIn Sales Navigator
4. Launch your export
5. Schedule your export (Optional)
6. Download your leads file

Let's dive in!

Step 1: Create a GiveMeLeads account

Go on GiveMeLeads. Then click on "Get first 20 leads for free".

Then, you have to write your:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Email
4. Password

And click on "Create account".

Step 2: Download the Chrome Extension

To get started, install the GiveMeLeads Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store.

Once installed, it integrates directly into LinkedIn Sales Navigator, allowing you to extract your leads instantly while browsing your search results or saved lead lists.

Step 3: Select your target on LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Go to LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

The filter you're looking for is "Past company".

Then use other filters to find your ideal leads (like job title, company size, or location).

Then click "Extract leads" using the GiveMeLeads extension or paste the search URL on the platform.

Step 4: Launch your export

Your target is set up. Now it's time to export your leads. For that, click on "New Export".

You will get a pop-up where you can select:

• The number of leads you want to export
• If you want to get the verified emails (of all leads or filtered leads only)
• If you want to schedule this export on a weekly basis

Then click on "Export Leads".

Step 5: Schedule your leads export (Optional)

GiveMeLeads lets you schedule lead exports. Pick the day you want, and you'll receive fresh leads weekly.

Each lead is unique, and the system ensures there are no duplicates. This saves you time and keeps your CRM clean, so you can focus on outreach, not data cleaning.

Step 6: Download your leads file

When your export is finished, you'll receive an email with a download link.

You can also download your file directly by clicking the "Download" button in your dashboard. You'll see two options.

1. "Open in Sheets"

This gives you a simple version of your lead list. You have:

• matches_filters / invalid_reason
• First Name
• Last Name
• Profile picture
• Company name
• Job title
• Headline
• LinkedIn URL
• Email

It doesn't include all the data, but it's perfect if you just want to import leads into your CRM or a B2B outreach tool like Lemlist or Expandi.

2. "Download CSV"

This gives you the full file with all available data. For each lead, you'll see extra info like whether they have LinkedIn Premium, their total years of experience, and company details like size, industry, and location.

GiveMeLeads also automatically cleans your data:

• Fixes capital letters in names and job titles
• Removes emojis from job titles
• Removes legal suffixes in company names (like LLC, GmbH, etc.)

GiveMeLeads also checks if each lead matches your LinkedIn Sales Navigator filters. Leads that don't fit are tagged in the matches_filters column with the reason they're invalid (like "Invalid job title" or "Wrong company size"). That way, you keep full control of your data.

With GiveMeLeads, you also get the verified professional email of every lead — even if they're in your 2nd or 3rd-degree connections.

Advanced Techniques When Exporting Former Employees

Here you will find 2 advanced techniques that will help you when you export former employees:

1. Use Filters to Find Your Best Leads
2. Create a Saved Search

Let's start!

Use Filters to Find Your Best Leads

Let's be honest: you don't want to reach out to everyone in a company.

Some are interns. Others have no buying power. And some just aren't a fit.

To focus only on high-quality leads, you need to refine your search with filters.

Here are a few that work great:

• Current job title (use Boolean operators like AND, OR, NOT for better targeting)
• Years of experience: At least 1+ year = stability
• Geography (of the leads, not the company)
• Viewed your profile recently
• Posted on LinkedIn: Active people = more replies
• Etc

That way, you only focus on people who are interesting for you.

Create a Saved Search

Once you've applied your filters and found the right former employees, don't start from scratch every time.

Instead, save your search in Sales Navigator.

This way, anytime a new former employee fits your criteria, LinkedIn will notify you, so you're always the first to reach out.

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