How to Find Open Profiles on LinkedIn in 2026?

Hitting LinkedIn's messaging or connection limits is really frustrating.

You find the perfect lead. You try to reach out. And LinkedIn stops you with a weekly invitation limit message.

But here's the thing: some leads on LinkedIn can be messaged for free. No connection request. No InMail credit spent.

They're called Open Profiles.

LinkedIn has approximately 175 million premium users. And 95% of them have Open Profile turned on. That's a massive pool of leads you can reach for free, right now.

Yet most people don't target them first. They burn through InMail credits ($10 each) and connection requests before even thinking about Open Profiles.

In this guide, you'll learn:

• What LinkedIn Open Profiles are
• How to spot them manually
• How to find them at scale with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and GiveMeLeads
• How to use them to send more messages without burning your limits

Let's get into it.

What Is a LinkedIn Open Profile?

A LinkedIn Open Profile is a feature available to paid LinkedIn users (Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter).

When someone turns it on, anyone can message them for free — even if you're not connected.

No connection request needed. No InMail credit used.

So if someone has Open Profile activated:

• You can send them a direct message instantly
• It won't cost you anything
• You don't need to be in their network

And here's why this matters at scale: you can send up to 800 free InMails per month to Open Profiles. No credits. No limits. Just outreach.

Compare that to a Sales Navigator plan that gives you 50 InMail credits per month. Open Profiles give you 16x more reach — for free.

What Happens if Someone Is NOT an Open Profile?

If a person isn't an Open Profile, you'll see a message prompting you to use a credit when you try to contact them.

To send them an InMail, you'll need to use your InMail credits.

Sometimes there's no other way. If you really want to reach them, you'll need to spend a credit.

How to Turn On Open Profile on LinkedIn?

You can activate Open Profile if you're on a paid LinkedIn plan.

Step 1: Click on the pencil

Go to your LinkedIn profile, and click on the pencil next to your LinkedIn Premium badge.

Step 2: Turn on your Open Profile on LinkedIn

Then, you have to:

1. Click on the "Open Profile" dropdown
2. Toggle the button to "On"
3. Click on Save

Done! Your profile is now an "Open Profile".

That's it. You're now an Open Profile. Anyone on LinkedIn can message you for free.

How to Find an Open Profile on LinkedIn

You've got two options to spot Open Profiles:

1. Manually by checking profiles one by one
2. At scale using Sales Navigator and a tool like GiveMeLeads to filter and export a full list

Use the manual method for quick checks. Use the bulk method when you're running outreach campaigns.

Method 1: Manual Method

Here's how to check if someone is an Open Profile when you're browsing LinkedIn:

1. Go to their profile
2. Click the "Message" button
3. If you see "Free message", they're an Open Profile

Simple. But not scalable. You can't do this for hundreds of leads per day.

Method 2: How to Find Open Profiles at Scale with LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has 40+ filters. But there's no "Open Profile" filter.

LinkedIn does this on purpose. They don't want Open Profiles to be spammed.

But there's a workaround. You export your leads into a CSV and check the Open Profile status directly in the file.

If you want to detect Open Profiles from a full lead list, here's how to do it:

1. Make a Sales Navigator Search
2. Export Your Search into CSV with GiveMeLeads
3. Check the "Open Profile" Column

Let's dive in!

Step 1: Build Your Lead List in Sales Navigator

Make a Sales Navigator search.

The best filters are:

• Company size
• Current job title (don't forget to use the boolean operators to narrow down your search)
• Years of experience
• Geography
• And more

You can even leverage LinkedIn Intent Data like:

• Connections of (useful to check the people in the network of your competitors)
• People who posted on LinkedIn recently
• People who viewed your profile recently
• People who are following your company
• Etc

Export Your Search into CSV with GiveMeLeads

Follow the 7 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
7. Check the "is_open" Column

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.

Use filters to find your ideal leads (like job title, company size, or location). Like decision makers for example.

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.

Step 7: Check the "is_open" Column

In the CSV file, look for the column called "is_open". If you see TRUE, the lead is Open Profile. If you see FALSE, the lead is NOT an Open Profile.

How to Make the Most of LinkedIn Open Profiles

Now that you know how to find them, here's how to use Open Profiles to get more replies and book more calls.

Send Up to 800 Free InMails Per Month

When a lead is an Open Profile, you can message them for free.

LinkedIn allows up to 800 free Open Profile InMails per month. That's 800 messages. Zero credits spent.

Compare that to a standard Sales Navigator plan: 50 InMail credits per month.

Open Profiles give you 16x the outreach capacity for free.

Split Your Outreach Into Two Campaigns

LinkedIn limits you to 100 to 200 connection requests per week on a paid plan.

Here's the smart way to use that:

• Open Profiles → message them directly via free InMail (no connection request needed)
• Regular Profiles → use your connection requests

You stretch your weekly limit further. You reach more people. You spend less.

Use the InMail Credit Refund System

Here's a mechanic most people don't know about.

If you send an InMail to a non-Open Profile and they reply — even to say no — you get your credit back.

So for the leads who aren't Open Profiles, make sure your message is good enough to get a reply. Every response refunds your credit and extends your reach.

Personalize your messages

You can message Open Profiles for free. But that doesn't mean you should send the same message to everyone.

Use the LinkedIn Alerts feature to find a recent post or activity from your lead. Use that as your icebreaker.

One personalized message beats 10 generic ones every time.

Conclusion

Open Profiles are one of the most underused features in LinkedIn outreach.

You can message decision-makers for free. No connection request. No InMail credit. No limit.

The problem is finding them at scale.

That's exactly what GiveMeLeads solves.

Export your Sales Navigator search, download your CSV, and check the "is_open" column. Done.