How to download your LinkedIn data, and how long the wait actually is
LinkedIn gives you two options on the same screen. The fast selection is reported to be ready in about ten minutes, the larger archive within 24 hours, and the download link is valid for 72 hours before it expires. Ad_Targeting.csv is the file worth opening. Written 2026-08-24.
The exact taps, in order
Your part of this is about two to four minutes. Everything after that is LinkedIn taking its time, and
nothing you do speeds it up.
Open settings On linkedin.com click Me, then Settings and Privacy.
Open Data privacy It is in the left hand list.
Click Get a copy of your data The first item under How LinkedIn uses your data.
Choose which archiveDownload larger data archive is everything and is reported at up to 24 hours. The second option lets you tick specific files and is reported to be ready in about ten minutes.
Tick Ad targeting if you are choosing files That is the inferred profile advertisers see. Add Ads clicked and Search history while you are there.
Click Request archive LinkedIn asks for your password. Enter it on LinkedIn.
Watch your email LinkedIn emails a download link when it is ready, and the same link appears on the settings page.
Download within 72 hours The link expires after 72 hours, and then you request again.
How long it actually takes
What
How long reported
Fast file selection, reported
About ten minutes.
Larger data archive, reported
Within 24 hours.
Download window
72 hours from the moment the link is issued.
Your own time
About 2 minutes to request.
How big the file is
The fast selection is usually a few megabytes of CSV. The larger archive is tens to hundreds of megabytes, mostly because of messages and any media you have posted. reported
What is actually inside
Ad_Targeting.csv The inferred job function, seniority, industry, company size, interests and the rest of the targeting profile used to reach you. This is the version of you that recruiters and advertisers are shown.
Ads_Clicked.csv Which sponsored content you clicked and when.
Inferences about you The larger archive is reported to include a file of inferences drawn about you. Treat the exact filename as reported rather than promised, because LinkedIn changes the archive contents from time to time.
Connections, messages, invitations Your network and your conversations, as CSV.
Search queries and company follows What you searched for on LinkedIn and which companies you follow.
What is missing from it
Not in the file, whatever anyone tells you
Who viewed your profile, beyond what the product already shows you.
Recruiter search activity about you, which is the thing most people actually want.
The feed ranking model, and why any post reached you.
The evidence behind each inferred attribute. A seniority label with no reasoning attached is still used to target you.
The download expires
Do not lose the link
The LinkedIn download link is valid for 72 hours. That is the tightest window of the eight platforms on this site, and it catches people who request on a Friday.
Read this before you trust a number on this page
Every wait window and every file size here is reported, not measured by us. It comes
from the platform's own published help pages and from what people consistently say happens, and platforms
change both without telling anyone. When we have a request we timed ourselves, this page will say measured
and print the date the measurement was taken. Until then, treat these as the range to plan around rather
than a promise.
Written 2026-08-24. Export screens move every few months. If a step here has gone stale, tell us and it
gets fixed rather than quietly rotting.
When the file arrives
When the file lands, drop it into the free Count. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no account, no email field and no card, and nothing is uploaded. The Count reads TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Spotify, X, LinkedIn and Amazon exports, in zip or JSON.
The full Reading is 6.99 a week or 69.99 a year. No free trial. There is a Refund button in
your dashboard for 7 days, one tap, no reason required. The Count stays free forever either way.
Reported at about ten minutes for a specific file selection and within 24 hours for the larger archive. The download link is valid for 72 hours. We have not measured this ourselves, and when we do this page will say measured and print the date.
What is Ad_Targeting.csv?
The inferred targeting profile LinkedIn holds about you: job function, seniority, industry, company size, interests and more. It is one CSV and it is the file most people find hardest to look away from, because it is a description of you written by a system you have never spoken to.
Does the free Count read LinkedIn exports?
Yes. The Count works with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Spotify, X, LinkedIn and Amazon exports, in zip or JSON, and it runs entirely in your browser with nothing uploaded.
The free Count pages
One page per file. Each is the same browser local tool scoped to a different export, and none of them
ask for an email.