Get your own LinkedIn data
- Start with
- Download your account data
- Format
- LinkedIn Help article
- Time
- Short [1]
Curated external guides · Professional network
LinkedIn Guides Worth Reading
Start with LinkedIn's own help page if you want your data archive, and with Alison's networking course for a free beginner start of 1.5 to 3 hours. Seven of the 14 free guides here sell a product on the same page. Use their search strings and steps, and skip the pitch. [1] [3]
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Where to learn LinkedIn, free
Rewrite every profile section in order
- Format
- Free course, 41 lessons
- Time
- 41 lessons [2]
Learn networking from zero
- Start with
- Networking on LinkedIn
- Format
- Free online course with video, beginner level
- Time
- 1.5 to 3 hours [3]
Write Boolean search strings
- Start with
- Linked Helper Boolean search guide
- Format
- Written guide with an operator table and 15+ strings
- Time
- Length not stated [4]
Build searches for a specific role
- Start with
- Leonar Boolean search examples
- Format
- Written guide with templates for 15 functions
- Time
- Length not stated [5]
Copy ready-made search strings
- Start with
- Ln2CRM Boolean search guide
- Format
- Written guide: five operators and a string library
- Time
- Length not stated [6]
Search by title, industry, skill or seniority
- Start with
- Closely LinkedIn Boolean search strings
- Format
- Written cheat sheet in five groups
- Time
- Length not stated [7]
Walk through every profile section
- Start with
- FREE LinkedIn Optimization Course, a YouTube channel
- Format
- YouTube video
- Time
- Length not stated [8]
Get a complete profile walkthrough
- Start with
- Linkedin Profile Optimization (2026 - Complete Walkthrough), a YouTube channel
- Format
- YouTube video
- Time
- Length not stated [9]
Learn LinkedIn as a beginner
- Start with
- LinkedIn Tutorial for Beginners, a YouTube channel
- Format
- YouTube video
- Time
- Length not stated [10]
Set up a profile from scratch
- Start with
- How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile (Ultimate 2026 Guide), a YouTube channel
- Format
- YouTube video
- Time
- Length not stated [11]
Find out who can see your profile
- Start with
- Data and Privacy help topic
- Format
- Official help index
- Time
- Length not stated [12]
Find the Creator Mode setting
- Start with
- How to use LinkedIn Creator Mode in 2026
- Format
- Written guide from a vendor
- Time
- Length not stated [13]
Set up a profile step by step
- Format
- Written guide, 19 steps
- Time
- 19 steps [14]
| If you want to… | Start with | Format | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get your own LinkedIn data | Download your account data | LinkedIn Help article | Short[1] |
| Rewrite every profile section in order | Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Optimization Guide, 2026 Edition | Free course, 41 lessons | 41 lessons[2] |
| Learn networking from zero | Networking on LinkedIn | Free online course with video, beginner level | 1.5 to 3 hours[3] |
| Write Boolean search strings | Linked Helper Boolean search guide | Written guide with an operator table and 15+ strings | Length not stated[4] |
| Build searches for a specific role | Leonar Boolean search examples | Written guide with templates for 15 functions | Length not stated[5] |
| Copy ready-made search strings | Ln2CRM Boolean search guide | Written guide: five operators and a string library | Length not stated[6] |
| Search by title, industry, skill or seniority | Closely LinkedIn Boolean search strings | Written cheat sheet in five groups | Length not stated[7] |
| Walk through every profile section | FREE LinkedIn Optimization Course, a YouTube channel | YouTube video | Length not stated[8] |
| Get a complete profile walkthrough | Linkedin Profile Optimization (2026 - Complete Walkthrough), a YouTube channel | YouTube video | Length not stated[9] |
| Learn LinkedIn as a beginner | LinkedIn Tutorial for Beginners, a YouTube channel | YouTube video | Length not stated[10] |
| Set up a profile from scratch | How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile (Ultimate 2026 Guide), a YouTube channel | YouTube video | Length not stated[11] |
| Find out who can see your profile | Data and Privacy help topic | Official help index | Length not stated[12] |
| Find the Creator Mode setting | How to use LinkedIn Creator Mode in 2026 | Written guide from a vendor | Length not stated[13] |
| Set up a profile step by step | How to Create a LinkedIn Profile (Step-by-Step, 2026) | Written guide, 19 steps | 19 steps[14] |
LinkedIn's own help page is the only official guide to your data
Download your account data walks you through the request: Me, then Settings & Privacy, then Data Privacy. Specific data categories arrive within minutes, the full download within 24 hours, and the link stays valid for 72 hours. It covers only the request. For what to do with the file, see the tools that read a LinkedIn export. [1]
The 41-lesson profile course is thorough, and its author sells a profile service
The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Optimization Guide, 2026 Edition has 41 lessons on the basics, skills, core sections, and recommended and additional items. Work through it in order and rewrite each section as you go. The course says 'No Sign-up / No Cost / No Catch', but it links to the author's paid C-suite profile service and a pricing page. The lessons do not show those prices. [2]
Alison's networking course is the free beginner start, with a certificate offer
Networking on LinkedIn covers choosing your audience, deciding whom to invite, search filters, and engaging with people before you send an invitation. It is beginner level and takes 1.5 to 3 hours with video. It is free to study. Alison offers a certificate, with a fee it does not show on the page. The URL says 2022 and the page gives no update date, so check the screens against your own account. [3]
Linked Helper gives a full operator table, then pitches its own paid tool
The Linked Helper Boolean search guide, updated 3 November 2026, explains AND, OR, NOT, quotes and parentheses in one operator table. It adds more than 15 example strings and free templates. Copy the strings. The product pitch is for Linked Helper, a paid LinkedIn automation tool with a 14-day trial, so skip it. [4]
Leonar's role templates come with the most specific syntax rules
The Leonar Boolean search examples, published 10 February 2026 and updated 4 September 2026, give role-based templates for 15 job functions. Its rules are the most specific here: operators must be uppercase, and wildcards and brackets are not supported. The examples assume Recruiter-style keyword fields, which belong to LinkedIn Recruiter, a paid product. Leonar sells an AI recruiting product with a 14-day trial. [5]
Ln2CRM's guide is a string library from a Chrome extension vendor
The Ln2CRM Boolean search guide, published 30 July 2026 and updated 8 October 2026, explains five operators and gives a library of ready-to-use strings. Ln2CRM is a Chrome extension with paid tiers. Its extension is in the policy-risk section of the tools page, so use the strings and leave the extension alone. [6]
Closely's cheat sheet is grouped for copying, from an automation vendor
The Closely LinkedIn Boolean search strings, dated 23 February 2026, sort strings into five groups: job titles, industries, skills, seniority and multichannel. Each string sits in a code block, so it copies cleanly. Closely sells LinkedIn automation with a free trial. Use the strings for search and ignore the automation. [7]
One video walks through every profile section in one sitting
FREE LinkedIn Optimization Course: How to Optimize Every Section of Your Profile, by a YouTube channel, covers each profile section in order. The channel appears to belong to a career coach, and the video's description does not say what offer, if any, comes at the end. Watch to the end before you act on an offer. [8]
A quick YouTube walkthrough is the full pass over your profile
Linkedin Profile Optimization (2026 - Complete Walkthrough), from a YouTube channel, goes through the whole profile. Play it with your own profile open, and pause after each section to make the edit. [9]
The beginner's video tour comes before you edit anything
LinkedIn Tutorial for Beginners: How to Use LinkedIn and Optimize Your Profile 2026, from a YouTube channel, covers using LinkedIn and setting up a profile. Watch it first if you are new to the site, then move to the profile-optimization videos above. [10]
A YouTube video sets up a profile from scratch, so check its screens
How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile (Ultimate 2026 Guide), from a YouTube channel, covers account and profile setup from the beginning. Its title says 2026, but LinkedIn updates its screens, so match each step against the screens you see. [11]
LinkedIn's privacy help topic answers who can see your profile
LinkedIn's Data and Privacy help topic is an index of articles on profile visibility: the public profile URL, what people can see, and visibility on and off LinkedIn. These answer questions the video guides do not. It is an index, not a guide, so you click through to each article. For what LinkedIn does with your data, see the privacy summary. [12]
Waalaxy's Creator Mode article is for anyone still looking for the switch
The Creator Mode article from Waalaxy, published 10 January 2025 and updated 14 September 2026, says the Creator Mode setting is gone and most of its features are open to all users. Read it if you still look for the switch. Waalaxy sells LinkedIn automation, so its account of current features is the vendor's reading, not LinkedIn's. [13]
ViralBrain's 19-step guide ends with a paid calendar offer
The step-by-step profile guide from ViralBrain runs 19 steps, from account setup to a live profile: photo, banner, headline, About, experience and skills. The page does not say whether the guide itself is free. It offers a 30-day auto-post calendar for EUR 1 for seven days, an offer to skip if you only want the steps. [14]
Bibliography
Sources
- LinkedIn Help: Downloading your account data (official)
- Leaders Social, Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Optimization Guide (2026 Edition) (independent)
- Alison, Networking on LinkedIn (free online course) (independent)
- Linked Helper, LinkedIn Boolean Search guide (independent)
- Leonar, LinkedIn Boolean Search examples (independent)
- Ln2CRM, LinkedIn Boolean Search guide (independent)
- Closely, LinkedIn Boolean search strings cheat sheet (independent)
- YouTube: FREE LinkedIn Optimization Course (Greg Langstaff) (platform-hosted)
- YouTube: Linkedin Profile Optimization (2026 - Complete Walkthrough) (Nabbie Ella) (platform-hosted)
- YouTube: LinkedIn Tutorial for Beginners (Dean Seddon) (platform-hosted)
- YouTube: How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile (Mark Firth) (platform-hosted)
- LinkedIn Help: Data and Privacy topic (official)
- Waalaxy, How to use LinkedIn Creator Mode in 2026 (independent)
- ViralBrain, How to Create a LinkedIn Profile (Step-by-Step, 2026) (independent)