Clean LinkedIn URLs to Find the Same Person Across Lead Files
Normalise the LinkedIn column in every file, then dedupe on it. Stack your lead exports into one CSV (or clean them one at a time), upload to the LinkedIn URL cleaner, and press Clean. Each profile link becomes https://www.linkedin.com/in/<name>, repeats are marked, and links that can't be cleaned are flagged. Download with or without the duplicates; linkedin_clean is the key for matching people across files.
Sources, read 2 November 2026: LinkedIn Help, manage your public profile URL (custom URL changes allowed up to five times within six months), and the lemlist variables and Smartlead lead details articles, which list a LinkedIn URL among each tool's standard lead fields.
Why the same person looks like three
| Variant in an export | What makes it different |
|---|---|
linkedin.com/in/Jane-Doe/ |
No scheme, capital letters, trailing slash |
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe?trk=public_profile |
Country subdomain and tracking |
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe/details/experience/ |
A sub-page of the profile |
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe?originalSubdomain=de |
Tracking parameter |
All four clean to https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe. Email addresses don't solve this on their own: one tool finds a work address, another a personal one, and names repeat.
Step by step
- Export each lead file with its LinkedIn column. Apollo calls it Person Linkedin Url; Clay tables and Sales Navigator scrapers usually call it LinkedIn URL.
- Stack the files into one CSV if you want duplicates across them caught in one pass.
- Upload to the LinkedIn URL cleaner and press Clean.
- Read the flagged rows. Sales Navigator (
/sales/lead/), Recruiter, post, activity and lnkd.in links are listed for a manual look. Member-ID URLs (/in/ACoAA...) open the profile but may also appear elsewhere under the vanity name, so they're noted. - Download without the duplicates and decide which copy to keep where two rows disagree (the newer export usually wins).
- Dedupe the emails too. The remove duplicate emails tool catches repeats the URL can't, such as rows with no LinkedIn link.
- Verify the addresses on the verify page before the sequence, so the one email Jane gets is to an address that exists.
Honest limits
- Nothing is looked up. The cleaner never opens LinkedIn, so it can't tell whether a profile still exists or was renamed. Members can change their custom URL, and an old file can hold a URL that no longer matches the current one.
- Two IDs, one person. A member-ID URL and a vanity URL for the same person look like two people.
- Flagged, not converted. Sales Navigator, Recruiter, post and short links need a person to open them.
Related reading: find an email from a LinkedIn profile and how many contacts per company.
Where SimpleVerifier fits
Check the deduplicated file on the verify page; the first 100 checks are free with a Google sign-in. Pro is $39 a month with the first 100,000 checks a month at full speed, then slower, never cut off. See pricing.
Common questions
How do I remove tracking from LinkedIn URLs in Excel?
LEFT and FIND can cut at the question mark, but not the country subdomain, the trailing /details/ page or the case differences. The LinkedIn URL cleaner handles all of them and writes a linkedin_clean column.
Can a Sales Navigator URL be turned into a profile URL?
Not from the URL alone. The Sales Navigator ID only resolves for a signed-in seat; open the lead in Sales Navigator and copy the public profile link.
Does the cleaner find emails from LinkedIn URLs?
No. It only cleans URLs and doesn't open LinkedIn. If you have a name and company domain, the email permutator lists likely addresses to check.
Is my list sent anywhere?
No. The file is read in your browser, and nothing is sent to LinkedIn or anyone else.
Check your list before you send
Real mailbox checks over SMTP, and nothing is sent to the address. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. Plans for bigger lists are on the pricing page.