How to Use the Sales Navigator Inbox Scraper

Before you start

• Awareness of usage best practices:
  • Extracting your inbox repeatedly can trigger extra account activity.
  • Spread launches across the day and avoid running other high-volume LinkedIn Phantoms at the same time.

Step 1: Connect your Sales Navigator account

To let the Phantom act on your behalf:

1. Install the PhantomBuster browser extension and connect your Sales Navigator session in one click.
2. If you’re not using Chrome or Firefox, you can retrieve your session cookie manually (see our cookie guide).

Check your browser user agent
Make sure your browser is up to date before connecting your account. 
→ If your Chrome or Firefox version is outdated, your session cookie may expire much more quickly, and you’ll need to reconnect often.

Step 2: Select the inbox and configure what to extract

1. Choose which part of your Sales Navigator inbox to scrape.

Open the dropdown and pick one of the available sections:
By default, the Phantom will extract all messages from your Sales Navigator inbox.
→ If you want to narrow your results, you can choose a specific inbox section instead:

• Unread - Only new, unopened messages.
• Sent - Messages you’ve sent to others.
• InMail – Awaiting Response - InMails you’ve sent but not yet answered.
• InMail – Accepted - InMails where the recipient accepted and responded.
• InMail – Declined - InMails that were declined.
• Archived - Messages you’ve archived in Sales Navigator.

Use this option if you’re only interested in tracking specific conversations (e.g., just unanswered InMails or only new messages).

2. Refine what the Phantom extracts:

• Get threads before a specific date (optional): Enter a cutoff date in MM-DD-YYYY format to extract only older threads.
• Number of threads to scrape (optional):
  • Default = 20 most recent threads.
  • Enter a higher number if you want more, but keep it moderate to stay safe.

Result file settings (dropdown in setup)

1. Name your results file (optional)

   • You can customize the file name.

     If you rename the file between launches, the Phantom will create a new results file and start processing inputs from scratch.

2. Fields to keep (optional)
   • Export only the fields you care about by listing them (comma-separated).
     Example: threadUrl, participantFullName, lastMessageBody.
   • This generates a second CSV file with just those fields.
   • Learn more in our guide: Customize how your Phantom results files are saved.

Advanced settings (dropdown in setup)

• Use your second Sales Navigator team (optional)
  • If you belong to more than one Sales Navigator team, check this box to pull data from your second team instead of the default one.

Step 3: Select launch frequency

Choose how often the Phantom should run:

1. Launch manually: Start the Phantom yourself whenever you need.
2. Launch once at a specific time: schedule a one-time run at a set date and time.
3. Launch repeatedly: schedule regular runs (e.g. once per day, several times during working hours).
4. Launch after another Phantom: chain automations together so this Phantom starts right after another finishes.
5. Advanced scheduling: customize the exact minutes, hours, days, or months when the Phantom should run.

→ For a complete walkthrough of scheduling options, see our guide to scheduling Phantoms automatically.

Step 4 (Optional): Advanced settings

Advanced settings are available if you want to fine-tune how your Phantom runs, but by default they’re already optimized for most use cases.

We recommend leaving them as they are unless a guide specifically instructs you to change something.

→ For a detailed overview of all advanced options (like execution limits, retries, email notifications, proxies, webhooks, and file management), see our Advanced settings guide.

Launch and results

When you’re ready:

1. Click Launch to start your Phantom.
2. Once it finishes, open the Results tab in the Phantom console to monitor progress.
3. Download your results as a CSV or JSON file.
4. The Inbox Scraper does not send contacts to the LinkedIn Leads page. If you want to work with these leads there, you’ll need to process them with another Phantom such as LinkedIn Profile Scraper, Sales Navigator Lead Sender, or any other Phantom that outputs LinkedIn profile data.

→ To learn how to export your data to Google Sheets, integrate with other tools, or reuse it in more automations, check our Access and Export your Phantom Results guide.

Export and input limits on the Free plan
If you’re on the Free plan or Free trial, some features are limited:
- CSV exports include only the first 10 rows of results.
- CSV download links (for dynamic viewing in Google Sheets or integrations) are not available.
- JSON exports are not available.
- CSV upload as an input method is not supported.
To unlock all features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What you give (Input) and What you get (Output)

This section gives you a detailed breakdown of everything you need to provide to run this Phantom, and everything you’ll receive once it completes.

What you give (Input)

What you get (Output)

Tips and troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

• Using the wrong tool for LinkedIn messages → This Phantom is designed specifically for scraping the Sales Navigator inbox (including Sales Navigator InMails). If you need to capture messages from the standard LinkedIn inbox instead, use the LinkedIn Inbox Scraper Phantom.
• Incorrect date format → make sure to use MM-DD-YYYY.
• Asking for too many threads in one go → While the Phantom lets you set a higher number, scraping large volumes in a single run can cause errors or shorten your session cookie’s life. From our experience, it’s normal to retrieve around 100 threads per launch (up to 8 launches per day), but the exact limit varies from account to account. We recommend starting with a test run to gauge what works safely for your profile, then scaling gradually.
• Expecting date filters to apply to all inbox types → from date applies to InMail; combine with before date to bound the range.
• Expecting results to appear in the LinkedIn Leads page → The Sales Navigator Inbox Scraper (not the LinkedIn Inbox Scraper) doesn’t push data there. If you need to capture messages from the standard LinkedIn inbox, use the LinkedIn Inbox Scraper Phantom instead.

If you run into issues

• Check how to troubleshoot your phantom using Logs.
• Browse the Fix Issues & Troubleshoot Errors section for solutions to common problems.
• Review our Automation Rate Limits by Platform guide.
• Check our Best Practices for Social Media Automation guide.

Suggested automations

• Write tailored replies → Use the AI LinkedIn Message Writer Phantom to generate personalized responses.
• Send replies directly → Use the Sales Navigator Message Sender Phantom to deliver those crafted messages.
• Enrich contact details → Run the Sales Navigator Profile Scraper Phantom to capture full profile information.
• Build relationships → Engage with their content using the LinkedIn Auto Liker Phantom or the LinkedIn Auto Commenter Phantom.