LinkedIn Open Profiles: Meaning And How To Find Them? (2026)

The Secret Behind LinkedIn Open Profiles

An Open Profile is a special privacy feature available to LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator members. When enabled, it allows any LinkedIn member (even on a free account) to send them a direct message or InMail at zero credit cost.

For outbound sales reps with limited InMail quotas, filtering target audiences for Open Profiles allows you to send hundreds of personalized InMails every week without paying extra fees.

Beyond the cost saving, Open Profile status is itself a signal. Members who enable it are implicitly open to being contacted, which often translates to higher reply rates than closed-profile prospects receiving the same message.

Finding and Targeting Open Profiles at Scale

Sales Navigator does not expose a direct 'Open Profile' filter, but you can identify Open Profile members when viewing search results: the message option appears without an InMail credit badge next to their name.

For scale, extract your target list first, then message Open Profile members first to preserve your InMail credits for the closed-profile prospects who require them. This sequencing maximizes your free outreach capacity before touching paid credits.

• •Identify Open Profile members by the free-message indicator in search results.
• •Message Open Profile prospects first to conserve paid InMail credits.
• •Pair with verified email so closed-profile prospects are still reachable via cold email.
• •Track reply rates separately for Open vs closed profiles to measure the signal lift.