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Best Practices & Guides

By Alex Mishyn
β€’ 5 articles

How to Safely Create and Warm Up a LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn's security system is quite strict regarding new users, applying various verification algorithms. This guide provides tips to help you register a new profile and properly "warm it up" to avoid common restrictions. What Restrictions Do New/Inactive LinkedIn Accounts Face? If a profile is recently created or has been inactive for a long time, LinkedIn's algorithms may apply the following sanctions: - Mandatory Verification: LinkedIn temporarily restricts most newly created profiles until identity is confirmed via official documents. - Activity Limits: Restrictions are placed on the number of actions (profile views, connection requests, etc.), which makes full-scale activity difficult at early stages. - Profile Ghosting: The user has access to their account and sees the interface as usual, but they become completely invisible to others. Connection requests are not delivered to recipients, the profile does not appear in search, and is not indexed. How to Create a Profile with Minimal Risks LinkedIn tracks IP and MAC addresses of devices. If multiple logins occur from the same address (e.g., via corporate Wi-Fi) or if previous bans were detected, this will attract algorithmic attention. Follow these rules during registration: - Clean network and device: If possible, use a device and an access point (mobile data) that haven't been used to log into LinkedIn for at least the last 3 months. - No VPN or free Proxies: These services carry a lot of suspicious traffic. Using them during registration results in a block in almost 100% of cases. - Real data: Register the account under your real name or a real person so that you can provide identity documents if verification is required. ​Important regarding Full Name: Avoid discrepancies between the profile and your documents. If your document says Oleksandr, do not sign the profile as Alex β€” such a difference may cause verification to fail. β€‹πŸŸ’ Tip: If your previous profile was blocked and you cannot register a new one for a different person, try using a different keyboard layout. For example, if the blocked account was Ivan Petrych, register the new one in Cyrillic β€” Π†Π²Π°Π½ ΠŸΠ΅Ρ‚Ρ€ΠΈΡ‡. You can add the transliterated name later. - Document for verification: If attempts to unblock a previous profile were unsuccessful, use a different document for the new account (e.g., provide a driver's license instead of a passport). This reduces the risk of algorithms linking the two profiles. New Profile Warm-Up Rules The warm-up phase is a gradual imitation of a regular user's behavior. During the first few months, all activity should be performed manually, without using any automation tools. First Steps (Weeks 1–2) 1. Maintain the session: Do not change the device you used for registration. Use only that device and do not create additional sessions on others. 2. Gradual profile completion: Add information about experience, education, and skills in parts, spreading the process over several days. 3. Inbound actions: Ask friends or colleagues to send you connection requests, endorse your skills, or write a recommendation. This significantly increases the "trust" level of the profile. Avoid outbound activity: do not send connection requests, InMails, etc. Increasing Activity 1. Social engagement: Gradually start reacting to posts and writing comments (no more than 2–3 per day). Avoid templated or meaningless comments, and interact with posts where you can naturally join a discussion. Do not use AI for comments or discussions. 2. Outbound requests: Send no more than 5 requests per day. It is recommended to add people who are likely to accept (e.g., recruiters). Every 2 weeks, increase the number of daily requests by 2–4 units until you reach 20 requests per day. 🟒 Tip: If you reach LinkedIn's limit on outbound requests, stop this action until the following Monday β€” limits are most often refreshed at the beginning of the week. How to Protect a Warmed-up Profile from Potential Restrictions - Control the number of sessions: No more than 2 active sessions should be open simultaneously (e.g., a work laptop and a smartphone). 🟑 Note: Deleting the app from your smartphone or the browser from your computer does not end a session. Always use the Sign Out function. If access to an old device is lost, go to Settings & Privacy β†’ Sign-in & security β†’ Where you are signed in on your current device and remove unnecessary sessions. - Avoid multi-geolocations: Logging into one profile from different countries raises suspicion. If several people are working on the account, use an anti-detect browser along with proxy servers to avoid IP and MAC address mismatches. - Do not change your base name: Directly changing your first or last name will almost certainly trigger mandatory verification with a minimal chance of recovery. If you need to add a transliteration, use the Add Profile Language function exclusively. - Follow the limits: Determine the safe number of actions for your profile and do not exceed them. β€‹πŸŸ’ Tip: To monitor your profile's health, identify vulnerabilities, and automatically calculate safe limits, use the built-in Smart Limits feature in Grinfi. Details in article: [Smart Limits and Daily Limits settings for the sender profile]

Last updated on Jul 02, 2026

How to Automatically Send Leads from Google Sheets to Grinfi

This guide will help you set up a basic integration between Google Sheets and Grinfi using Google Apps Script. Once configured, data for new contacts will be automatically transferred to your chosen Grinfi list immediately after a new row is added to the spreadsheet. Prerequisites To complete the setup, you will need: - Grinfi API Key. - List UUID: A unique identifier for the list in the system where new contacts will be stored. - Prepared Google Sheet: A document created with relevant columns for data entry: First Name, Last Name, LinkedIn ID (or URL), Email, etc. Additionally: review the full Grinfi API documentation. 🟑 Note: Google Apps Script has execution limits: up to 90 minutes of execution time per day (for free accounts) or 6 hours (for Workspace). For bulk imports (>100 leads at a time), it is better to use the CSV import feature directly in Grinfi. Step 1. Preparing the Spreadsheet Structure For the script to work correctly: - Create column names only in the first row of the sheet - Name the columns exactly as shown in the list below (in English, respecting spaces and capital letters) - "LinkedIn ID" column is mandatory: add the contact's LinkedIn profile link or their ID here - Other columns are optional and can be added as needed List of headers and their values: | Column Name in Table | Value | | --- | --- | | First Name | Contact's first name | | Last Name | Contact's last name | | LinkedIn ID | LinkedIn URL/ID (required field) | | Email | Email address | | Company | Company name | | Position | Job title | | Website | Company domain | | Headline | Profile headline | | Location | Contact's location | Example of a filled table: | First Name | Last Name | LinkedIn ID | Email | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | John | Doe | john-doe-123456 | john.doe@example.com | ​ Step 2. Setting up Google Apps Script 1. Create a Grinfi API Key here. 2. Find the List UUID where contacts will be imported (go to CRM β†’ Lists, click "..." next to the desired list β†’ Copy List ID) 3. Open your Google Sheet. 4. Rename the sheet to "Leads" (if you use a different name, you must update the line var SHEET_NAME = 'Leads'; in the code below with your actual sheet name) 5. In the toolbar, go to Extensions β†’ Apps Script. 6. Paste the code snippet below, replacing YOUR_API_KEY and YOUR_LIST_UUID with your actual data. ​ var GRINFI_API_KEY = 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'; var LIST_UUID = 'YOUR_LIST_UUID'; var SHEET_NAME = 'Leads'; var FIELD_MAP = { 'First Name': 'first_name', 'Last Name': 'last_name', 'LinkedIn ID': 'linkedin_id', 'Email': 'email', 'Company': 'company_name', 'Position': 'position', 'Website': 'domain', 'Headline': 'headline', 'Location': 'raw_address' }; function sendLeadToGrinfi(e) { var sheet = e.source.getActiveSheet(); if (sheet.getName() !== SHEET_NAME) return; var editedRow = e.range.getRow(); if (editedRow <= 1) return; if (editedRow !== sheet.getLastRow()) return; var lastCol = sheet.getLastColumn(); var headers = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, lastCol).getValues()[0]; var values = sheet.getRange(editedRow, 1, 1, lastCol).getValues()[0]; var lead = {}; for (var i = 0; i < headers.length; i++) { var header = headers[i].toString().trim(); var apiField = FIELD_MAP[header]; if (apiField && values[i]) { lead[apiField] = values[i].toString().trim(); } } if (!lead.linkedin_id) return; var payload = { lead: lead, list_uuid: LIST_UUID, update_if_exists: true, move_to_list: true }; var options = { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Authorization': GRINFI_API_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, payload: JSON.stringify(payload), muteHttpExceptions: true }; var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch( 'https://leadgen.grinfi.io/leads/api/leads/upsert', options ); Logger.log('Row ' + editedRow + ': ' + response.getContentText()); } Step 3. Set up a Trigger To ensure the script automatically sends data when a new row is added to the spreadsheet (including when pasting from other sources), you need to configure a trigger: 1. In Apps Script, open the menu on the left: Triggers 2. Click "+ Add Trigger" 3. Select: β€’ Function: sendLeadToGrinfi β€’ Event source: From spreadsheet β€’ Event type: On edit 4. Click Save 5. Allow access to Google Sheets (an authorization window will appear) Step 4. Test the Script 1. Go back to the spreadsheet 2. Add a new row with data (make sure to fill in the LinkedIn ID column) 3. Wait 2–5 seconds 4. Open Grinfi β†’ relevant list, and check if the contact from the spreadsheet has appeared If the contact did not appear: β€’ In Apps Script, open the Execution log and check for errors β€’ Double-check your API Key, List UUID, and Sheet Name. How It Works (Technically) 1. When a new row is added, the set trigger is activated 2. The script verifies: Is this the correct sheet? Is it a new row? Does it have a LinkedIn ID? 3. The script reads column names from row 1 and matches them to API fields using the mapping table (FIELD_MAP) 4. Sends a request to the Grinfi API (If the contact does not exist, the script creates it; if it already exists, it updates the data and moves it to the specified list) 5. The contact appears in the specified list ​

Last updated on Jul 02, 2026

The Importance of Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on LinkedIn

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is an additional layer of protection for your account that requires entering a special verification code when signing in from a new device. Although LinkedIn does not currently make 2FA mandatory for all users, the platform increasingly strongly recommends enabling it. Why You Should Definitely Enable 2FA Setting up two-step verification affects the following aspects of your profile: - Basic account security: This is direct protection against hacking and profile theft. Attackers will not be able to log into your account even if they find out your password. - Increasing Trust Score: LinkedIn algorithms grant a higher level of trust to profiles with 2FA enabled. This significantly reduces the likelihood of restrictions. - Premium package stability: If you use premium subscriptions (such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Recruiter), LinkedIn will strongly require you to set up 2FA. This is often accompanied by sudden forced logouts from the account, search query disruptions, and loss of search progress. Having 2FA allows for stable operation. - Stable integration with Grinfi: The sudden logouts and system issues mentioned above may interrupt the data import process into Grinfi involving the connected profile. Enabling 2FA eliminates this issue and ensures stable data synchronization. How to Enable 2FA in Your LinkedIn Profile 1. Open your LinkedIn profile and click on the Me icon in the top navigation menu. 2. In the dropdown menu, select Settings & Privacy. 3. Go to the Sign in & security section in the left menu. 4. Click on Two-step verification. 5. Click Set up, choose your method (Authenticator app or Phone Number - SMS), and enter your account password. 🟒 Tip: Choose the Authenticator app - this method is more stable than SMS. You can use any popular authenticator application (e.g, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy). 6. Scan the QR code on the screen using your authenticator app. After that, a new line with a six-digit code for LinkedIn will appear in the app. 7. In the LinkedIn interface, click Continue, enter the code generated by the app into the corresponding field, and confirm the action. The setup is now successfully completed.

Last updated on Jul 02, 2026

What to Do If LinkedIn Doesn’t Accept Your Verification Documents?

When attempting to complete identity verification to restore access to your LinkedIn profile, you may encounter a systemic error: You've already submitted a request. Please try again later. This technical glitch often occurs even if you haven't made any attempts to upload documents yet. ​ 🟑 Note: Grinfi is an independent service and does not act as an intermediary or contact person for LinkedIn Support. The tips below are based solely on our practical experience in assisting users. Following these instructions may help bypass external technical glitches and bring LinkedIn Support's attention to your issue, but it does not guarantee a result. 🟑 Platform Changes: LinkedIn constantly updates its algorithms, interfaces, and protocols. Therefore, methods for resolving technical glitches that work effectively now may become outdated in the future. Below are three alternative ways to submit your documents. Method 1: Directly Contacting Support via the Form Create a support ticket directly through a separate contact form. 1. Go to this link: LinkedIn Support Form 2. Fill out the form, briefly and clearly describing the technical issue. 🟒 Tip: Do not describe potential reasons for the block. Simply state that your account is restricted, but you cannot upload documents due to a system error: You've already submitted a request. Please try again later. 3. Wait for an automated response in your email. The system will send a template message stating that a temporary restriction has been placed on the account with a list of reasons, and that access will be restored shortly (the context of this message often does not reflect the actual situation). 4. Reply to this automated email within the same thread, do not create a new ticket. In your reply, mention that you are surprised by the restriction (not that you "disagree"), as you have not violated any platform rules (if that is indeed the case based on the listed reasons). Ask them to provide a direct, working link for submitting verification documents because the standard form is not functioning. Usually, after this exchange, a live support agent will send a personalized link for uploading documents that works correctly. Method 2: Reaching Out via Official Social Media Pages In cases where official support cannot resolve your issue, it may be helpful to attract their specialists' attention through public channels or private messages on other platforms. 1. Write a post on Twitter (X) or send a direct message on Instagram. 2. Briefly describe the problem: your account is blocked, the verification form shows a system error, and support has been unable to resolve your issue. 3. Make sure to tag official accounts: @LinkedIn or @LinkedInHelp. This significantly increases the chances that your request will be seen quickly by a real support specialist and taken into processing. Method 3: Submitting Documents via Access Recovery (Email Change) This method allows you to force-generate a new verification form by simulating loss of access to your email. 1. Go to the LinkedIn Login page. 2. Click Forgot password? 3. Enter the current email address linked to your profile 4. On the next screen, click No longer have access to this email? 5. Enter a new, backup email address that you have direct access to After that, LinkedIn will redirect you to a new verification form. After successful verification, LinkedIn will send an email to the new address with instructions to reset your password and remove the restrictions.

Last updated on Jul 02, 2026

LinkedIn Connection Limits: How to Avoid and Remove Restrictions

Recently, a trend has been observed where high-trust profiles that have consistently sent 100+ connection requests per week over a long period are facing sharp restrictions. In addition, LinkedIn users are encountering so-called cyclical limits: at the beginning of the calendar week, LinkedIn allows sending 10-20 requests, after which it imposes restrictions until the end of the week. With the start of a new week, the situation repeats, creating a cycle that is difficult to break. This guide outlines the likely reasons for these sanctions and provides an algorithm of actions to restore full profile functionality. 🟑 Note: Grinfi is an independent service and does not act as a mediator or contact person for LinkedIn Support. The tips below are based solely on our practical experience in helping users. Following these instructions may help resolve limit issues, but does not guarantee a result. 🟑 Platform Changes: LinkedIn constantly updates its algorithms, interfaces, and protocols. Therefore, methods that work effectively now may lose relevance in the future. Reasons for Restrictions There are two main scenarios where a profile may face harsh limits: 1. Testing of new security mechanisms (current as of early 2026). Based on our observations, LinkedIn periodically tests new restriction algorithms. A profile may fall into a control group of users to whom new limits are applied, even in the absence of direct violations. 2. Long-term operation under high load. If a profile functions at the edge of limits for a long time without following safety rules, LinkedIn records the accumulated risk. This attracts the attention of algorithms and leads to forced activity restriction. Key Risk Factors and Their Neutralization LinkedIn’s security system analyzes multiple metrics. We have identified the most critical factors and grouped them for easier analysis. Technical Settings and Session Patterns - Use of VPN or unstable proxy servers. IP addresses from free or shared services are often compromised by other users' actions and are on blacklists. Solution: Use exclusively private proxies from verified providers. It is categorically not recommended to use a VPN for account work. ​ - Abnormal activity schedule. A profile staying in "online" status 24/7 is a classic indicator of automation. Solution: Total online session time should not exceed 12-14 hours per day. Avoid any activity (even browsing the feed) late at night in your local time. Internal Profile Metrics - Accumulation of Pending Requests. Having over 1000 pending requests signals to the system a mass, untargeted outreach. Solution: Regularly check the pending block and withdraw old requests gradually, without applying mass actions. Maintain their number at a level not exceeding 1000. ​ - Sudden spikes in activity. If a new profile or a previously inactive account suddenly starts performing an unusually high number of actions daily, LinkedIn flags this as suspicious behavior. Solution: Increase volumes gradually. Start with minimal values and steadily scale activity week by week. ​ - Low conversion rates (Acceptance Rate < 15%, Reply Rate < 10%). A low percentage of accepted requests and replies indicates that your messages are perceived as irrelevant or violating platform rules. Solution: Conduct an audit of your strategy. Review your value proposition and ensure proper audience targeting. User Feedback - Reports on the profile. Regular spam complaints quickly lead to restrictions. Solution: Adapt your communication strategy to be less intrusive. Ensure you are not offering services to irrelevant contacts. ​ - Declined requests with the mark "I don't know this person". Solution: It is impossible to directly influence this metric, but high-quality targeting reduces its frequency. 🟑 Note: According to the LinkedIn User Agreement, the platform is intended for interaction between people who know each other professionally. Mass-adding strangers is considered a violation of this policy. Algorithm of Actions if Restricted If your profile has received a limit or is in a cyclic restriction, follow these steps: 1. Stop attempts to send requests. Repeated attempts to bypass the system limit message are identified as bot behavior. Usually, the restriction lasts until next Monday or exactly one calendar week. Make the next attempt only after this period ends. 🟑 Note: As of early 2026, one-day restrictions have also been observed. 2. Record the limit and begin a smooth recovery. Determine how many requests you managed to send on the day the limit was applied. After the restrictions are lifted, for the first 2-3 weeks, do not exceed this daily amount. From weeks 3-4, start gradually increasing volumes until previous indicators are restored. 3. Full stop (for chronic restrictions). If you have repeatedly hit weekly limits, completely suspend sending new requests for 2-3 weeks. Maintain communication only in existing dialogues. 🟒 Tip: During outreach recovery, temporarily focus on the audience with the highest probability of acceptance (e.g., HR specialists or recruiters in your niche). This allows you to quickly demonstrate a high Acceptance Rate to LinkedIn. Restoring Profile Trust To demonstrate natural behavior to LinkedIn algorithms during the pause and after campaign recovery, it is necessary to simulate organic user activity: - Feed interaction (Dwell time). Spend 10-20 minutes daily browsing the news feed. Pause on posts, open articles and videos. LinkedIn tracks the time spent viewing content, distinguishing thoughtful reading from automated scrolling. - Commenting (2-3 times a day). Leave meaningful comments (15+ words) on publications in your professional niche. Important: Do not use artificial intelligence to generate texts as algorithms effectively detect generated content. - Content Publication (once a week). Create original professional posts (without using AI). Use interactive formats: polls, PDF carousels. Reposts of others' materials must be accompanied by your own detailed comment. - Community participation. Engage in LinkedIn groups relevant to your field: answer colleagues' questions, initiate professional discussions, and share useful materials. - Profile Verification. If your account does not yet have a verification badge, it is recommended to go through this procedure. As a standalone parameter, self-verification does not play a huge role, but in combination with the actions described above, it helps increase the trust level in the profile. 🟑 Note: LinkedIn algorithms store and analyze profile activity history for the last 90 days. Even after successfully exiting restrictions, your digital footprint remains in a zone of increased attention. Continue regular organic activity and avoid sharp spikes in messaging or connection request metrics.

Last updated on Jul 02, 2026