Most LinkedIn connection errors come down to one of three things: 2FA isn't enabled, LinkedIn flagged the attempt as suspicious, or your proxy is misbehaving. Here's how to fix each one — and the order to try them in.
🔌 The Three Connection Methods
Prosp gives you three ways to connect a LinkedIn account. When one fails, the right move is usually to try the next one.
Credentials method — recommended in most cases. Most stable for long-term sessions.
Extension method — usually the easiest, especially if Credentials is failing. Requires the Prosp Chrome extension.
Cookie method — the manual fallback. Useful if the first two won't go through.
🚫 "Failed to Connect" Error
If you see "Failed to connect. Make sure you are logged in to LinkedIn", 2FA is almost always the culprit.
Go to LinkedIn and enable Two-step verification under Settings & Privacy > Sign in & security.
Come back to Prosp and try connecting again.
If 2FA is already enabled, turn it off and back on, then try connecting again.
🔑 "Wrong Credentials" Error
If you see a "wrong credentials" error when trying to connect via the Credentials method, here's what to check:
Double-check your LinkedIn email and password before trying again. This is the most common cause — and the easiest to miss.
Verify the email address — Make sure you're using the exact email associated with your LinkedIn account, not a different one (e.g. work vs. personal).
Test your password — Log out of LinkedIn in a browser and log back in manually to confirm the password works.
Check for special characters — Some password managers insert invisible characters. Try typing the password manually instead of pasting.
If the password is correct and the error persists, try the Extension or Cookie method instead.
🤖 "Captcha Detected" Error
When LinkedIn flags the connection attempt as suspicious — usually because too many attempts happened in a short window — you'll see a captcha error asking you to slow down.
Make sure you're logged into LinkedIn in the same browser you're using for Prosp.
Do some basic activity on LinkedIn first — view a few profiles, scroll the feed, like a post. This warms the session up.
Wait a few minutes, then try connecting again using the Extension method.
Going forward, keep your daily and weekly connection request limits within the recommended thresholds to avoid this.
⏱️ Timeouts or JSON Errors
Timeouts and "Unexpected token… is not valid JSON" errors are usually a proxy issue, not an account issue.
Go to Settings and switch your proxy to the United States.
Try connecting the account again.
Once the account is connected, change the proxy back to your desired country.
If you're based close to your target market (e.g. France) and a US proxy keeps failing, do the opposite: switch to your local country, connect with the Extension method, and fall back to the Cookie method if that fails.
💬 If None Work
If you've tried all three connection methods and you're still stuck, send support:
The link to the LinkedIn account you're trying to connect.
Your workspace URL.
Which methods you've already tried and the exact error you saw on each.
We'll get the team to check it from our side.
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