What to write in a LinkedIn connection request note

01What should you write in a LinkedIn connection request?

Write the reason you picked them and one question. Leave out the pitch, the link and the meeting request. The reason earns the accept, and the question earns the reply.

Four steps get you there.

1. Find the reason. A post, a comment, a job ad, a launch or a shared group answer. It has to be something they said or did, not something true of half of LinkedIn.

2. State it as a fact they’ll recognize. Name the post or the job, in one clause. Don’t explain why it matters yet.

3. Ask one question they can answer in a line. Give them two likely answers if you can, so replying takes ten seconds.

4. Cut everything else. No greeting filler, no praise with no detail, no “I’d love to connect.” If a sentence doesn’t carry the reason or the question, delete it.

Sample notes that follow this shape, each with its reason and character count.

• [Reason: a new job posting] “Saw your careers page lists a first AE role. Until they start, who carries the pipeline, you or the team?” (105 characters)

• [Reason: a recent post] “Your post about a renewal slipping stuck with me. Was the handoff the problem, or the setup after it?” (101 characters)

• [Reason: a comment on another founder’s post] “Your comment about rebuilding the forecast by hand stuck with me. How many hours does that eat each Monday?” (107 characters)

• [Reason: an answer in a shared group] “Your answer in the founders group about pricing a first enterprise deal was the most useful one there. Seats or usage?” (118 characters)

• [Reason: a funding announcement] “Your funding note said the money goes to doubling the team. Will new hires get a pipeline, or build their own first?” (116 characters)

None of these mention a product. That part comes later, after they answer.

02Should you add a note to a LinkedIn connection request?

Add one when you have a real reason to write. In Belkins’ 2025 data, invitations with a note were accepted a little less often (25.3% against 27.6%) but got more replies (8.2% against 5.3%).

So a note costs a couple of points of acceptance and buys conversations, according to the study, updated June 2026.

Here’s the decision rule we use: no reason, no note. And if there’s no reason, the better move is often no invitation at all. Sending to someone with nothing to say to them just spends your weekly cap on a person who won’t reply.

03How long can a LinkedIn connection request note be?

LinkedIn’s Help pages disagree: one page says every note can run to 200 characters. An older page about Premium, a6239760, says 200 on a free account and 300 on Premium. Write to 200 and your note fits either way.

LinkedIn changes limits in the app before its help pages catch up. If the counter in your own note box shows a different number, believe the counter.

04How many personalized notes can you send on a free account?

LinkedIn’s pages disagree again. One says three personalized invitations a month, checked on a page updated about five months before we read it. Two others, a550555 and a6239760, still say five.

Premium members can send unlimited personalized invitations either way, so this conflict only matters on a free account. If your app shows three left this month, plan around that number rather than the older figure.

05Why can’t you add a note to your connection request?

The usual reason is that a free account has used its personalized notes for the month. On mobile, the option also moves: it sits under More, then Personalize Invite, not next to the Connect button itself.

06How do you send a connection request with a note?

On desktop: go to their profile, click Connect, then click Add a note, write it, and click Send. On mobile: open their profile, tap More at the top, tap Personalize Invite, write your note, and tap Send.

Those steps come straight from LinkedIn’s own help page on personalizing invitations. If a step looks different on your screen, LinkedIn has likely changed its layout since this page was checked.

07What does your note look like to the person receiving it?

Your note arrives with your invitation, next to your name, photo and headline, so those three things get read in the same glance as your reason.

That means your profile has to hold up its end. If your headline is blank or your photo is missing, a strong note still lands next to a weak first impression. We haven’t verified the exact layout on every account type, so treat this as the general shape rather than a pixel-perfect description.

08How do you reach out to someone on LinkedIn for the first time?

Send an invitation with a short note that says why you’re writing now and asks one question. If you’re already connected, send a message built the same way: a reason, then a question, no pitch.

The formula doesn’t change once you’re connected, only the character limit does. See ten real-looking messages rewritten the same way for what that looks like past the invitation stage.

09How do you get more replies to LinkedIn messages?

Replies come from relevance: a reason the person recognizes and a question that’s easy to answer. Vague praise and generic questions get skipped, because they ask for effort without giving a reason to spend it.

After the first message, one follow-up that adds something new can catch someone who meant to reply and forgot. Our guide to that one follow-up covers timing and what to say.

10Should you engage with someone’s posts before reaching out?

Only if it’s genuine and about their problem. A like on a viral post isn’t a reason, and naming it in a note won’t fool anyone.

A thoughtful comment can become the reason itself. If you left a real comment on their post about a problem they’re solving, that’s worth naming in your note later. What counts as a real signal covers this in more depth.

11Should you follow or connect with a prospect?

Follow lets you see their posts without asking to connect. Connect sends an invitation and, once accepted, opens free messaging.

Follow when you want context before you write. Connect when you already have a reason to talk. Following someone for a few weeks to collect real signals, then connecting with one of them in your note, works better than connecting cold and hoping a reason turns up.

12When is the best time to send connection requests?

LinkedIn publishes no best time to send, and we haven’t seen a study that settles the question either. We send on weekdays, in our client’s working hours, and spread invitations across the week rather than sending them all at once.

Spreading sends also keeps you further from the bursts that LinkedIn names as a cause of restrictions. A short, steady pace reads as normal use.

13How should you set up your profile before you send?

Make sure your headline says who you help, your photo is clear, and your recent activity doesn’t contradict your note. People check your profile before they accept an invitation, so it has to back up what the note says.

Our free audit checks your profile the way a buyer would: a score out of 100, the fixes that matter most, and the plan we’d start you on.

Get my free audit

14How do you do cold outreach when nobody knows you?

Lead with their situation, not your credentials. A specific reason they can check and a real question work even from a total stranger, because the reason does the convincing, not your title.

Your profile then has to hold up its end once they click through. That’s the same rule as the section above: the note earns the click, the profile earns the accept.

15When do free connection notes reset each month?

LinkedIn doesn’t say which day of the month the count resets. Its Help pages only say the free notes are counted per month, without naming a reset date.

Until LinkedIn publishes one, the better habit is to track your own sends and assume the count resets on the date your account was created, checking against your app’s own counter if it shows one.

16Quick answers

17Before you send: check your own note

If you’d rather check your own note than count characters by hand, our free checker counts the length and flags a pitch or a merge field before you send.