How to Export a GEDCOM File from Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch and Desktop Programs

Step-by-step instructions for downloading your family tree as a GEDCOM (.ged) file from the most popular genealogy websites and desktop programs.

Every chart and book on PrintFamilyTree starts with a GEDCOM file, so the first question we hear is always the same: how do I get one? The answer depends on where your tree lives. Below are the current steps for the most popular services and programs.

Ancestry

1. Open your tree and click the tree name in the top-left corner to open the menu.
2. Choose Tree Settings.
3. On the Tree Info tab, find Manage your tree and click Export tree.
4. Wait for the green button to appear, then click Download your GEDCOM file.

Ancestry exports names, events, relationships and source citations. Photos and record images are not included in the file; only references to them are.

MyHeritage

1. Go to Family tree and open Manage trees.
2. Click Export to GEDCOM next to the tree you want.
3. Choose whether to include photos (as links) and confirm. You will receive an e-mail with a download link, or the file will download immediately.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch's shared Family Tree does not have a one-click export of an arbitrary branch, but you have two options:

• Use a desktop program that synchronises with FamilySearch (RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, Legacy) and export a GEDCOM from there.
• Use the Genealogies section to upload your own GEDCOM; the file you uploaded can always be downloaded again.

Family Tree Maker

1. Open File and choose Export.
2. Select Entire file or a subset of individuals.
3. Set the output format to GEDCOM 5.5 and the character set to UTF-8.
4. Save the .ged file.

Gramps

Choose Family Trees → Export, select GEDCOM and follow the assistant. Gramps lets you filter living people and limit the export to a branch.

RootsMagic and Legacy Family Tree

Both programs have File → Export with a GEDCOM option. Keep the default settings unless you know you need something special, and prefer UTF-8 where the program asks.

Settings that matter

• Character encoding: choose UTF-8 whenever possible so that accented and non-Latin letters survive.
• Living people: some programs privatise living people, replacing names with Living. For a family reunion chart you probably want real names; for a public website you do not.
• Notes and sources: include them if you plan to generate a book. They become the citations and the stories.

Check the file before you use it

Open the .ged file in a text editor and look at the first lines. You should see 0 HEAD, a SOUR line naming the program, and a CHAR line with the encoding. If names look garbled, export again with UTF-8. Then upload the file to PrintFamilyTree and choose the person you want at the centre of your chart.