How to Use Your Findmypast Family Tree

Starting a family tree can seem intimidating, especially when you think about the long hours of research and detail needed to make it perfect. That's why Findmypast wants to help make your family tree building as easy as possible. Our free family tree builder has lots of useful features that will make your experience easier and a whole lot of fun. But, like any new activity or hobby, it may take some getting used to. Below are the basics you need to know in order to begin creating your family tree. First up, an introductory video, followed by step-by step guides with helpful animations showing exactly how to do what's being described.

First Things First!

How to create a family tree:

Already Have a Tree?

A GEDCOM is an acronym for Genealogical Data Communication and it is a way of formatting your family tree data into a text file. They can be quite hard to read so, to make it easier for you, you can upload this file to our family tree builder and your family tree will grow right before your eyes. If you have more than one GEDCOM file, don't worry, you can upload as many as you want! Just be sure to save them under different names.

How to upload your GEDCOM file:

Grow Your Tree

Family trees are constantly growing. Thankfully, adding people to your tree is an easy process. Simply follow the steps below.

How to add people:

Get a Fresh Perspective

It's easy to get fixed or stuck on one member or branch of your tree, so why not get a new perspective? Using the 'Family View' drop down button on our family tree builder, you can change the view. There are five different views, ranging from narrow to broad. Multiple perspectives will allow you to search and sort your tree so it's nice and organised. Organisation is key when researching your family history, after all.

How to change the view:

Take a Hint

What's a hint, you might be asking. Hints alert you to potential matches in our records for people on your tree The more people you add to your tree, the more hints your will receive. It's like having your own professional genealogist! Be sure to regularly review your hints. You never know what they might find for you...

How to Use Your Findmypast Family Tree: Hints

How to Use Your Findmypast Family Tree: Advanced Features

How to Use Your Findmypast Family Tree: Icon Guide