In this post, I will show how to generate a GEDCOM file from an Ancestry.com Member Tree, since I’ve found many people don’t seem to be aware this feature exists.
Click here if you’d like to open the Ancestry.com website in a new window/tab to make it easier to follow along with these steps.
1) To download a GEDCOM file from an Ancestry.com Member Tree, select the family tree with the DNA test taker’s ancestral information from the Family Trees drop-down menu at the Ancestry.com website.
2) On the left of the page, click the three circles drop-down menu and select Tree Settings.
3) At the lower right, click the Export tree link.
4) Upon clicking the Export tree link, you will see a message saying Generating a GEDCOM file… along with a counter showing the percentage completed. After the counter reaches 100%, click the Download your GEDCOM file button that appears.
Clicking the Download your GEDCOM file button will begin downloading the file to your computer, saving it in your Downloads folder (or the folder you’ve designated for downloads in your Internet browser).
Congratulations, you have successfully downloaded your GEDCOM file! If you experience any problems while following these steps, or notice that a screen has changed from what I’ve shown in the screenshots, please let me know by commenting on this thread or sending me an email.
Now that you’ve successfully downloaded your Ancestry DNA test results file, this file needs to be uploaded to the GEDmatch website (http://www.gedmatch.com). The purpose of this post is to show, in easy to understand steps, how to take the test results file you downloaded to your computer and upload it to the GEDmatch site.
Click here if you’d like to open the GEDmatch website in a new window/tab to make it easier to follow along with these steps.
1) When you go to the GEDmatch site, you will see a page which allows you to log in with your existing account information, or to register for an account. If you have already registered for an account, please sign in, and then jump ahead to step 6 below. Otherwise, click the JOIN FOR FREE button at the top right.
2) On the User Registration page, you need to enter your first and last name, your email address (twice), and password of choice (twice), into the corresponding boxes. The name entered here is what will become your GEDmatch Log-in Profile, and is the name which will be displayed to people you match, or on results pages. For extra privacy, however, you can enter an alias into the Optional Alias box, if you wish. Once you’ve completed entering your information in the boxes, click on the Register button.
3) Upon clicking the Register button, you will be be taken to a screen letting you know that a ‘Registration Confirmation Code’ has been emailed to you. You need to keep your Internet browser running, and on this page, until you receive the email with the code. If you accidentally close this page, you will need to start the registration process over from step 1 above. Once you receive your code, enter it into the box and click on the Confirm button.
4) Upon clicking the Confirm button, you will be taken to a page letting you know your registration is successful. Click on the Login button at the top right.
5) Login using your email address and password. You will be taken to a page with the GEDmatch Terms Of Service. At the bottom of the page is the option to accept the T Of Service, reject the Terms Of Service, or to decide later. Assuming you agree to the Terms Of Service, click Here in the Accept box.
6) Once logged in, on the GEDmatch home page, about halfway down on the right, is the option to Upload Your DNA. Click anywhere in this box.
7) You will be taken to the Upload utility for raw DNA files page. Click on the Browse button which will open up a dialog box allowing you to navigate to where the Ancestry DNA test results zipped archive file is located on your computer. This is the file that you downloaded following the steps shown in my last post. In order to be sure you have selected the correct file, check that it has .zip at the end. In the Name of Donor box, enter the name/username that your DNA test is listed under on Ancestry DNA. It is important to match the Ancestry DNA name/username exactly, including capitalization, initials, periods, etc. for the GEDmatch tools to work properly. If you are not comfortable having your Ancestry name/username displayed with people you match on GEDmatch, or displayed on GEDmatch search results pages, enter what you would like to be displayed in place of your name into the Alias box. Many people use initials, and/or add the phrase “(administered by)” when managing the test results of a relative. For example, my mother’s test displays as S. M. W. (administered by Dan Stone), although this also happens to match how her test is displayed on Ancestry DNA since I manage her test there. Select the sex of the tester.
Continuing down the page, in the Name of Testing Company dropdown box, select Ancestry
Continuing down the page, leave the haplogroup boxes blank, for now, unless you are certain of what these are. Leaving them blank will have no impact on your GEDmatch comparisons. Under the Raw Data To GEDmatch section, select the appropriate option as to whether the file is your DNA, or the DNA of someone who granted you authorization to upload their DNA.
Continuing down the page, under the Privacy Options section, select either Opt In or Opt Out depending on your preference.
Continuing down the page, under the Upload File section, click in the box next to I’m not a robot and then click the Upload button.
After a brief bit of processing, you will be taken to a screen confirming your upload is complete and providing you with your kit number. Keep a record of this kit number, as you will use it to do your comparisons as well as to use the other tools at GEDmatch. Congratulations, you have successfully uploaded your Ancestry DNA test results file to GEDmatch!
If you experience any problems while following these steps, or notice that a screen has changed from what I’ve shown in the screenshots, please let me know by commenting on this thread or sending me an email. Thanks for reading.
After they learn of the benefits of using the GEDmatch website, I am frequently told by my Ancestry DNA matches that they would like to use the GEDmatch tools, but are unsure how to get their Ancestry DNA test results to the GEDmatch site and how to interpret the data the site provides. The purpose of this post is to show, in easy to understand steps, how to get your Ancestry DNA test results downloaded to your computer so they can then be uploaded to the GEDmatch site. My next blog post will show how to take this downloaded file and get it properly uploaded to the GEDmatch site. Then, I will begin a series of posts showing how to start using the GEDmatch site and tools.
Prior to writing this post, I’ve been referring people to Roberta Estes’ blog post on how to download your Ancestry DNA test results. My purpose in creating my own post is not to take away from Roberta’s post, but to complement it with additional information, such as the corresponding step of uploading the file you’ve downloaded to the GEDmatch site. Roberta has done an excellent job of outlining the download steps, although Ancestry has subsequently made changes to some of the screens shown, which is another reason I wanted to offer an updated version of the steps involved. Roberta’s blog is one that I highly recommend you take a look at as you continue to learn more about using DNA testing in your genealogy research.
Click here if you’d like to open the Ancestry.com website in a new window/tab to make it easier to follow along with these steps.
1) The first step to downloading your Ancestry DNA test results is to sign in to the Ancestry.com website. After signing in to your Ancestry.com account, go to the DNA dropdown menu at the top of the page and click on Your Results Summary.
2) On the next page page, click on the Settings box at the top right.
3) On the next page, scroll to the bottom and click on Download DNA data.
4) On the next page, click in the box next to “I understand that after I download my DNA Data…” and then click Continue.
5) Verify your account either by receiving a code via email or by entering your Ancestry password. Ancestry will then email you instructions for how to download your DNA data file. This email may take up to 24 hours to show up in your inbox, although it usually only takes a few minutes.
6) Once you receive the email, click the Download DNA Data button.
7) Ancestry.com will open in your browser and give you a Download DNA Data button. When you click on this button, you should have the option to determine where on your computer you want to save the downloaded file. I would suggest saving it on your desktop to make it easy to find.
The downloaded file will be in a zipped (compressed) archive format, which ends with the .zip extension. While you can unzip the zipped archive file, and then open the file in a word processor or text editor if you would like to see what it looks like, you need to keep a copy of the zipped archive as this is the file format the GEDmatch site uses.
Note to Macintosh users: When downloading a zipped archive folder on the Macintosh, the resulting file is usually automatically unzipped, placing the unzipped file in your downloads folder and the zipped archive file in the Trash. In these cases, you need to retrieve the zipped archive file from the Trash and move it to a different folder (the Download folder or Documents folder are good choices) in order to upload the file to the GEDmatch website.
Congratulations, you have successfully downloaded your Ancestry DNA test results file! If you experience any problems while following these steps, or notice that a screen has changed from what I’ve shown in the screenshots, please let me know by commenting on this thread or sending me an email. Next, we’ll upload our file to GEDmatch so we can begin making DNA comparisons. Thanks for reading.
Adventures In Genealogy Research: No Stone Unturned/The Wright Stuff 