How to download your Ancestry tree to your computer
Keep your own copy of your Ancestry tree, with its photos and documents, on your computer. Free RootsMagic Essentials
downloads the whole tree into a RootsMagic file in a few steps. From there you can work offline, print it, back it up,
or make a GEDCOM file for another program.
Watch it, step by step
See the whole download in RootsMagic 12, from a new file to your tree with its photos, in under two minutes.
Playing the video loads it from YouTube.
Step by step
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Install RootsMagic Essentials
Download RootsMagic Essentials free for Windows or Mac and install it. If you already have RootsMagic, open it.
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Start a new file from Ancestry
Select the page and click . (If no file is open, the page has it too.) Choose , then .
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Name the file
Enter a name for your new RootsMagic file, choose where to put it (a recent folder, or ), and click .
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Sign in to Ancestry
Your web browser opens the Ancestry sign-in page. Sign in there, entering the security code if you use two-step verification. RootsMagic waits with a message that closes by itself once you’re signed in. If you closed the browser, click .
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Pick your tree
RootsMagic lists the trees you own and the trees shared with you as an Editor. Select the tree and click . The magnifying glass beside a tree opens it on Ancestry in your browser, if you want to check it first.
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Let it download
RootsMagic downloads the tree, imports it, and then downloads its photos and other media. Large trees with many pictures take longer, depending on your internet speed.
Already have a file open? Click at the bottom of the side
menu, sign in, and click , which brings it into a new
RootsMagic file.
What you can do with it
When the download finishes, your tree opens in RootsMagic with its photos and documents, ready to use offline. Here’s what you can do next.
Make a GEDCOM file
Select the page, then , then . Export everyone or just the people you choose, with privacy options for living people.
Keep it in step
With the full version, TreeShare shares changes between RootsMagic and Ancestry, your choice of what goes each way. RootsMagic and Ancestry.
Get your copy of your tree
Download RootsMagic Essentials free, then follow the steps above. When you're ready for more, the full version is a one-time purchase of $29.95.
Questions
Yes.
RootsMagic Essentials, the free edition, downloads an Ancestry tree into a new RootsMagic file on your computer. You need an Ancestry account that can see the tree.
Yes. RootsMagic downloads the tree's media along with the people in it.
Yes, if it was shared with you as an Editor. RootsMagic lists the trees you own and the trees shared with you with Editor rights.
Download the tree into RootsMagic first. Then select the File page, click Export Data, and choose GEDCOM File. You can export everyone or just the people you pick, and choose whether to include notes, sources, and media links.
With the full version of RootsMagic, TreeShare compares your RootsMagic file and your Ancestry tree and lets you choose which changes to share each way, and you can review Ancestry hints inside RootsMagic.
More about RootsMagic and Ancestry.