FTM complete guide for Gedcom files

Introduction 

If you are a computer enthusiast, you must have heard something about GEDCOM files. But what exactly are GEDCOM files? Firstly, it stands for ‘Genealogical Data Communication. In simple words, it is a file that contains text, human readable lines and allows you to exchange genealogical data between various genealogy softwares. Genealogy is the study of families, their histories and their lineages.

 

How to create and access GEDCOM file? 

A most frequently asked questions is, ‘How to create and access a GEDCOM file?’

To access GEDCOM files on your computer, you must first have a genealogy software installed.

Once done, you can create a GEDCOM file by: 

• Open the family tree in your software and submit it to World Connect.
• Open the file drop down menu and click on ‘Save Se’ or ‘Export’
• Select your desired file location and enter the name of your file and save it with a .ged extension or click on ‘GED selection’

 

To access someone else’s GEDCOM file from the internet is simple. Genealogists upload their GEDCOM files on various sites. You can browse here for a file that matches your ancestors and download it with all the family instructions, on your computer. Use your genealogy software to merge the data into your own file.

Another way is to import the GEDCOM file to your computer from your genealogy software. You can click on import from the file drop down menu and choose GEDCOM as the source from which you are importing the file. The software will access the file and you can view your family’s history.

 

How to share GEDCOM files

I can’t move forward without raising the issue of sharing GEDCOM files.

To share your GEDCOM file, just follow these simple steps:

• Locate the file on your computer’s hard drive
• Add a source (person’s address, name etc) to know where the information came from
• Select and import the file using your genealogy software
• Link the multimedia files and share your GEDCOM file.

 

Merging GEDCOM files

Another important thing to know when using GEDCOM files is that can you merge files?

But why is there a need to merge files? The answer to this is that you may find files that have similar lineage and duplicate records. Thus, to reduce confusion and extend your family lineage, you can merge GEDCOM files.

 

If you use Family Tree maker, you can merge files from the people pull down menu. You can either manually merge individuals or allow the programmed to search for duplicates. You must go through the Display Merge Report and then merge matching information.

The Family Tree maker will automatically find your potential family tree members and display their information to you so you can choose which pairs to merge.

 

Conclusion

Using GEDCOM files is a fairly easy process. But if you still stuck in it. You can just chat with our executive or contact us directly for more issues regarding ancestry helper and ancestry login. Our team will guide you step by step at ease.