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Download a GEDCOM from FamilySearch.

For years the answer was “you can't — use a third-party app.” That changed: FamilySearch now has an official export that saves your ancestors from the shared Family Tree as a GEDCOM file. Here's the new way, and the fuller old way.

  1. Sign in and open the export page

    Go to familysearch.org/innovate/export while signed in to your free FamilySearch account. This is FamilySearch Labs' official tree-export feature — if the address has moved, search FamilySearch for “export GEDCOM” to find its current home.

  2. Start the export from yourself

    The tool walks your ancestor lines in the shared Family Tree — up to 8 generations starting from you — and packages them as a GEDCOM file in the modern GEDCOM 7 format.

  3. Download the .ged file

    When the export finishes, download it. Large ancestor sets can take a moment to generate; the result is a plain .ged file you can open anywhere.

  4. Need more than direct ancestors? Use a certified app

    The official export covers your ancestor lines, not cousins and descendants. For a fuller branch, use a FamilySearch-certified desktop program — RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, or Legacy Family Tree — sign in to FamilySearch from inside it, download the branch you want into the program, then use its own File → Export GEDCOM.

Why this is different from other sites: FamilySearch's Family Tree is one shared, collaborative tree for everyone — you don't own a private copy, which is why a simple “download my tree” button took so long to exist. What you export is a snapshot of a branch as it stands today; other contributors can change the live tree afterwards. Photos and documents are not included in the GEDCOM.

Got the .ged file? Open it.

Drop it into the free viewer to explore every person, chart, and place — or convert it straight to PDF, Excel, or a shareable web page. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Open the viewerBrowse the tools

You'll get a GEDCOM 7 file — that's fine

GEDCOM 7 is the 2021 revision of the standard, and FamilySearch (its steward) exports in it natively. Modern programs read it; the gedfile.com viewer and every tool on this site handle both 7.0 and the older 5.5.1. If a legacy desktop program refuses the file, open it here and use the converters — or read what actually changed in the format guide.