Ancestry lets you download your tree as a GEDCOM file in a few clicks. It is worth doing even with no plans to leave: a copy on your own disk survives price changes, account problems, and anything else that might happen to the website.

The steps

  1. Sign in to Ancestry and open the tree.
  2. Click the tree name at the top left and choose Tree Settings. (Also reachable from Trees > Create & Manage Trees > Manage tree.)
  3. On the Tree Settings page, find the box on the right labelled Manage your tree. Click Export tree.
  4. Ancestry prepares the file. For a large tree this can take a minute or two. The button changes to Download your GEDCOM file when ready.
  5. Click it and save the .ged file somewhere findable.

Labels are as of mid-2026. If Export tree has moved, it is still on the Tree Settings page; look for the word Export.

What is in the file

People, relationships, dates, places, and the source citations Ancestry attached to facts. Notes and comments you typed. Ancestry's own record references, which appear as a tag called _APID on each citation and identify which Ancestry collection a fact came from.

What is not in the file

  • Photos and documents. Ancestry's GEDCOM export does not include media, and there is no bulk photo download from the website. There is a way around that using a desktop program; see the guide on getting your photos out of Ancestry.
  • Hints, DNA matches, ThruLines, and anything else that is Ancestry's analysis rather than your data.
  • The record images behind citations. The citation text comes; the census page itself stays on Ancestry.
  • Repositories. Ancestry files usually arrive with few or none, so the repository list in a viewer may be empty. That is the file, not the viewer.

Good to know

The file is standard GEDCOM 5.5.1 and opens in every desktop program and viewer, including GED-VIEW. If you have several trees, each exports separately. Living people are included with their details; if the file is going to anyone else, read the guide on sharing without exposing living relatives first.

Next

Open the file in GED-VIEW and look at the Sources page. It shows how much of the evidence is Ancestry citations, and where the gaps are.