People search for "export GEDCOM from FamilySearch" and get confused, because the answer is not a button. Understanding why changes what to do.

Why there is no export button

Ancestry and MyHeritage host your tree. FamilySearch hosts one enormous tree that everyone edits together. Your ancestors are in it alongside everyone else's, and each person is meant to appear once, no matter how many descendants are working on them.

Because there is no "your tree", there is nothing to export as such. FamilySearch does offer a limited download of up to eight generations of your ancestors (ancestors only, no descendants), in GEDCOM 7 format and without photos or memories, on a page FamilySearch itself now marks as unsupported and steers people away from. It is useful for a quick look, and not much more.

The way that works

Use a desktop program that connects to FamilySearch. Several are certified to do it. They walk out from a person as far as you like, download the people, facts and sources into a database on your computer, and then export a normal GEDCOM.

RootsMagic is the usual recommendation, and the free RootsMagic Essentials version can do it. Ancestral Quest and Family Tree Maker also connect. Legacy has FamilySearch integration in its paid version. All work the same way: sign in inside the program, choose a starting person, and pull down.

Once the branch is in the desktop program, export a GEDCOM from there. See the RootsMagic guide.

What you get and what you don't

You get names, relationships, dates, places, and the sources attached in FamilySearch, at least those the program supports.

You do not get Memories (photos, documents, stories, audio). Those live on FamilySearch and are not part of any export path. If they matter, download them one at a time from the person's Memories page.

You do not get anything about living people other than yourself and those you added, because FamilySearch keeps living people private.

A caution about large branches

Because the tree is shared, some of what comes down is other people's work, and some of it is wrong. That is what a tree with millions of contributors looks like. Treat the download as a starting point to be checked. GED-VIEW's Issues page is a reasonable first pass for the impossible dates and duplicates that tend to come along.

Next

Install RootsMagic Essentials, connect it to FamilySearch, and pull down your direct line first. Export a GEDCOM and open it in GED-VIEW. Then decide how much further out to go.