About GEDCOM files.



When you find a connecting line, RIGHT-CLICK the link and select “Save Target As” to save it onto your hard drive. Open in into A NEW FOLDER in your genealogy software.

GEDCOM files are special genealogy files readable by any decent genealogy software. If somebody has researched the same line you are researching, and published the GEDCOM file on a web site, it might be indexed on this site.

One advantage to sharing GEDCOM files is that they defeat any language barrier between you and your newfound cousins in the old country. They simply load your GEDCOM file into their genealogy software, which is in their language. (Of course, this does not translate the notes and sources.)

You may submit your public domain GEDCOM file for indexing and publication. GEDCOMs will be stored on GEDCOMLIBRARY.COM and indexed here. Visit that site for details.

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When exporting your data to a GEDCOM file, be sure you have set the desired settings regarding living persons.

If your ancestor appears on this site, click on the link marked “Download GEDCOM file”. You might see something pop up to download the file onto your hard drive. If so, pick a file name and save it, then try to import the file into your genealogy software. NOTE: Be sure to open a new folder in your genealogy software for the GEDCOM import. Do not mix imported GEDCOM data into your family file until you are sure you want to do this, and you are sure there is no problem with the file.

For information on place name styles, CLICK HERE.

If you click on the link and it takes you to a web page where the GEDCOM file appears in column form, such as:


0 HEAD
1 SOUR software name
2 CORP Company name


and so on, right-click somewhere in that window and select “Select All”. The text on the screen should become shaded. Then right-click again and select “Copy”. Open Notepad, (or another text editor) click into the Notepad window and paste the clipboard contents into Notepad. (Shift+Insert works well.) Save the Notepad file as a GEDCOM file such as IMPORT.GED Be sure to de-select any pre-selected file type or your machine might save the GEDCOM file as IMPORT.GED.TXT.

If you click on the link and you go to a window where the GEDCOM file appears word-wrapped, such as 0 HEAD 1 SOUR software name 2 CORP company name go to the drop-down menu at the top of your screen. In Internet Explorer, click View and select Source. Cut and paste the source the same as described above. In Netscape, use Ctrl+U to view the source.

You may see some computer code after the end of the GEDCOM file. The GEDCOM file should end with 0 TRLR and if you see anything after that, it's probably the code that makes the ad come up on the free hosting server where the GEDCOM file was published. Delete that before importing the GEDCOM file into your genealogy software.

The name and contact information of the person who produced the GEDCOM file is located near the top of the file.