Help Centre - Frequently Asked Questions
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Complete FAQ Listing
- I need an instant password reminder/ I can't login
- How do I print my tree?
- How do I delete my tree?
- How do I view trees that have been shared with me?
- How do I cancel my subscription/ renewal payment before it is due?
- How much are pay-per-view credits?
- What is the Keepsafe?
- Where are my Hot Matches?
- Why isn't the clipboard working?
- How do I import or export a gedcom file?
- How do I get a password reminder?
- Trouble signing in/ login details not accepted
- I have multiple registrations with my email address, do I need to do anything?
- Why can't I create another membership with my email address?
- How do I update my details?
- Please remove me from your mailing list
- I want to delete my registration
- I seem to have more than one registration
- How do I update my message board profile?
- How do I make the text bigger or smaller on my screen?
- Online safety
- How much does it cost?
- How can I pay?
- How do I cancel my subscription/ renewal payment before it is due?
- How do I change the card I pay with?
- When will you renew my subscription?
- Why has my renewal payment failed?
- I would like a refund of the payment that I made
- I want to change my subscription
- I'd like to pay by cheque
- What is the Keepsafe?
- What can I add to my Keepsafe?
- How do I add something to my Keepsafe?
- What file types do you accept?
- What are My Folders?
- What are edit, attach and move?
- How do I attach an item to someone in my tree?
- How do I share an item with another member?
- How do I search the photos and media?
- Can I add someone else’s item to my Keepsafe?
- Can I add records to my Keepsafe?
- What happens when I attach an item to a relative?
- The image I want to see is blurred.
- Can I print out items from my Keepsafe?
- Old tree - can I still access my old tree ? NEW
- Old tree - removed why? NEW
- Unable to view the whole of the dashboard NEW
- Unable to see the whole of my details panel NEW
- Unable to search my tree NEW
- Adding a relation to my tree NEW
- How do I save changes after I've added a relation or amended their details? NEW
- Editing names in the tree NEW
- Deleting a relative in my tree NEW
- Changing parents on tree NEW
- How do I change my root person/tree owner? NEW
- Where are my relation's photos and notes? NEW
- How do I view other trees? NEW
- My tree won't load NEW
- Tree error 503
- Where are my attached records? NEW
- Why can't I see the 'View other trees' link?NEW
- Clipboard
- List view-what is it? NEW
- Adoption
- Deleting your Family Tree
- Building your Family Tree
- Maps
- Viewing your Family Tree
- Printable Charts
- Living relatives
- Printing your Family Tree
- Privatising your Family Tree
- Tree permissions
- Searching all records - NEW!
- Which Census records do you have?
- Where are the Parish records? NEW!
- Scottish Census records
- Which BMD records do you have?
- Which Military records do you have?
- Which Parish records do you have?
- Which British Newspapers do you have?
- Which Travel and Migration records do you have?
- British Newspaper Archive
- Scottish and Irish records
- Using the Birth/Marriage/Death records - UPDATED
- Searching the census - UPDATED
- Attaching and removing census images
- Automatic matching
- How much do records cost?
- Ordering certificates
- 1871 census information for Wales
- Saving the records
- Reporting errors with records
Importing Gedcoms
To load your file onto the site, click on the Family Tree button at the top of your homepage, then select Import Gedcom from the drop-down menu. This will take you to the import gedcom page. The site will add and update relations in your tree from information exactly as it is stored in your Gedcom file. If you upload your Gedcom file and the data is not displayed as expected in your tree then normally this is a result of a corrupted Gedcom file. We suggest that you open up the file with your family tree software programme and check the data. Please also make sure that the family tree is correctly exported as a standard Gedcom.
It is not necessary to remove your tree to allow an upload, but you can only upload one Gedcom per registration. If you import a file for one branch of your family and then import a second file, the first one will be automatically deleted and it is not possible to retrieve the data.
To import a Gedcom file that you have created, click on the 'Import Gedcom' button once. This will open up a new window and you will then be able to browse through your files to find your Gedcom file. Once you have located it click on 'send files'.
Please note that it may take a few minutes for the upload to complete depending on the size of your Gedcom file. You will see a confirmation message letting you know that the upload was successful. Your Gedcom file will then be queued for processing and we will email you once your tree is on the site.
We will also email you if the file does not upload to the site. It may help just to try exporting your file from your family tree software again. It must be exported as a gedcom 5.5 with the character set ANSI. Once you have done that you can try to re-load it.
Unfortunately uploading a new Gedcom will mean that any photos you have manually uploaded to the Genes site, or any relations you have plotted on your map view may be wiped. Your hot matches may also be affected.
Helpful tips:
For Genes Reunited to successfully import the Gedcom file, one of the entries in your Gedcom file must match the forename, surname and year of birth of your registered details in your tree. All other entries in the Gedcom file to be imported must also have a forename, surname and year of birth.
Please note that at present we do not accept files in utf-8 or unicode format. If your software allows you to choose a character set for your export please select 'ANSI'. For example, using PAF 5 select the option 'Other Gedcom 5.5' and char-set 'ANSI'. The vast majority of software packages will create the file in the correct format by default.
Your family tree in Genes Reunited cannot show both biological and adopted parents for the same child. If you load from a Gedcom that contains this information please bear in mind that the results will not include both sets of parent information. It may be better to split your tree into two and load under different registrations.
If you have any trouble uploading your Gedcom then please contact the support team.

