Family Tree Maker Guides for Your Family Story

What would you like to do today?

Choose Family Tree Maker 2024 to explore that edition, or visit our FTM 2019 guide if you already use the older software. These pages focus on the decisions that matter before you install, update or move your research.

If your tree lives online, start with Ancestry tree questions. If you cannot reach your account at all, our Ancestry sign-in guide is the more useful first stop.

Build a tree you can explain

A growing tree is satisfying. A tree with a source behind each important fact is easier to trust. Our genealogy research guide helps you work from known relatives toward earlier generations, keep track of uncertain information and record where each detail came from.

Try a small project: choose one grandparent and gather the documents you already have. Write down what each document supports and what it leaves unanswered. You will have a clearer research question before opening another search tab.

Keep the research. Share the story.

Backups and finished family books solve different problems. Read the TreeVault guide when you are thinking about cloud services and continuity. Read the Family Book Creator FAQs when you want relatives to enjoy the work in a readable format.

Before sharing, review living relatives’ details, private notes and photographs. A carefully chosen family story often makes a better first gift than an enormous file nobody knows how to open.

When something stops working

Write down what happened, which software edition you use and the last task that worked. For a specific older-update problem, follow our FTM 2019 crash troubleshooting guide.

Keep an untouched copy of your research before making repair attempts. One clear symptom and a protected original are a better starting point than several rushed changes.

Know who you are contacting

This website’s guides are separate from the software publishers’ own websites. Product names identify the products discussed; they do not establish an official support relationship. Read about this website and check contact options before arranging any service.

Questions you may have