FamilySearch, Step by Step — Build a Free Family Tree

What FamilySearch Actually Is

Before we sign up, let us understand what this website is, so you know what you are getting into and why it is special.

A family tree is simply a chart of your relatives and how they connect: you, your parents, their parents, and back through the generations. FamilySearch gives you a place to build one and fill it with real records.

• A free website for building your family tree.
• A giant, free collection of old records: births, marriages, censuses, and more.
• A place to save family photos, stories, and documents.
• Run by a nonprofit organization, so there is no charge to use it.

Step One: Create Your Free Account

Let us get you signed up. This takes just a few minutes and costs nothing. Here is exactly what to do.

Write your username and password on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere safe. You will need them every time you return, and they are easy to forget.

• Open your web browser and go to the FamilySearch website.
• Look for a button that says Create Account or Sign Up.
• Enter your name, and pick a username and a password.
• Give an email address or phone number so they can reach you.
• Follow the prompt to confirm your email or phone.

Step Two: Start With Yourself

Now the fun begins. Every family tree starts with one person: you. From there, you add outward and backward to your parents and grandparents.

Just add what you know for certain first. You can always fill in more later. Do not worry about gaps or question marks; every tree has them, and they get filled in over time.

• The site will ask for your name and birth date. Fill them in.
• Then it asks about your parents. Add their names.
• Then their parents, your grandparents, and so on.

Adding Each Person's Details

For every relative, there are a few key facts worth adding. The more you fill in, the better the site can help you find records about them.

A maiden name is a woman's family name before she married. It is one of the most useful things to track down, because it opens up her side of the family.

The Magic of Record Hints

Here is where FamilySearch feels almost magical. As you add ancestors, the site quietly searches its huge collection and offers hints: old records that may be about your very relatives.

A census is an old government count of everyone in a household, taken every ten years. Finding your ancestor in one can reveal their whole family, their job, and where they lived. It is a thrill.

• A little notice appears on a person, showing possible records.
• It might be a census listing, a birth record, or a marriage record.
• You click it to see the details and decide if it is really them.

Attaching Sources to Your Tree

When a hint really is your relative, you attach it. Attaching means linking that record to the person, so your tree shows the proof behind every fact. This is what separates a guess from a real family history.

A source is simply the record that backs up a fact: the actual census page, the marriage license, the birth record. Attaching sources turns your tree into something solid and believable.

• They prove a name or date is real, not just remembered.
• They often reveal new facts you did not know.
• They let other relatives see where the information came from.

Searching for Records Yourself

Besides the hints it offers, you can also search the record collection yourself, hunting for a specific ancestor. This is handy when the automatic hints run dry.

Old records are full of spelling variations and mistakes. A name might be written three different ways across three records. Being flexible with spelling is the secret to finding elusive ancestors.

• Enter the person's name and roughly when and where they lived.
• Start broad; if too many results appear, add more detail.
• Try spelling the name a few different ways.
• Look at each result's dates and places to confirm the match.

Uploading Photos and Stories

A tree of names and dates is wonderful, but photos and stories bring your ancestors to life. FamilySearch lets you add these to each person's page, in a section often called Memories.

Once uploaded, these are attached to that person forever, for the whole family to see and enjoy. A faded photo you scan today can be treasured by relatives you will never meet.

• Photographs of the person, scanned or from your phone.
• Written stories and memories about them.
• Documents like a birth certificate or an old letter.
• Even audio recordings of family members telling stories.

Protecting Living Family Members

This is important, so let us slow down. FamilySearch treats living people very differently from those who have passed, to protect everyone's privacy. Here is how it works.

This means you can safely add yourself, your children, and your grandchildren without their information being visible to strangers. The site guards living people automatically.

• Living people are marked private and only you can see them.
• Their details are not shared in the big public tree.
• Only after a person has passed do they join the shared tree.

Using FamilySearch on a Phone or Tablet

Besides the website, there are free FamilySearch apps for phones and tablets. They are handy for working on your tree from your armchair or while visiting relatives.

You sign in with the same account you made on the website, and everything stays in sync. What you add on the phone appears on the website too, and the other way around.

• Reviewing your tree anywhere, without a computer.
• Snapping a photo of an old picture and adding it on the spot.
• Recording a relative telling a story, right into the person's page.
• Checking hints when a spare moment appears.

Sharing a Tree With Relatives

Remember, FamilySearch uses one big tree that many people build together. This is powerful, but it takes a little understanding so you and your cousins work in harmony.

This shared approach means the family history grows richer as more relatives pitch in. It also means being courteous: if you disagree with a change, a friendly message works better than a quiet edit war.

• A relative may have already added ancestors you share.
• Others can add to or correct the ancestors you both descend from.
• You can see who made each change and discuss it politely.

When an Ancestor Goes Missing

Sooner or later you will hit an ancestor you just cannot find. Genealogists call this a brick wall. It is normal, and there are gentle ways around it.

Sometimes the answer is not under the person you are stuck on, but next to them, in a sibling's marriage record or a neighbor's census page. Patience and sideways thinking break most walls.

• Search the records of their brothers, sisters, and neighbors.
• Try different spellings and nicknames of the name.
• Widen the dates; old records were often off by a few years.
• Look at the children's records, which often name the parents.

Building a Tree You Can Trust

It is tempting to accept every hint and copy what others entered, but a tree full of mistakes helps no one. A little care keeps your family history honest and reliable.

Slow and accurate beats fast and wrong. A small, well-sourced tree is far more valuable than a huge one built on guesses. Quality is the goal.

• Attach a real record before you believe a fact.
• Be suspicious of dates that do not add up, like a mother too young.
• Do not blindly copy another person's tree without checking.
• Note where each fact came from, so you can retrace it later.

Keeping a Copy of Your Research

Your tree lives on the FamilySearch website, which is a safe place. But it is wise to keep your own copies of the most precious things too, just in case.

Keeping your own copy of the photos and stories means that whatever happens, your hard work is not lost. And a printed family tree is a wonderful thing to share at gatherings.

• The photos and documents you uploaded, saved on your own computer.
• Notes about your discoveries and the stories relatives shared.
• A printout of your tree, which makes a lovely keepsake.

Genealogy Scams and Safety

Family history is a wholesome hobby, but wherever people share personal details, a few bad actors follow. A little awareness keeps you safe.

FamilySearch itself is free and will never charge you or ask for your password by email. If a message pressures you or asks for money, that is your signal to stop and think.

• Emails claiming to be FamilySearch asking for your password. Ignore them.
• Offers promising to unlock your whole tree for a fee. Be skeptical.
• Anyone asking for money to reveal a long-lost inheritance. A classic scam.
• Requests for personal details from a stranger who contacted you.

Common Problems and Simple Fixes

Websites have their off days, and beginners hit predictable snags. Here are the usual ones and calm ways through them.

Making It a Family Project

Family history is more fun and more accurate when relatives join in. Everyone remembers different pieces, and together you assemble the whole picture.

The stories your relatives carry are as precious as any record. Ask them soon, and write down or record what they share, before those memories fade.

• Ask older relatives to share names, dates, and stories.
• Invite a curious grandchild to help search records; they love the hunt.
• Share discoveries at family gatherings to spark more memories.
• Let cousins add their own branches to the shared tree.

This Is a Journey, Not a Chore

Building a family tree is not a task to finish and set aside. It is a hobby that unfolds over years, full of small thrills and touching discoveries.

Go at your own pace. Some weeks you will find nothing; other weeks a single record opens a whole new branch. Both are part of the joy. There is no rush and no wrong way.

• Each ancestor found is a small victory to savor.
• You uncover stories that connect you to history itself.
• You leave a gift that your descendants will treasure.

What's in the 27-page PDF

• Making your free FamilySearch account, step by step.
• Starting your tree and adding the people you know.
• Following the record hints the site finds for you.
• Attaching sources so your tree is trustworthy.
• Uploading photos, stories, and memories.
• Keeping living family members private and safe.

Why I wrote this

I write these as printable handouts because a guide you can keep in a drawer beats a web page you have to find again. No jargon, no judgment, no rushing. If you'd rather have someone sit beside you and go through it together, that's a flat $99 first visit with the 30-day follow-up included — serving Portage County from Atwater, Ohio. — Bill