---
title: GEDCOM how-to guides
description: Check, repair, share and research your family tree with step-by-step GEDCOM guides, including media links, import checks and optional AI.
lastChecked: 2026-09-06
---

# GEDCOM how-to guides

Choose the task that matches your file. Keep your original GEDCOM, review the proposed changes, and save each output under a new name. The tools read files in your browser. Optional AI actions send the text described beside their buttons after you choose to send it.

## Start here

Open an unfamiliar file, understand its contents, or check it before an import.

- [What is a GEDCOM file](/how-to/what-is-a-gedcom-file)
- [Read a GEDCOM without installing anything](/how-to/read-a-gedcom-without-installing-anything)
- [How to check a GEDCOM before you import it anywhere](/how-to/check-a-gedcom-before-you-import-it-anywhere)
- [How to work out what a GEDCOM file actually contains](/how-to/work-out-what-a-gedcom-file-actually-contains)

## It will not open, or it opened wrong

Recover a file, interpret an error, or repair names that display with the wrong characters.

- [How to fix a GEDCOM file that will not open](/how-to/fix-a-gedcom-file-that-will-not-open)
- [How to fix garbled characters and accents in a GEDCOM](/how-to/fix-garbled-characters-and-accents-in-a-gedcom)
- [GEDCOM error messages, decoded](/how-to/decode-gedcom-error-messages)
- [What is ANSEL, and why your names look wrong](/how-to/what-is-ansel-and-why-your-names-look-wrong)

## Share or move your tree

Choose the branch and destination, review living relatives' privacy, and keep media links usable.

- [How to remove living people before sharing your family tree](/how-to/remove-living-people-before-sharing-your-family-tree)
- [How to split one branch out of a large family tree](/how-to/split-one-branch-out-of-a-large-family-tree)
- [How to prepare a GEDCOM for Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch or GEDmatch](/how-to/prepare-a-gedcom-for-ancestry-myheritage-familysearch-gedmatch)
- [How to prepare a GEDCOM for GEDmatch](/how-to/prepare-a-gedcom-for-gedmatch)
- [Which custom tags your destination may lose](/how-to/what-each-site-deletes-from-your-gedcom)
- [How to find and fix missing media links in a GEDCOM](/how-to/find-and-fix-missing-media-links-in-a-gedcom)

## Is this the same person twice

Two records, one person, or two people who share a name.

- [How to find and merge duplicate people in a GEDCOM](/how-to/find-and-merge-duplicate-people-in-a-gedcom)
- [How to tell a duplicate from a child named after a dead sibling](/how-to/tell-a-duplicate-from-a-child-named-after-a-dead-sibling)
- [How to undo a merge you should not have made](/how-to/undo-a-merge-you-should-not-have-made)

## Repair links and dates

Trace a broken relationship or an ambiguous date to its record before changing it.

- [How to find every broken pointer in a GEDCOM](/how-to/find-every-broken-pointer-in-a-gedcom)
- [Why your dates changed when you uploaded](/how-to/why-your-dates-changed-when-you-uploaded)

## Sources and next research steps

Organize the evidence you have and plan searches for what your file does not yet document.

- [How to turn free-text source notes into real citations](/how-to/turn-free-text-source-notes-into-real-citations)
- [How to plan your next genealogy research steps](/how-to/plan-your-next-genealogy-research-steps)

## Convert GEDCOM versions

Check the destination's accepted version and inspect conversion warnings before importing.

- [How to convert GEDCOM 5.5.1 to 7.0, and what does not survive](/how-to/convert-gedcom-5-5-1-to-7-0-and-what-does-not-survive)

## Before you use a guide

The checked date records our review against the GEDCOM Tools implementation. Screenshots use public test files, so your counts and names will differ. Destination services change their import behavior; test a copy before replacing a tree you use.

A clean file check cannot prove a family relationship. Compare identity changes with source records, inspect privacy findings before sharing, and keep reports with the exact file you checked.