Family History Quick Start
Get started with your family history
Family history research doesn't have to be daunting. With a few simple, step-by-step tips, you can get organized, preserve what matters, and make real progress — a little at a time.
Ways to begin
Pick whichever feels most useful today — every guide is written to be finished in one sitting.
Part 1 of our free course: what family history can reveal, and how to choose the ancestor you’ll research first.
02 Map Your HistoryTurn a lifetime of places you've lived and visited into a keepsake map.
03 Digitize Family HistoryLearn how to organize and digitize the records and photos you already have.
04 Family History BookA simple approach to turning your research into a book your family will treasure.
05 Get OrganizedThe foundational habits that make every future research session faster.
06 2nd Cousins, ExplainedFinally understand what "once removed" actually means.
Do you have a family coat of arms?
Learn more30 days to a better journal
Preserve not just the events of your life, but your experience of them — how they shaped you. Future generations will thank you for it.
From the blog
Recent tips, stories, and research how-tos.
How to Use FamilySearch: A Beginner’s Guide
Create a free account, add your family, attach records, print a pedigree chart, and save photos and stories on the world’s largest free genealogy site.
Genealogy Resources 4 Hidden Treasures in Ancestry DNA
Learn what a testing kit from Ancestry.com can show you about your family roots.
Genealogy Resources How to get a Family Coat of Arms
Family Coat of Arms are not things of the past. New additions are made by the College of Arms which has been…