Discover your legacy.

Discover your legacy.

Explore your family history and share what
you find with the people closest to you.

Explore your family history and share what you find with the people closest to you.

*Free trial terms apply.

*Free trial terms apply.

40 BILLION

RECORDS

100 MILLION

FAMILY TREES

Ancestry is a great gift for our family because it helps us to appreciate one another even more. And it gives the next generation something really, really strong to build upon and to stand on.

Denise, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry is a great gift for our family because it helps us to appreciate one another even more. And it gives the next generation something really, really strong to build upon and to stand on.

Denise, Washington, D.C.

Build your family tree

Build your family tree

Build your family tree

It's easy to build and preserve your family story using our intuitive tree builder tool, where you can discover and save records, photos and stories about your ancestors.

How to get started

How to get started

1

Enter what you know

Add your name, your parents, your grandparents, and any details you might already have, like dates of birth or where  they lived.

2

Review
your hints

Look for the leaf. When it appears, it means we've found a record or a photo that may match someone in your tree.

3

Find your ancestors

Search for your ancestors in our key collections – census, marriage, immigration, military and more.

4

Add to your family tree

Easily save ancestors, records, photos and stories to grow your family tree.

Our 40 billion records are the key to rich discoveries

Uncover fascinating details about your ancestors in our records.

What you get with an Ancestry® membership

What you get with an Ancestry® membership

Record collections

  • Access over 40 billion searchable historical records and photographs.
  • Discover full names, addresses, occupations, military rank, emigration journeys and life events.
  • Explore records from our local and international archive.

Ancestry Hints®

  • Use the Ancestry Hints® tool to easily add new records, photos and people to your tree.
  • Hints do the searching for you – recommending records, photos or other family trees for you to review.
  • Hints can also suggest potential new ancestors for you to add to your tree.

Family tree builder

  • Preserve your family history with our family tree building tool.
  • Easily organise and attach historical documents and photographs you've discovered.
  • You own the privacy settings on your tree and decide who to share it with.

Community

  • Be part of a community of passionate family history researchers.
  • Connect with other members via our messenger app to help your research.
  • Get regular tips and tricks from our experts to support you on your journey.

Your Ancestry® membership explained

Your Ancestry® membership explained

Your Ancestry® membership explained

Get answers to some common questions.

Get answers to some common questions.

  • You can choose between three packages:

    • U.S. Discovery Membership includes: Access to all U.S. records on Ancestry®.

    • World Explorer Membership includes: Access to all U.S. and International records on Ancestry®.

    • All Access Membership includes: Access to all 40 billion records from around the world on Ancestry®, and everything on Fold3® and Newspapers.com.

  • You can pay for your membership with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay or PayPal.

  • You don’t need any special skills to get started on Ancestry®. You can start with just your name, and then add in any names, dates or places you know about your parents and grandparents into your family tree. If you can, speak to relatives and ask them about your ancestors. Members of your family may remember important details or have family heirlooms, records or photos that can help you start building your family tree.

  • An Ancestry® membership gives you access to historical records that can help you build and expand your family tree. It's usually best to start your tree with yourself and work your way backward, adding any names, dates or places you know about your parents and grandparents into your family tree. Your tree is the best way to store and organize the records you find.

  • The records you can view on Ancestry® depend on the membership package that you choose e.g. you can only see the full international record collection if you subscribe to a World Explorer or All Access membership. You can discover and add records for family members and ancestors to your family tree. However, as privacy laws vary around the world, in some countries, such as the U.K., if there isn’t a confirmed date of death, records containing personally identifiable information are redacted or obscured until 100 years after the date of birth of an individual. This is to ensure we don’t share any personal information of living individuals. Due to our privacy rules, you won’t be able to see living people in other Ancestry® member trees, unless the owner of the tree shares.

  • All records are transcribed in the language found in the original document.  

  • Subscribing to Ancestry® emails can help keep you informed about new records and features, product improvements, tips from expert genealogists, success stories, special promotions and more.

  • The membership you choose for the free trial will be the membership your trial turns into after two weeks. For this reason, we ask for a form of payment to set up a free trial. A small pre-authorization charge appears and disappears at the beginning of the trial to verify the method of payment. If you cancel your free trial during the two free weeks, your trial will end immediately, and you will not be charged.

  • Free trials are available for each of the three Ancestry® memberships available. During the trial period, you have complete access to all records and features available with that subscription. The subscription you choose for the free trial will be the subscription your trial turns into after two weeks.

  • Cancel anytime at least two days before your renewal date by visiting the Account Settings section or by contacting us.

  • Living people in your family tree are always hidden from other Ancestry® members by default. You control all other privacy settings on your family tree. You can choose to make your family tree public, which allows other members to review your tree. Having a public tree enables you to collaborate on researching shared ancestors with other Ancestry® members.