What are record hints in Family Tree?

Record hints are historical records that Family Tree finds for you about your ancestors. Family Tree conducts this search automatically. In fact, since we are always adding new historical records to FamilySearch, our hinting system is always looking for new record hints about your ancestors.

How do record hints help me?

Record hints can help you learn more about your ancestors. You may learn your ancestor’s occupation or find a physical description. A record hint may identify missing children, parents, siblings, and other relatives. You can transfer information from the record to Family Tree without having to retype it.

What should I do with record hints?

To get the most from record hints, you do three basic tasks:

  • Make sure that the record hint really is about your ancestor.
  • Transfer any information that you want from the record hint to Family Tree. (On the website, you cannot currently replace information that is already in Family Tree with better information from the record. Instead, you will need to go into Family Tree and make those updates manually. You can replace information already in FamilyTree when attaching using the mobile Family Tree app.)
  • Attach the record hint to your ancestors in Family Tree. This saves the record as a source to your ancestors' records in Family Tree.

Getting the Most from Your Search: Understanding the Search Records Page

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