What happens to information uploaded from a GEDCOM file?

Article Id: 1524
March 31, 2024

When you upload a GEDCOM file to FamilySearch, the information becomes available for others to search in the Pedigree Resource File (PRF). Find it in Genealogies.

Keep in mind that once you have uploaded a GEDCOM file or an entry to the Pedigree Resource File, it cannot be edited. To update this information, delete the current file and then submit the updated version.

Ordinances within a GEDCOM file are not uploaded or transferred to Family Tree. Ordinances in Family Tree come from official temple and membership records.

Pedigree Resource File (PRF)

In the Pedigree Resource File, the following information is available for other FamilySearch users to see:

  • Your FamilySearch contact name and information.
  • The date you submitted the file.
  • The deceased people in your tree, including name, sex, birth, christening, marriage, death, and burial.
  • The relationships between the deceased people in your tree as spouses, parents, and children.

The following information is not displayed:

  • Custom events (bar-mitzvah, immigration, etc.).
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • Multimedia links

Information about people who could still be living is visible only to you.

Family Tree

After you upload your GEDCOM file to the Pedigree Resource File, you can transfer the information to Family Tree. We do not recommend that you tranfer to the Tree, since the information could already be in Family Tree. Transferring the information from a GEDCOM file can end up creating more work for you or someone else to do:

  • You could add duplicate records to Family Tree, which must be merged.
  • You could overwrite or delete accurate information that is already in Family Tree with less accurate or less complete information from your GEDCOM file.
  • The sources, notes, and media in your GEDCOM file cannot be transferred to Family Tree.
  • The relationships to parents and spouses are not automatically included when you transfer the person to Family Tree. However, the parents and spouses are listed separately, and when they are compared and transferred to Family Tree, the relationships are automatically created.
  • Your FamilySearch contact name and information shows in Family Tree as the contributor.

Important: Before you transfer information from a GEDCOM file, make sure that it contains information that is not already in Family Tree.

How should I prepare my GEDCOM file?
How do I upload my GEDCOM file?
How do I copy information from my GEDCOM file into Family Tree?
What is a GEDCOM file?
What is the Pedigree Resource File?

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