Making Private Memories Visible to a Family Group

The easiest way to share a private or public memory with a family group is to add it to the shared family group tree.

  1. Navigate to the person the memory is about. 
  2. In the top navigation Select Memories. 
  3. At the top of the page select Add Memories. 
  4. Add a file from your device, your Gallery, or Google photos.

Visibility of memories

A Memory on FamilySearch can be:

  • Public: Anyone can see the memory. Make sure you have permission from all living individuals in a memory before you make it public.
  • Private: You choose who will see the memory. Use this setting for sensitive memories that should only be viewed by a limited audience.
  • Private and visible to family groups: When a memory is set to private, by default only you will see it. You can also choose to make the memory visible to one or several of your family groups.

Visibility is set on the individual memory page.

Re-adding private memories in family groups

Here are a couple common scenarios related to working with private memories in family group trees:

Private to Public

Suppose you add a private memory of a person to a family group tree. Sometime later, you decide to make that particular memory public. After you make the change, it will be visible to all FamilySearch users and to anyone on the Internet.

Please note that you do not need a FamilySearch account to view a public memory.

Public to Private Again

If you decide to make that same memory private again, it will now only be visible to you, meaning that it is also no longer visible to family groups. If you want to re-share it with a family group, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to FamilySearch.
  2. Click Memories at the top of the page.
  3. Click Gallery from the drop-down menu.
  4. Click a memory.
  5. On the individual memory page, find the Information panel on the right.
  6. In the Visibility section, click the pencil icon next to Public.
  7. In the list that appears, click Private.
  8. Click Continue to confirm the change in visibility.
  9. Click Choose Group to select one or several family groups where the memory will be made visible.