5 tips for searching historical records
1. Have a goal. Know who or what you want to find.
2. Try variations of spellings, dates, and geographic locations.
3. Search for members of the same family.
4. If it’s available, look at the image of a record. Images often include more information than what appears on the search results.
5. It’s ok to leave some search fields blank but be sure to include a surname.

Demos and more

Want to search historical records like an expert? You're in the right place!
Learn how to limit search results to birth records. This includes christenings or infant baptismal records.
Learn how to search for children born to the same parents.
Discover how to limit search results to marriage records.
Use this when you know a location where a person lived but the birth or marriage records are not located there.
In cultures where women change their last name after marriage, it can be hard to find their birth names. Use this search technique to find that elusive information.
Search by place allows you to limit search results to a place where your ancestor lived.

Other resources

Search content available in FamilySearch Centers and other libraries.
Find help for almost any family history topic imaginable.


Browse unindexed images of historical records.
Discover your ancestor in our vast repository of online materials.
Watch classes from the world’s largest family history conference.