How do I find a deceased person in Family Tree?

You can find deceased people in Family Tree. You can search by name, sex, race, family members, or event information. You can also search by ID.

You can find living people in Family Tree only if you entered them into the Tree and search by ID.

The Recents feature is available after you sign in. Use recents to quickly access Family Tree profiles you recently viewed.

Steps (website)

  1. Sign into FamlySearch.org, and do one of the following:
    • Click Family Tree, and then click Find.
    • Click Search, and then click Family Tree.
  2. Click the tab for the kind of search that you want to use:
    • Find by Name. Enter a name and other information.
      • You can use wildcards in the names of people and places. Enter * to replace zero or more characters. Enter ? to replace one character.
      • To see additional search fields, click More Options:
        • Show the exact search options.
        • Add additional fields for married names, other alternate names, sex, and race.
        • Add fields for specific events, such as birth, marriage, residence, or death. A birth event search finds both birth and christening information. A death event search finds both death and burial information.
    • Find by ID. Enter a Family Tree ID.
  3. Click Search
  4. Review the results.
  5. If you do not find the person you want, modify your search criteria:
    1. In the panel on the right, make your changes.
    2. Click Search
    3. Review the results again.
  6. In the search results, click the name of the person to view the person card.
  7. To see the complete profile, on the person card, click the name.

You can also use the Recents feature to Find by Name or Find by ID.

  1. Click Recents.
  2. Enter information in the Enter Name or ID box.
    • When you enter a name, the system only searches names in your Recents list, with a maximum of 50 results.
    • When you enter an ID and click Go, the system searches the entire FamilySearch database.

Steps (mobile app)

  1. In the Family Tree mobile app, navigate to the pedigree view.
  2. Tap the magnifying glass icon.
  3. Tap the kind of search that you want to use:
    • Find by Name. Enter a name. If you know the sex, tap either Male or Female. If you want to add birth, death, or marriage information, tap in the appropriate field, and enter the information.
    • Find by ID. Enter an individual's Family Tree ID.
  4. Tap Find. You see People found in the shared Family Tree (the top 24 results).
  5. Review the search results and tap the name of the person.
  6. If you do not find the person you want, tap the back arrow twice and modify your search terms.

Steps (Family Tree Lite)

  1. Sign in to Family Tree Lite (lite.fs.org), and tap Find.
  2. Tap the kind of search that you want to use:
    • Name Enter a name, sex, and other information.
    • ID. Enter an individual's Family Tree ID.
    • History See the 50 most recent people that you viewed. To view one, tap the name.
  3. Tap Find.
  4. Review the results.
  5. If you do not find the person you want, tap Refine Search to modify your search criteria.
  6. In the search results, tap the name of the person.

How do I easily copy a person's ID number in Family Tree?
Where can I get help with my genealogy?

Was this helpful?