How do I change or troubleshoot the starting person in Family Tree?

Article Id: 920
October 26, 2023

Before you start

When you create a FamilySearch Account, you must be the first person.

  • You are the starting person in Family Tree by default under Settings, Account, and Family Tree Preferences.
  • You have a unique seven-digit Person ID.
  • Your name and Person ID appear as the first person in the FamilySearch Recents list.
  • You cannot change the record of the living starting person (yourself) to deceased.
  • You cannot delete the starting person.

You can change the starting person in Family Tree to someone other than yourself. You can later change the starting person back to yourself.
When you set another person as your Tree starting person, the person appears as the second person in the FamilySearch Recents list.

    Steps (website)

    1. Sign in to FamilySearch.
    2. In the top-right corner, click your name.
    3. Click Settings.
    4. Click the Account tab.
    5. Scroll to Family Tree Preferences and click the Edit icon . 
    6. To make yourself the Starting Person, click the circle next to your name.
    7. To make someone else the Starting Person, click the circle next to the blank box and enter the Person ID.
    8. Click Save.

    Important Notes

    • You can only change the starting person in Settings in Family Tree on the FamilySearch.org website. You cannot change the starting person using the mobile apps, Family Tree Lite, discovery center experiences, view relationship links, or other features. 
    • When you sign out and back in with the same browser, you see the last page you that you were on in FamilySearch. You do not see the starting person option.
    • If you open Family Tree in a different browser, you begin at the starting person.
    • The starting person determines who the default "person of focus" is in the First Ancestor view.

    Troubleshooting

    Issues:

    • You receive an error when you add a death date to a relative. The person shows as the first person in Recents.
    • You changed the name and vital information on your own Person ID to that of another person. Now the name and vital information do not match you as the account owner.
    • The View My Relationship feature appears to not work correctly.

    Solution:
    Before you start, note all IDs of living names on the tree. Make a diagram of how things should appear after you fix the starting person problem.

    1. Change the name and vital information back to yourself as the starting person.
    2. As needed, create a record for a deceased individual who was showing as the starting person. Add the person as a child to his or her parents in Family Tree.
    3. Verify or update relationships.
    4. Move Memories and Sources to the correct Tree profile.
    5. If you created another record for yourself, merge it with the starting record.

    If you need help, please contact FamilySearch Support.

    How do I delete a person from Family Tree?
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    How do I delete my Family Tree and start over?

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