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Import a GEDCOM file and your photos into a new family tree

If your research already lives in another genealogy program, you do not need to type it in again. Export a GEDCOM file from that program, then import it into Rootsgen together with your photos. A tree of thirty thousand people takes seconds to import.

Where to find it

There are two ways in:

  • Tree options → + New tree… creates a new tree and takes you straight into the import steps. See creating a new tree.
  • Tree options → Import GEDCOM/media… does the same for a tree that exists but is still empty.

Step 1: import the GEDCOM file

Choose your .ged file and press Import GEDCOM. It works with a GEDCOM from any genealogy program. Names, dates, places, events, notes and source citations all come across.

The GEDCOM step: a note that import works once into an empty tree, notes on what comes across, a Choose File button and an Import GEDCOM button

A GEDCOM import only works into an empty tree, once. That avoids creating duplicate copies of everyone. To update a tree that already has data, use Merge/Compare.

Step 2: import your photos and documents

A GEDCOM file lists your photos but does not contain them. When step 1 finishes you see how many people, families and media references arrived, and can upload the media folder.

  1. Put the folder that holds your photos and documents into a .zip file. On Windows, right-click the folder and choose Send to, then Compressed folder.
  2. Choose the zip and press Import Media. It runs in the background with a progress bar, so a large folder is fine.

The media step: 10 people, 4 families and 7 media references imported, instructions for zipping the media folder, and a Choose File button

Rootsgen matches each file to the photo the GEDCOM mentions by file name. Identical files are stored once, and thumbnails are made for pictures. When it finishes it reports how many files were copied in.

Media import complete: 7 files copied in, 0 already had, 0 with no matching GEDCOM reference, and a Continue button

Step 3: open your tree

Choose Go to your tree and you land on the tree's first person, with photos attached.

A newly imported tree open on its first person: a family card with couple and children on the left and an editable record with a portrait on the right

Adding photos later

You can run the media step again at any time, for example after a merge brings in new photo references. Files already attached are left alone, so re-running is safe. From Tree options → Import GEDCOM/media… on a tree that has people, only the media step is offered.

The Import page on a tree that already has people: the GEDCOM step is explained as unavailable, and the media step is offered with an Import Media button

What does not come across

Almost everything in a standard GEDCOM file is imported. Two things are specific to Rootsgen and only appear if the file was exported from Rootsgen itself: face tags on photos, which travel in a small file inside the media folder, and tags that another program invented for its own use.

Frequently asked questions

How big can the media folder be? There are generous limits, and Rootsgen tells you if you reach one. Zip files of several gigabytes are fine.

I skipped the media step. Can I add photos now? Yes. Open Import GEDCOM/media… from Tree options and run the media step. Validate also lists any photo still waiting for its file.

Can I import a second GEDCOM into the same tree? Not with Import - that would duplicate everyone. Use Merge/Compare, which shows every difference and lets you choose.

More in Import, merge and export

Try it with your own family tree.

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