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Move your family history from MyHeritage or Ancestry

Have you built your family tree on MyHeritage or Ancestry but want your research on your own computer? With a GEDCOM file you can bring people, relationships, events, places and sources into PastPaths. This guide covers the whole way, from export to a tree that is tidied up and ready to build on.

You don't have to leave the service

Your tree stays on MyHeritage or Ancestry after the export. PastPaths also keeps each person's ID from the service, so you can find the same person there again.

Before you start

  • PastPaths is installed. → Install
  • You have a fresh backup if you already have data in PastPaths. An import can be undone, but a backup is the safest way back. → Backups
  • You have set aside some time. A large tree can take 10–15 minutes to import.

Step 1: Export your tree

Both services export to a .ged file. The menus look different:

If you have several trees on the service, export them one at a time.

Step 2: Gather your photos

Neither MyHeritage nor Ancestry includes the image files themselves in the GEDCOM export. If you want your photos included:

  1. Download the images from the service.
  2. Put them in the same folder as the .ged file, or in subfolders of it. PastPaths searches all subfolders.

You can also skip this and add the images later, one at a time, where they belong.

Step 3: Import into PastPaths

  1. Go to Administration → Import & Export.
  2. Click Import GEDCOM file and choose your .ged file.
  3. Check that PastPaths has recognised the right program – MyHeritage or Ancestry – and how many people and relationships will be loaded.
  4. Click Start import and let it finish.

→ All about GEDCOM import

Step 4: Find what came in

Everything that was imported has been given a tag, for example -myheritage-import-2026-10-18 or -ancestry-import-2026-10-18. Filter by the tag in the lists of people, places, events and media to see exactly what came from this import.

The tags start with a hyphen, so they appear at the top of the tag list.

Step 5: Tidy up the tree

This is where PastPaths is most useful. Work through this at your own pace – you don't have to do everything at once.

Duplicates

If you imported from several trees, or already had people in PastPaths, the same person may appear more than once. Run the duplicate search for people and merge the ones that belong together. Then do the same for places and events.

Places

The same place may have been written in different ways over the years. Import the place packages from the Place Library that suit your research, for example counties and provinces. The packages fill in empty fields such as coordinates and county on places that match exactly, but never overwrite what you already have.

→ Place Library

Dates that look more exact than they are

The services sometimes write an exact date where the source only gives an approximate year. Change it to "around" where the information is uncertain.

People without sources

What is the information based on? Add sources where you know where it comes from. Suggestions from the services – Ancestry's hints – have been imported as notes. They are suggestions, not verified information.

Photos and stories

Now that the tree is in place you can start building on it: link photos and documents to people, places and events, and write longer stories in the blog.

If something went wrong

Did you bring in the wrong tree, or end up with too many duplicates? Undo the import in the import history at the bottom of the Import & Export page. What the import created is removed, while the connections you have made yourself are kept as far as possible.

→ Import history and undoing

What doesn't come along

  • DNA matches and ethnicity results stay with the service.
  • Other people's information in linked trees is not included – only what you have entered yourself.
  • MyHeritage's Smart Matches and Record Matches are not part of the export.

Last updated: 2026-10-18