Free Windows Software to Analyze Your Family Tree
And a trick when using it with Ancestry
I wanted to share with you something amazing I’ve run across. I was actually looking for a different program that was recommended (Gramps) and realized the learning curve was above my technological aptitude. But I’d gotten excited at the prospect of running reports and automating a lot of what I still do manually (I’m a late adopter!) so I browsed the Microsoft Store and found this…
It’s free, for Windows 11, and has an easy to understand interface. You just open a Gedcom file. So I downloaded my Ancestry tree - because that’s where I keep things recorded and sandbox - and then opened it in FTAnalyzer.
It immediately points out errors with entered dates and why it’s an error. I know now exactly what needs fixed.
And here’s how easy it is to go from that list of information to making corrections on Ancestry.
You highlight the individual id in the line item, not including the “I”. Use ctrl+c to copy it.
Then go to any profile in your Ancestry tree and paste (ctrl+v) the individual id into the URL and hit Enter.
You’re taken directly to the profile and can confirm or edit the dates.
The software can also show a list of Unknowns, duplicates, birth/children/death errors and a host of things that may need to be addressed to make your research as accurate as possible.
And it isn’t specific to Ancestry - just a Gedcom file. I highlighted Ancestry because of the id trick.
I’m excited. Aren’t you excited?!
I've been using FTA for years, and yes, it is fantastic! You can export reports to .csv format as well and open them in your spreadsheet program of choice 😊
Yes, it's a great tool. I just have to find the time to go through the errors and correct them! But did you know there is a function that automatically adds your ancestors to Lost Cousins? That's if you use LC which I do. You have to check the entries, though. Sometimes they're faulty.