Are you passionate about exploring your family history and creating a detailed family tree? MyHeritage’s Family Tree Builder is a powerful genealogy software available as freeware, allowing you to build and customize your family tree directly on your computer. This desktop application provides a robust set of features, many mirroring the functionalities of the MyHeritage website, alongside advanced tools and personalization options that cater to both beginners and experienced genealogy enthusiasts.
Download Family Tree Builder for free
For those seeking a dedicated desktop solution to trace their lineage without constant internet access, Family Tree Builder Freeware stands out as an exceptional choice. This article will guide you through the fundamentals of utilizing Family Tree Builder and highlight the exclusive advanced capabilities you can access with this platform.
Why Opt for Family Tree Builder Freeware to Craft Your Family Tree?
If you’re already managing your family tree online with MyHeritage, you might question the need for Family Tree Builder freeware. However, FTB offers distinct advantages as a family tree building platform:
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Enhanced Features and Extensive Customization: Family Tree Builder freeware provides a broader spectrum of customization features, enabling you to delve deeper into the specifics of your genealogical data. These include a task management system to organize your research, a variety of advanced charts and comprehensive reports to visualize your findings, expanded fields for detailed information and source citations to ensure accuracy, sophisticated privacy settings to control data access, the ability to document the reverse side of historical photos and documents, and a practical find and replace tool for efficient data management, among many other functionalities.
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Freeware with Unlimited Tree Size: On the MyHeritage website, expanding your family tree beyond 250 individuals requires a paid subscription. In contrast, Family Tree Builder freeware allows you to add an unlimited number of individuals to your family tree without any cost, making it ideal for extensive family history projects.
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Automatic Synchronization for Seamless Integration: Family Tree Builder freeware offers the convenience of automatic synchronization with your online MyHeritage tree. This feature allows you to enjoy the benefits of both platforms – the advanced features and offline accessibility of the desktop software and the collaborative and online resources of the MyHeritage website.
Eager to experience these benefits? Let’s delve into how to get started.
Downloading, Installing, and Accessing Family Tree Builder Freeware
Family Tree Builder freeware is readily available for download from myheritage.com/FTB. Simply navigate to the site and click the “Download now” button to initiate the program download.
Once the download is complete, locate the file on your computer, double-click to open it, and then click “Yes” or “Run” to commence the installation process. After installation is finished, click “Finish” to launch Family Tree Builder freeware.
To utilize Family Tree Builder freeware, a MyHeritage account is necessary. Upon launching the program for the first time, you will be prompted to either sign up for a new MyHeritage account or log in using your existing credentials.
Initiating Your Family Tree on Family Tree Builder Freeware
Downloading a Tree from MyHeritage
If you have already established a family tree on MyHeritage, upon your initial login to Family Tree Builder freeware, a window will appear presenting the option to download your online tree to the desktop software. Simply select the tree(s) you wish to download to FTB and click “Download now.”
Downloading a tree from the MyHeritage website to Family Tree Builder freeware
Should you choose to skip this step initially, you can always download your MyHeritage tree at a later time by selecting “Restore project” from the “File” menu and then choosing “Restore from online family site.”
Starting a Tree from a GEDCOM File or from the Ground Up
For users without an existing MyHeritage tree or those preferring to begin building their family tree directly within Family Tree Builder freeware, simply click the “New” button located on the far left of the top toolbar. Alternatively, open the “File” menu and select “New project.”
Starting a new project on Family Tree Builder freeware
You will be presented with options to either start a brand new tree or import an existing one via a GEDCOM file. To create a tree from scratch, click “Create new tree.” If you possess an existing family tree in GEDCOM format, you can import it by selecting “Import GEDCOM” and choosing the relevant file from your computer.
When initiating a new tree from scratch, Family Tree Builder freeware will guide you through a user-friendly wizard where you can input essential information about yourself, your parents, and your grandparents, laying the foundation for your family tree.
Just like the online platform, once you’ve entered these fundamental details, MyHeritage’s intelligent system will automatically commence searching for Smart Matches™ and Record Matches, potentially uncovering valuable connections and historical records related to your family.
Adding Individuals and Refining Details in Your Freeware Tree
To expand your family tree by adding a new individual, you can easily click on the designated empty space above or below an existing person card, labeled “Add [family member].” Alternatively, click the “Add person” button situated at the top of the tree interface.
Another convenient method is to right-click on the person card of the new individual’s relative, hover your cursor over the appropriate relationship type, and select “Add [family member].” This streamlined approach allows for intuitive tree expansion.
To modify the details or incorporate additional facts for an existing person within your tree, simply double-click on their person card. This action will open the details window, providing access to edit existing information and add new biographical details, sources, and notes.
Incorporating and Organizing Photos in Family Tree Builder Freeware
Clicking the “Photos” tab located on the top toolbar will navigate you to the dedicated Photos section. This area serves as your central hub for managing all photos and other media associated with your family tree.
Within the Photos section of Family Tree Builder freeware, you can effortlessly upload, organize, and tag your family photos, linking them to specific individuals in your tree. This visual dimension enriches your genealogical research and allows for a more engaging exploration of your family history.
Unleashing Advanced Capabilities within Family Tree Builder Freeware
Having familiarized yourself with the basics of Family Tree Builder freeware, you can now begin to explore the advanced features that distinguish FTB as a potent tool for in-depth genealogy research.
While a comprehensive description of all these features is beyond the scope of this introductory article, you can find valuable insights into several of them in this Knowledge Base article by MyHeritage Support Specialist Ziv Sorrek. The functionalities Ziv highlights in his article encompass:
- Task management for organized research
- Profile list for easy navigation of individuals
- Offline work capability for research on the go
- Diverse charts and reports for data visualization
- Recording reverse sides of photos and documents for comprehensive documentation
- Manual backup for data security
- Advanced GEDCOM options for data exchange
- Sophisticated privacy settings for data control
- Adding unrelated individuals for comprehensive record-keeping
- “Find and Replace” tool for efficient data editing
Further enhance your understanding of Family Tree Builder freeware’s advanced features through our Genealogy Expert Daniel Horowitz’s Ask the Expert sessions dedicated to this topic.
Explore additional Knowledge Base resources on FTB here.
