How to export one branch of your family tree
A cousin asks for "the Harrison side" and you do not want to hand over thirty thousand people, your research notes and the birth dates of everyone still living. Family Tree Maker exports a single branch to its own file, with living relatives protected, and leaves your own tree completely untouched.
- Applies to
- FTM 2024 · 2019 · 2017 · 2014
- Platform
- Windows & macOS
- Time
- ~20 min
Your own tree does not change. Exporting writes a brand-new file. Nothing is removed, moved or renamed in the tree you keep working in, so there is no risk in trying this.
The quick route: Export Branch
FTM 2014 introduced a wizard that does the whole job from one right-click, and most people never find it.
Open the Tree tab and find the person the branch should start from.
Right-click their name and choose Export Branch.
Work through the wizard, then save the file somewhere you will find it again.
That covers most sharing. Use the longer route below when you need finer control over who is included.
The full route: File, Export, Selected Individuals
Choose .
Select Selected Individuals. The Filter Individuals window opens.
Click a name, then use Include to add that one person, or use the Ancestors and Descendants buttons to pull in a whole line at once.
Choose the output format, click OK, then name and save the new tree.
| Button | Adds | Controls offered |
|---|---|---|
| Ancestors | The person and their direct ancestors | Generations back up to 999, all parents or preferred only, spouse handling, and whether to include those ancestors' descendants up to 15 generations |
| Descendants | The person and everyone descended from them | The same generation and spouse controls |
| Include | One named person | None. Use it to add stragglers by hand |
The generation limits are generous to the point of being unhelpful. Four to six generations produces a branch a relative can actually read. Anything deeper and you are back to sending your whole tree.
Protecting living relatives before you send anything
This is the part that matters, and it is a checkbox people scroll past. A branch shared with a cousin travels onward: to their spouse, their children, sometimes onto a public website you never see.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Privatize living people | Exports surnames and relationships, but withholds first and middle names, facts and shared facts |
| Include private facts | Decides whether facts you marked private travel with the file |
| Include private notes | The same choice for notes marked private |
| Include only items linked to selected individuals | Limits facts, notes and media links to the people you exported. Available only when exporting selected individuals |
Tick "Privatize living people" every time you share outside your own household. The structure of the family still reads correctly, and the details of people who never agreed to be published stay with you.
The last option is worth understanding too. Without it, an export can carry notes and media references belonging to people you did not include, which defeats the point of sending one branch.
GEDCOM or a Family Tree Maker file
The output format decides whether your relative can open it at all.
- Send GEDCOM when you do not know what software they use, or you know it is not Family Tree Maker. Every genealogy program reads GEDCOM.
- Send a Family Tree Maker file only when they run the same program. It preserves more than GEDCOM does.
GEDCOM records the paths to photographs rather than the images, so pictures do not travel on their own. Send the media folder separately when the recipient needs them, and expect to explain the relinking. That behaviour is covered in merging two family trees.
What a GEDCOM leaves behind
Before you send a branch to a cousin, know what arrives and what does not. A GEDCOM carries people, dates, places, relationships and source citations. It is a plain-text exchange format, and everything specific to Family Tree Maker falls outside it.
So your notes, tasks, colour coding, saved charts and reports, and web links do not travel. Neither do photographs, which are files sitting beside the tree rather than inside it. If the point of sending a branch is to share the pictures, attach them separately or export a Family Tree Maker file instead, and say which you have sent so the person receiving it knows what to expect.
The same limitation runs the other way, and it explains a common disappointment. Import a relative's GEDCOM and you get their structure and their sources without their reasoning. Whatever they wrote in their notes, which is often the most useful part of someone's research, stays on their computer.
Check the export before you send it
One detail stops people here: an exported Family Tree Maker file opens through , not . People conclude the export failed when it worked perfectly.
Open the exported file with .
Check the person count. A branch of six generations should be far smaller than your full tree. A count close to your original means the filter did not apply.
Open two or three living people and confirm their details are withheld.
Close it and send the file, not your original.
Frequently asked questions
How do I export just one branch of my family tree?
Right-click the person in the Tree tab and choose Export Branch, which is the quickest route in FTM 2014 and later. The longer route is File then Export, then Selected Individuals, then the Ancestors or Descendants button.
Does exporting a branch change my original tree?
No. The export writes a separate new file and leaves your tree exactly as it was. Nothing is removed, moved or altered.
How do I hide living relatives when sharing a branch?
Tick Privatize living people. Surnames and relationships still export, but first and middle names, facts and shared facts do not.
How many generations can I export?
The Ancestors option goes up to 999 generations back, and you can include those ancestors’ descendants up to 15 generations. In practice four to six generations suits most sharing.
Why can I not open the file I just exported?
An exported Family Tree Maker file opens through File then Restore rather than File then Open. That single step confuses most people the first time.
Should I send a GEDCOM or a Family Tree Maker file?
Send GEDCOM if the recipient uses different software, because every genealogy program reads it. Send a Family Tree Maker file only when you know they run the same program.
Do photographs travel with an exported branch?
GEDCOM records the file paths rather than the images, so photographs do not travel on their own. Send the media folder separately if the recipient needs the pictures.
Sharing a tree and worried about privacy?
We set the export up with you and check what actually leaves your computer before it goes.