Moving Family Tree Maker to a new computer
A Family Tree Maker installation is three separate things: the tree file, the folder of photographs beside it, and the link to your online tree. Copying the tree file alone moves one of the three. This guide moves all three, using the backup and restore method the publisher recommends, and covers the reconnection step most people miss.
- Applies to
- FTM 2024 · 2019 · 2017 · 2014
- Platform
- Windows & macOS, including PC to Mac
- Time
- ~40 min, plus copying
What actually has to move
Most failed moves happen because one of these was left behind. Check all five before you start.
| Part | What it is | Travels in a backup? |
|---|---|---|
| The tree file | The .ftm file holding names, dates, facts and sources. | Yes |
| The media folder | A folder with the same name, holding every photograph and document. | Yes, when you tick media |
| The online tree link | The connection that lets the tree sync. | Yes, but needs repointing |
| The licence | Your registration key. | No. Reinstall and register. |
| Charts and templates | Saved chart styles and custom report layouts. | No. Recreate them. |
Why a backup beats copying the file
Dragging the .ftm file to a USB stick looks like the obvious move. It fails in two ways.
- The media folder gets left behind. It sits beside the tree file as a separate folder, and people copy the file they can see. The tree then opens on the new computer with every image as a broken link.
- The online tree still points at the old computer. Syncing either refuses to start or keeps writing from the wrong machine.
A full backup packages the tree, the media and the link into one file. That is why the publisher recommends it, and it is the method below.
Keep the old computer working until the end. Nothing here deletes anything, and an untouched old machine is your fallback if the move goes wrong.
Do not use syncing to move computers
This is the mistake we see most, and it looks reasonable: the tree already syncs with Ancestry, so people sync it down onto the new machine and expect an identical copy. They get a degraded one.
Syncing is not a transfer tool. It carries what the online tree holds, and the online tree deliberately does not hold everything. Users who move this way report the same three losses, and the publisher's own documentation confirms each as by design rather than a fault.
| What breaks | What people see |
|---|---|
| Media categories | Every photograph arrives as "uncategorised" |
| Citation formatting | Paragraph breaks vanish, so citations read as one block |
| Source detail | Longer source text arrives truncated partway through |
| Notes and tasks | Research notes, fact notes and task lists do not travel |
| Colour coding | Colour tags you assigned are absent |
None of that is recoverable afterwards without going back to the original machine. A full backup carries all of it, which is why the rest of this guide uses one.
Copying the .ftm file and its media folder by hand also works, provided you keep them together in the same folder structure. Experienced users do this routinely. It is more fragile than a backup only because it depends on you moving both parts correctly.
Step 1 — Install and register on the new computer first
Install the same edition on the new computer and register it with your existing key before you move any data. A standard licence covers your own use across your machines, so this costs nothing. Registering first means the restore has somewhere to land.
Step 2 — Make a full backup, with media
On the old computer, open .
Tick the option to include media files. This is the single most important click in the whole process. Without it you move names and dates and lose every photograph.
Save the backup to a USB drive or external drive, not the internal disk. The point is to get it off the old machine.
Note the file size. A tree with thousands of scans produces a backup of several gigabytes, and a suspiciously small backup means the media box was not ticked.
Backups are worth making regularly regardless of any move — see backing up a tree file.
Step 3 — Copy the backup onto the new computer
Copy the backup file from the drive onto the new computer's hard disk before you restore it. Restoring directly from a USB stick works until the stick disconnects partway through, which produces a half-restored tree and a confusing error.
Step 4 — Restore the tree
Open Family Tree Maker on the new computer and choose .
Select the backup file you copied across.
Save the tree into the Family Tree Maker folder inside Documents, which is where the program expects to find it.
Let the restore finish without interrupting it. A large tree with media takes a while.
Step 5 — Point your online tree at the restored copy
This is the step people miss, and the one that causes "it moved but it will not sync" a week later. The restored tree is not yet the copy your online tree talks to.
Sign in on the new computer using the same account you used on the old one.
Open the tree browser from the menu.
Find your restored tree and set it as the tree that syncs.
Run one sync and let it complete.
The old computer stops syncing now, and that is correct. Only the new tree writes to your online tree from this point. That is what stops two computers pushing conflicting changes into one online tree.
Moving between Windows and Mac
Modern editions read the same tree file on both platforms, so a backup made on Windows restores on a Mac and the reverse. Two cases need an extra step first.
| Moving from | What it needs |
|---|---|
| FTM 2014 or newer, either platform | Backup and restore. Nothing extra. |
| FTM 2008 to 2012 (Windows) | The free File Migration Utility before restoring on a Mac. |
| FTM 2010 to 2011 (Mac) | The same utility before restoring on Windows. |
Changing platform and upgrading edition at the same time makes any failure much harder to diagnose. Do one, confirm it worked, then do the other. The upgrade guide covers the edition half.
Take the media folder with you
The tree file does not contain your photographs. They sit in a folder alongside it, named after the tree with the word Media on the end. Carry the tree across on its own and the new machine opens a complete tree in which every image reports as missing, even though nothing was lost. A proper backup bundles both, which is the main reason to move a backup rather than the bare file.
One thing to avoid once you arrive. If you pay for the TreeVault cloud service, renaming or moving the tree file from Windows or Finder breaks its link to the cloud copy, and the copy then stops updating without telling you. Do your renaming and moving from inside Family Tree Maker instead.
Why uploading and re-downloading is a poor transfer
It looks like the tidiest route. Sync the tree up, sign in on the new machine, pull it down, done. The publisher advises against it, and the reason is simple once you see it: the two trees are stored in different formats, so a round trip through the online copy quietly strips out everything the online format has no place for.
What you lose that way is not obscure. Your research notes and fact notes. Tasks. Colour coding. Saved charts, reports and books you spent an evening laying out. Person web links. Short place names and map coordinates. None of it comes back, and none of it announces its absence, so you can work for weeks on the new machine before noticing a gap.
Move a proper backup instead, media included. That carries the whole file across intact, which is the entire point of doing it that way.
Step 6 — Check four things before wiping the old computer
Do not erase, sell or recycle the old machine until all four pass on the new one.
The person count matches. Compare the total on both machines. A mismatch means an incomplete restore.
Photographs display. Open several people who have images. Broken links mean the media did not travel — see missing media files.
One sync completes. Not starts. Completes.
A fresh backup works on the new computer. That proves the tree is healthy where it now lives.
When the move goes wrong
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Every photo is a broken link | Media not included in the backup | Redo the backup with media ticked, or copy the media folder across and relink. |
| Tree opens but will not sync | Online tree still points at the old computer | Complete step 5. |
| Restore fails partway | Restored straight from a USB drive, or a damaged backup | Copy the backup to the hard disk first, then restore. |
| Tree does not appear in the list | Restored outside the default folder | Open the file directly once and it returns to the list. |
| Asks for a registration key | New installation is unregistered | Register with your existing key. No repurchase is needed. |
If the tree file itself will not open on either machine, the problem predates the move — see finding a missing tree file.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move Family Tree Maker to a new computer?
Install Family Tree Maker on the new computer, create a full backup on the old one with media files included, copy that backup across, then use File and Restore on the new computer. The backup carries your tree, your media and the link to your online tree together.
Can I just copy the .ftm file to the new computer?
It works only if you copy the matching media folder as well, and it still leaves the online tree link pointing at the old computer. A backup and restore moves all three parts together, which is why the publisher recommends it.
Will I lose my photos when I move to a new computer?
No, as long as you tick the media files option when you create the backup. A backup made without media restores names, dates and sources but every image shows as a broken link.
Do I have to buy Family Tree Maker again for a new computer?
No. A standard licence covers your own use across your machines, so you reinstall using the same account and registration key. A Family Pack licence covers several people in one household.
Will my tree still sync with Ancestry after the move?
Yes, once you point the online tree at the restored copy. Until you do, the new computer holds an unlinked tree. Afterwards the tree on the old computer stops syncing, which is what stops two computers writing to one online tree.
Can I move a tree from a Windows PC to a Mac?
Yes. Modern editions read the same tree file on both platforms, so a backup restores across. Files from FTM 2008 to 2012 for Windows, or 2010 to 2011 for Mac, need the free File Migration Utility first.
What should I check before wiping the old computer?
Open the restored tree on the new computer, compare the person count against the old one, confirm photographs display rather than showing broken links, and run one successful sync. Keep the old machine untouched until all four pass.
Want the move done with you?
We run the backup, the restore and the sync reconnection on a screen share, with your old computer still intact. No fix, no fee.