Remote troubleshooting

Fix the Family Tree Maker fault you can't shift

A screen-share session for one specific problem — a sync that never finishes, a program that closes on launch, photographs that show as broken links. We work through it together on your screen, find the actual cause rather than guessing, and fix it while you watch.

Covers
FTM 2024 · 2019 · 2017 · 2014
Platform
Windows & macOS
Typical session
30–45 min

Try the free guide first — genuinely. Most of what lands on this page is solved by the sync guide or one of the other free walkthroughs, at no cost and without speaking to anyone. Book a session when you've tried that and it hasn't worked.

What this session covers

Roughly four out of five enquiries fall into one of the groups below. If yours isn't listed, describe it in the form and we'll tell you honestly whether it's something we can help with.

Common Family Tree Maker faults, their usual cause, and whether they are fixable on your computer
Symptom Usual cause Fixable on your machine?
Sync stalls partway, or never finishes An expired Ancestry sign-in token, an oversized media file, or heavy load on Ancestry's servers Usually
Sync fails with a folder-access error Family Tree Maker cannot write to the folder where it saves trees — commonly after a OneDrive or iCloud change Yes
Repeated requests to sign in to Ancestry Signing in with an email or password that has since changed, or security software blocking the token from being stored Yes
Photographs show as broken links The media folder moved or was renamed, so the stored path no longer resolves Yes
Program closes immediately on launch An interrupted update, or a macOS or Windows version the installed build predates Usually
Everything runs slowly on a large tree Database indexes degraded by years of edits — resolved by compacting with extended analysis Yes
Sync Weather shows a storm An outage on Ancestry's side No — vendor issue
Licence, refund or TreeVault billing Account matters held by the publisher No — goes to the publisher

That last pair matters. Two of the most common enquiries we receive aren't ours to solve, and we'd rather say so on this page than after you've paid. Sync outages and billing questions both belong to the publisher's free support centre.

How a session runs

  1. You describe the problem. A couple of sentences, plus the exact wording of any error message. Free, and no card is needed.

  2. We tell you whether we can help. If it's a vendor-side fault, or a free guide already covers it, we say so and send you there instead. This costs you nothing.

  3. You share your screen. A browser link — nothing to install. We can see your screen and talk you through what to click; we cannot type or click on your machine, and you can end the session at any moment.

  4. We finish with a working backup. Before the session ends we confirm you have a current backup that includes media, then send a written summary of what was wrong and what changed.

We will never ask for your Ancestry password. If one needs entering during a session, you type it yourself while we look away or you blank the screen. Any support service that asks you to read out a password is one to end the call on — ours included.

Worth doing before the session

None of this is required, but each one shortens the session and a shorter session costs you less.

  • Make a backup. File → Backup, with the media option ticked. Full steps here.
  • Note the exact error text. A photograph of the screen on your phone is perfect.
  • Find your version. The About screen shows it. 2024, 2019, 2017 and 2014 behave differently enough that it matters.
  • Note when it started. After an update? A new computer? A Windows or macOS upgrade? That single answer often identifies the cause before we've looked at anything.

What this isn't

Being clear about the boundary is part of the service. We are an independent business, and there are things that either aren't ours to do or that you shouldn't pay anyone to do:

  • We're not Family Tree Maker's official support. The publisher of the program runs a free support centre. For a suspected bug in a specific build, they're the right destination.
  • We don't handle purchases, refunds, licence keys or TreeVault subscriptions. Those are account matters between you and the publisher.
  • We don't do genealogy research. We fix the software; who your great-grandmother was is a different profession.
  • We don't visit in person. Remote only, worldwide, by screen share.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Family Tree Maker sync fail?

Five causes account for nearly all of it: heavy traffic on Ancestry's servers, Family Tree Maker being unable to write to the folder where it stores trees, signing in with an email or password that has since changed, security software blocking the connection, and an unstable internet connection.

Only the middle three are fixable on your computer. The free sync guide walks through all of them in order.

Do you take control of my computer?

No. Screen share only — we see your screen, you do the clicking. It's slower than remote control and we prefer it that way: you learn what was wrong, and nothing happens on your machine that you didn't do yourself.

How long does a session take?

Most single faults are done inside thirty minutes. Compacting a large tree or pulling a fresh copy down from Ancestry can run longer, because those steps take as long as they take — on a big tree with a lot of media, that can be an hour or more of waiting.

What if the fault turns out to be Ancestry's?

Then nothing on your computer will fix it, and there's no charge. Server-side sync problems show in Family Tree Maker's Sync Weather indicator — a red status means Ancestry's sync servers are interrupted right now, and waiting is the fix. More on diagnosing sync failures.

Can you help with RootsMagic, Legacy or Ancestry itself?

Within reason. Most trouble happens at the boundary between programs — a GEDCOM that imported badly, a tree split across two applications, a sync that stopped after a migration. If your question is purely about another program's own features, we'll say that someone else is better placed.

My file won't open at all. Is this the right service?

Probably not — that's file repair and data recovery, which is assessed before you're charged anything. Start there. If it turns out to be a simpler fault we'll move you back to this service.

Tell us what's happening

Free to send, no card needed, and we reply within one working day — including when the honest answer is that a free guide already covers it.

We reply within one working day. No charge if we can't solve it.

Free guide Family Tree Maker won't sync Service File repair & data recovery Service Tree cleanup Free guide The program won't open