How to import a GEDCOM file: check your family tree first

1. In your genealogy app, choose its GEDCOM export option. Export UTF-8 text as a .ged file, and keep the original export and any media backup separately.
2. Start with a branch of up to 2,000 people, 2MB and 12,000 supported connections. You can use the local check above before creating an account.
3. Resolve blocking errors in the source app. Review warnings and note which records or photos you will need to add separately.
4. In Our Story, choose your family and open Settings → Import a family tree. Select your file again, review the import and add it only once.

Actual imports require the appropriate family permissions and available plan capacity, and run their own server checks. A successful local check does not guarantee that an import will complete.

People and notes

Primary name, supported birth surname and sex fields, occupation, and inline personal notes. Additional name records, nicknames and romanized names are kept where supported, with supported name types and language tags. Very long names or names beyond the profile limit are kept in notes. Phonetic name variants, shared note records and other unsupported fields still need separate review.

Birth and death

Supported dates and places, including year-only, month-and-year and approximate years. Unsupported, invalid and additional date expressions remain text in family notes for review.

Family links

Supported parent-child and partner links, with supported parentage and union types. Missing references are skipped. A family record alone is not treated as proof of marriage.

Photos, sources and other events

Media, source citations and unsupported events are not imported into Archive. Add originals and their source details separately, then connect them to the relevant people.

The checker describes this app’s subset; it does not certify full GEDCOM 5.5.1 or 7 compatibility. Review a small branch before transferring a large research project.

No. For example, ABT 1880 stays “about 1880,” BEF 1890 stays “before 1890,”AFT 1850 stays “after 1850,” MAR 1882 keeps month precision, and 1958keeps year precision. A range or period such as BET 1912 AND 1914 or FROM 1912 TO 1914is kept as “between 1912 and 1914,” with both ends preserved. A qualified month or day such asBEF JAN 1890 is kept as text in family notes; nothing is converted into an exact date.

The fictional download demonstrates these cases. Its four people are examples, not historical claims.

A recorded death marks a person deceased. Our Story’s explicit life-status extension is also recognized. Without either, status is unknown, with the same privacy protections as living people. An old birth year alone does not establish death.

Review life status and your family’s privacy settings after import. Keep the source file private too: it may contain personal information about living relatives.

No. Import adds new profiles and does not merge them with existing people. The local checker has no access to your archive, so it cannot find existing-profile duplicates.

Where saved import review is available, you can review possible duplicates, choose whom to add or skip, and resume a saved review. Those suggestions require your judgment. Otherwise, review the file preview and avoid importing the same people again.

Compare a few people with your original research: names, date precision, life status, parentage and partner links. Check family notes for date expressions that need attention. Then add a photograph or source document and connect it to the right person.

Keep your original GEDCOM and media backup. A GEDCOM re-export contains the supported tree data; it does not replace an archive export containing uploaded originals.

The GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification describes the genealogy exchange format. This guide’s coverage and limits describe Our Story’s importer, not every application that reads GEDCOM.

Source checked September 6, 2026. The specification’s publishers have not reviewed or endorsed Our Story. No private family material was used in this guide.