With an Ancestry® account, you can message another person or group through the Ancestry messaging system.

Your messages are visible only to you. Others (including anyone you’ve shared your tree or DNA with) can only see messages they send or receive. 

Learn how to:

• Check your messages
• Send and reply to messages
• Message a group
• Add media to your messages
• Search and filter messages
• Delete a message
• Block or unblock someone
• Hide or archive messages
• Turn messaging on or off

Checking your messages

To check your messages on Ancestry:

Go to the messaging center

Or 

1. In the top-right corner of Ancestry, click the chat icon and select See all messages or Go to message center. 
   The chat icon will show a red notification dot when you have unread messages.
2. On the left, click a message to open it. If you don’t have any messages, skip to Sending a message.

Sending a message

To start a new message

Important: Sending new messages is available to Ancestry members who've shown a commitment to connecting with others in a meaningful way. This helps keep things friendly and safe for everyone.
 

1. In the top-left corner of the message center, click + New.
2. To the right of +New, enter the name/username of the person you’d like to message. To make it a group message, click the + plus sign and add another person or group.
3. At the bottom of your screen, enter a message and add a photo from your tree (optional).
4. Click Send. 

To reply to an existing message

1. From the message center, click on a message (left side).
2. At the bottom of your screen, enter your message and add a photo from your tree (optional).
3. Click Send. 

Group messaging

With group messaging, you can send a single message to multiple people at the same time. Group messages can have up to 50 people, including yourself.

To create a group message

1. In the top-left corner of the message center, click + New.
2. To the right of +New, select a family group or enter the name/username of someone you’d like to message.
3. Click the + plus sign and select another family group or add another person. Repeat as needed.
4. At the bottom of your screen, enter a message and add a photo from your tree (optional).
5. Click Send. Your message will be sent to everyone in the group.

Adding media to your messages 

You can share photos from your public tree(s) within your messages. 

Important:

• Adding media to messages is only available on the website and not on the app.
• Photos connected to living people can’t be shared.
• Photos from private trees or trees you’re invited to can’t be shared.
  
  

To share a photo from your tree

1. Open an existing message or start a new one.
2. At the bottom of your screen, click the image icon.
3. Select the public tree you want to share a photo from.
4. To see all the photos you can share from that tree, click on All photos, or to see the media connected to a specific person, select that person instead. 
5. Select a photo. Each message can only contain one image. To share multiple photos, send separate messages.
6. In the window that opens, click Select.  
7. (Optional) add a message to share with your photo.
8. Click Send. 

Searching and filtering messages 

You can search and filter your messages to quickly find the ones you want to open. If you search or use a filter and no results are found, change or clear the search or filter you’ve selected.

To find conversations with someone you’ve messaged before

1. In the top-left corner of the message center, enter their name/username into the Search Contacts bar.
2. Click the message to open the conversation.

To filter your messages

1. In the top-left corner next to Messages, click the down arrow ⌄.
2. Choose a filter:
   • Archived: Messages you’ve hidden from your inbox.
   • Unread: Messages you haven’t seen yet.
   • All: Messages you’ve sent or received, excluding any you’ve archived or deleted. 

Deleting a message

You can delete any messages you send. When you delete messages, they're also removed from everyone else in the conversation. The recipient(s) will see a note that says you deleted a message but will no longer see its contents. Deleting a message is permanent and can’t be undone. 

It’s not currently possible to delete entire conversations, but you can block accounts to prevent them from contacting you again and archive messages to hide them from view. 

Deleting a message you sent

1. From the message center, open the conversation with a message you’d like to delete. 
2. Hover over a message you sent.
3. Click the trash can.
4. To confirm, click Delete. 
   Your message will be deleted and replaced with a note that says, “Name/username deleted a message.” 

Blocking or unblocking accounts

If you no longer want to communicate with someone on Ancestry, you can block their account.

Accounts you block can’t message or respond to your community postings on Ancestry. If someone has multiple Ancestry accounts, you’ll need to block each of their accounts. You can unblock any account you’ve blocked at any time.

For help, see Blocking or Unblocking Accounts on Ancestry®.

Archiving and restoring messages

Archiving a message hides it from your inbox until you restore it or message that person again.

To archive messages

1. Hover over the message you’d like to archive.
2. Click the three dots.
3. Click Archive. The conversation will be hidden from your inbox. 

To restore messages

1. In the top-left corner next to Messages, click the down arrow ⌄ and choose Archived.
2. Hover over the message you’d like to restore.
3. Click the three dots.
4. Click Restore. The message will be returned to your inbox.

Turning messaging on or off for your account

1. Sign in at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/account.
2. On the left, click Communications.
3. Scroll to Messaging preferences and click Messaging.
4. Choose whether or not to allow other members to contact you through Ancestry’s online message system.    
   • If you want to allow messaging, switch the toggle "on" to the blue position.
   • If you want to turn off messaging, switch the toggle "off" to the gray position.

Frequently asked questions

How do I edit a message? 
Messages can only be changed or edited before sending. Once a message is sent, you can delete it and send a new one.

How do I share my tree with someone who has messaged me? 
To share your tree with someone who messaged you, follow the steps in Sharing a Family Tree to create an invitation link you can reply with or send them an invitation by email or username.

How do I contact someone from their family tree? 
While viewing their tree, click their name/username to visit their member profile. Then, on the left side of their profile, under their name/username, click "Message" to send them a message.

How do I contact a DNA match?
From your list of matches, click on the name/username of a match you want to send a message to. Then, on the next page, click "Message" to send them a message. For more help, see Messaging AncestryDNA® Matches. 

Why is someone I don't know messaging me?
If you've taken an AncestryDNA® test and someone you don't know contacts you, they might be related to you through your DNA. If they are a DNA match, clicking on the conversation with them will give you the option to View the match on Ancestry, and in the panel on the right, you may see details like the estimated relationship to them. 

If the message's contents seem suspicious, like spam or phishing, report both the message and the sender for our review.

How do I report a message or its sender?
Anything that violates our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement, or Community Rules should be reported. If you think the content of someone’s message goes against any of these, report it for our review.

To report an image you received, click the three dots and select Report.

To report the sender of a message, see Reporting Abuse on Ancestry®.
Note: reporting someone does not stop them from contacting you. 

To prevent someone from messaging you again, block their account(s).  

To hide the conversation from your list of messages, archive the message.