To view a shared tree, your friends and family will need an Ancestry® account. If they don't already have an account, they can create a free guest account. If they don’t want to make an Ancestry account, you can ask them for help filling in the details about people in your tree.

You can change or revoke the level of access you grant to your tree at any time. 

Sharing your tree

From the app

1. From your tree, tap the Share icon  .
2. Choose the role you want the person to have and tap Create link. 
3. Send the link to someone. Each person you invite will need a new link. 

From a browser

1. In your tree's top-right corner, click Invite.
2. Choose how you want to share your tree using the tabs at the top of the opened window.
   • Invite link: creates an invitation link you can share anywhere and with anyone.
   • Emails: sends an invitation to the email address you enter.
   • Username: lets you enter their username to send an email invitation to their registered email address; you don't need to know their email.
3. If you're creating an invite link, skip this step. Otherwise, enter the recipient's email address or username.
   • To invite multiple people at once: click Add another email/user.
   • To invite a circle: click the username field and choose a circle to invite from the drop-down menu. If you see a list of saved logins instead of your list of circles, click the username field again.
4. In the Role menu, choose which role you want the person to have.
   • Guests can view and add comments. They cannot automatically view living people. 
   • Contributors can view and add comments, photos, and stories. They cannot edit or remove existing tree content or automatically view living people.
   • Editors can automatically view living people, remove and edit existing content, and add people, records, comments, photos, and stories.
5. If you're sending a link, choose Create link > Copy link. If you're sending an email, include a message (optional) and select Send Invites. Once someone accepts your invitation, your tree will appear under the Trees tab in their account.

Accepting a tree invitation

1. In your invitation email, click View tree. 
2. If prompted, sign in to your Ancestry account or create one for free. 
3. View the tree. The tree will now appear under your Trees tab.

Managing invited people

1. In the top-left corner, tap your profile icon (photo or letters).
2. Under Manage tree, tap the tree name.
3. Tap a name to change or revoke access. 

From a browser

1. Go to the tree you’ve shared.
2. In the toolbar on the left, click More (three dots) and select Tree Settings.
3. Click the Invitations tab.
4. Edit someone's role or ability to see living people. To end someone’s access to your tree, click Remove.
5. Click Save Changes.

Removing a tree shared with you

When you remove a tree someone shared with you from your account, the person who shared it is not notified, and their tree remains on their account.

From a browser

1. Click the Trees tab and select Create & Manage Trees.
2. Above your list of trees, click Trees Shared with Me.
3. In the Tools column, click Remove from list beside a tree you want to remove.
4. Click OK.

Troubleshooting

An invitation you sent wasn’t received: From your tree, in the toolbar on the left, click More (three dots) and select Tree Settings. Select the Invitations tab and make sure the email address or username you entered is right. If it is, select Reinvite in the Tools column. If you sent the invitation using their username, the email invitation will go to the email address they have on file with Ancestry. Try using a different email address if their first one (or their username) didn’t work.

You didn’t receive an invitation someone sent to you: Make sure the person sending you the invitation got your email address or username right. If they did, contact us to see if Ancestry may have been blocked from sending an email to your email address.

Merging family trees: It's not currently possible to merge trees automatically. For some ideas, see our article about merging trees.