Guides > GEDCOM Information

GEDCOM, an acronym standing for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, is an open-standard file format and specification for storing genealogical data and allowing it to be easily exchanged between various genealogy programs and platforms (it’s a plain text file, easily readable in any text editor).

It was originally developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, aka the Mormon Church) and FamilySearch to allow people to share genealogical data.

Any decent genealogy program, including those on mobile devices (iPhones, iPads, Androids) should support the importing and exporting of standard GEDCOM files.

The current version of the GEDCOM format is GEDCOM 7.0, released in 2021, however GEDCOM 5.5.1 (released in the 1990s) or 5.5.5 is still the typical standard format for most genealogy programs created or updated within the last 25 years.

Some genealogy programs focus on using the GEDCOM as their main file format, such as GEDitCOM II for the Mac/macOS, and Family Historian 7 on the Windows PC side.

Sample GEDCOM Files

You can view the current GEDCOM 7.0 format/standard specifications here:

https://gedcom.io/specifications/FamilySearchGEDCOMv7.html

This is what a typical GEDCOM file might look like (older version, Wikipedia is the source):

0 HEAD
1 SOUR PAF
2 NAME Personal Ancestral File
2 VERS 5.0
1 DATE 30 NOV 2000
1 GEDC
2 VERS 5.5
2 FORM LINEAGE-LINKED
1 CHAR ANSEL
1 SUBM @U1@
0 @I1@ INDI
1 NAME John /Smith/
1 SEX M
1 FAMS @F1@
0 @I2@ INDI
1 NAME Elizabeth /Stansfield/
1 SEX F
1 FAMS @F1@
0 @I3@ INDI
1 NAME James /Smith/
1 SEX M
1 FAMC @F1@
0 @F1@ FAM
1 HUSB @I1@
1 WIFE @I2@
1 MARR
1 CHIL @I3@
0 @U1@ SUBM
1 NAME Submitter
0 TRLR

If you’d like to read more on the GEDCOM standard, please see https://www.gedcom.org

An extensive look at the GEDCOM specs up through 5.5, by Tamura Jones:

https://www.tamurajones.net/FamilySearchGEDCOMSpecifications.xhtml

Tamura Jones has written a LOT about the GEDCOM format:

https://www.tamurajones.net/standards.xhtml

If you’d like to validate a GEDCOM file, check GEDCOM Validator as it handles GEDCOM files from GEDCOM 1.x through GEDCOM 7.x, and helps find and correct any issues that may arise when transferring GEDCOM files between genealogy programs.

Changelog

  • 24 Sep 2024 – Added GEDCOM sample links