Merging Duplicate Individuals in FTM 2008-2019 for Windows

Using the Find Duplicate People Tool

1. Click Edit then select Find Duplicate People. A message asks you to back up your file.

2. Before performing any major changes, we recommend that you create a backup. Click Yes to make a backup, or click No to continue without backing up your tree.

Note: The Find Duplicate People window opens. In the Person 1 and Person 2 columns, you'll see the individuals who might be duplicates. In the third column you'll see a match score- the higher the number the more likely the individuals are duplicates. A 1,000 means the individuals are almost exact matches.

3. To merge a pair of individuals (or just compare the two), select their row in the window and then click Compare/Merge.

4. To merge the individuals, continue with step 5 in the next task.

Merging Two Specific Individuals

1. Go to the Family tab on the People workspace and click the name of one of the duplicate individuals in the index.
2. Click Person>Merge Two Specific Individuals. A message asks you to back up your file.

   

3. Before performing any major changes, we recommend that you create a backup. Click Yes to make a backup, or click No to continue without backing up your tree. The Index of Individuals window opens.
4. Click the name of the duplicate individual in the list. You can use the scroll bar to move up and down the list, or type a name (last name first) in the Find field. Then click OK.

   

5. The Individual Merge window opens. The two columns show the facts attached to each individual. You can decide how the information will be merged together and whether you want to keep or discard alternate facts.
   
   For versions 2012 through 2019: To keep a fact and mark it as preferred, select the button next to the fact. (The corresponding fact for the other individual will be merged as an alternate fact unless you discard it.) To remove a fact, click the Alternate arrow and choose "Discard" from the drop-down list. If you discard a fact, you can include its sources and media items by clicking the Keep sources checkbox.  Click OK to complete the merge.
   
   
   
   For versions 2008 through 2011: Select Make preferred to keep this as the preferred fact for the individual; select Make alternate to keep this as an alternate fact; select Discard this fact if you don't want to keep this fact; select Add source only if you don't want to keep the fact but want to keep the source of the fact.  Click OK to complete the merge.