Syncing an updated tree between Ancestry and Family Tree Maker
When you have a tree linked between Ancestry and your Family Tree Maker, any time you make changes to either tree you will need to perform a sync to transfer the updated information from one tree to the other. You have two options for syncing: Automatic or Manual. The options for automatic or manual sync can be set when syncing a tree for the first time, or by clicking on the sync indicator in the upper-right corner of the program and going into Sync Options.
This article discusses the following:
When you have your tree set for automatic syncing, your program will check for any differences between your Ancestry tree and your Family Tree Maker tree at open or close of the program. If any differences are found, you will automatically be sent into a sync process.
When you have your tree set for manual syncing you have the option to sync on demand at any time when you are working in the Family Tree Maker program. There are two options for syncing manually.
- With your linked tree open, select Plan at the top left of your program screen.
- Select the Current Tree tab if you are not already there. For Family Tree Maker for Mac, you must have the tree you wish to sync open. This is done by clicking the File menu and selecting “Open…” then selecting the correct tree from your computer.
- In the center of the screen look for the Tree Sync - Access Via Ancestry box and click on the Sync Now button.
Manual Sync from Sync Status Icon
Click on the Sync Status icon in the upper right corner in Family Tree Maker and click on Sync Now in the drop-down menu.
Reviewing the differences reported in the Sync Change Log
When you have the option set in your sync update settings to show change log before finalizing sync you will have a change summary screen come up during the sync process where you will be able to review the changes that have been detected for any given sync prior to completing a sync. We recommend clicking the blue Stop Timer link (near the bottom right corner of the Log window) in order to review the Sync Change Log in a more relaxed fashion.
In the Sync Change Log screen you will see a brief summary of detected changes for your sync. You can view more in depth information by clicking on the View/Print Details button on the left side of this box.
This will bring up a screen displaying the changes from Ancestry and the changes from Family Tree Maker and the specific items that are different. In the list you will see:
- The name of the person the change has occurred on and what data is different.
- It will list whether it is a New, Changed or Deleted entry.
3. It will also list the username of the person making the change. This is useful when you have contributors or editors invited to your online tree and it will allow you to see who was responsible for a change in your online tree data so you know who to contact if you have questions about a change that was made.
To the right you will see several button options:
- Print – This will generate a report of the changes that you can send to your printer.
- Send as PDF – This will generate a PDF file for your log and open up the default email program on your computer and automatically attach it to a new email.
- Send as RTF – This will create a Rich Text file for your log and open up the default email program on your computer and automatically attach it to a new email.
- Export to PDF – This will generate a PDF file for your log and allow you to save it to your computer.
- Export to RTF – This will create a Rich Text file for your log and allow you to save it to your computer.
- Close – Clicking this will close the Sync Log screen and return you to the Sync Change screen to continue.
Accepting or Cancelling a Sync
If you are satisfied with the changes that see in your sync log, click on Continue to complete the sync.
If you do not wish to accept the changes or wish to review the changes before completing the sync you can click on the Cancel Sync button to bypass your sync.
If you do not wish to see the sync change log when you initiate a sync you can bypass them in the future by clicking on the Don’t show Change Log during sync check-box in the lower left of the sync box.