How to Create a Family Tree Online — Free (2026)

A family tree is one of the most personal documents you can create — a visual record of where you came from and the people who shaped your family's story. Use the free family tree maker to map out your ancestry across multiple generations, entirely in your browser with no data ever leaving your device.

How to Use the Tool

1. Start with yourself: click Add person and enter your name and birth year in the centre of the canvas.
2. Select your node and click Add parent to attach your mother and father above you.
3. Repeat for each parent — add their parents (your grandparents) to extend the tree upward.
4. Add siblings by selecting a parent node and using Add child to place additional people at your generation level.
5. Click any person to add details: birth date, birthplace, occupation, or a short note about them.
6. When the tree is complete, use Export to download a PNG to print, frame, or share.

Why People Create Family Trees

Genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and the reasons people pursue it are as varied as families themselves. Some begin out of simple curiosity — they hear a story about a great-grandparent and want to know more. Others are motivated by health: understanding which conditions appear across multiple generations helps doctors assess hereditary risk for heart disease, certain cancers, or genetic conditions. Adoptees and donor-conceived individuals often research their biological family to build a sense of identity. Families with immigrant histories use genealogy to reconnect with cultural roots that were lost or suppressed across generations. Whatever the starting point, most people who begin a family tree report that the process itself — the conversations it sparks with older relatives, the records it uncovers — becomes as meaningful as the finished diagram.

The best approach to building a family tree is to start with what you already know and work outward. Begin with yourself, your parents, and your grandparents — information you can often gather in a single conversation with a parent or aunt. For earlier generations, birth certificates, marriage records, census data, and immigration manifests are the primary sources. Many of these records are now digitised and searchable through national archives, ancestry databases, and local genealogical societies. Even partial information is worth recording: a tree with some question marks is far more useful than a blank page, and future family members may be able to fill the gaps.

Researching Ancestors

Before diving into databases, collect what you have at home. Old photographs often have names written on the back. Letters, diaries, and official documents — passports, military discharge papers, naturalisation certificates — contain dates and places that anchor further research. Obituaries are particularly rich sources: they typically list surviving relatives by name, narrowing down which branches of a family were still connected. Once you have exhausted home sources, public records fill in the rest. Birth, marriage, and death registrations in most countries go back at least to the mid-1800s, and some parishes have records stretching centuries earlier. For recent generations, social media profiles and LinkedIn can surface living relatives you did not know existed, opening entirely new branches of the tree.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many generations can I add?

There is no built-in limit. Most people comfortably map four to six generations (great-great-grandparents and back), which already represents dozens of individuals. Beyond that, verified records become sparse for most families. The tool handles as many nodes as your research can support; very large trees can be navigated by zooming and panning the canvas.

Can I add photos to family members?

Yes. Click any person's node to open their detail panel, where you can upload a photo that will appear as a thumbnail inside the node on the tree. Photos are stored only in your browser session and are included in the exported PNG — they are never uploaded to any server.

What if I don't know one or both parents for someone?

Simply leave the unknown parent out of the tree and add only the parent you know. You can add a placeholder node labelled "Unknown" if you want to indicate that a parent existed but their identity has not been traced. This keeps the visual structure accurate without fabricating information.

How do I handle step-parents, adoptive parents, or blended families?

Add the step-parent or adoptive parent as you would any other, and use the notes field on that person's node to indicate the nature of the relationship (e.g. "Adoptive mother" or "Step-father from 1987"). If you want to show both biological and adoptive parents, add both connections and annotate them clearly so future readers understand the family structure.

Can I export my family tree to share with relatives?

Yes. The Export button downloads a high-resolution PNG that you can email, print, or frame. For printing at large sizes (A1 or A0 posters), the SVG export option preserves sharp edges at any scale. Because all data stays in your browser, you will need to save the exported file to share it — there is no shareable cloud link, which also means your family's private information stays private.