If you are an avid genealogist like me, you have likely included in every email or letter to a DNA match a request for their GEDmatch number or have asked them to to upload their DNA to GEDmatch. If you are new to genetic genealogy, you’ve very likely received a request like this yourself. What is GEDmatch and how can it benefit you and your matches? Even if you don’t plan on doing a deep dive on your own DNA, the value of having your DNA on GEDmatch is HUGE for those looking to confirm their family tree theories.
If you have had a DNA test at any of the typical testing companies such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, 23&Me, or others, you may quickly understand the limitation of comparing your DNA with only those that tested with the same company as you. For example, if you test with Ancestry, and continue to use only the Ancestry DNA match tools available, you will never discover any DNA matches with those that tested with FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, 23&Me, etc. This is where the power of GEDmatch comes in.
GEDmatch is a powerful 3rd party DNA tool that allows you to upload your raw DNA file from your testing company into a combined database which also includes some fantastic DNA tools to help you analyze your DNA matches in more detail. Think about it as paying for your DNA test with one company but getting to use the matches of others. Of course, you can also upload the same raw DNA file to those companies directly and use tools available there but I will leave that for another post.
There are 3 essential steps to getting the most out of GEDmatch.
- Download your raw DNA file from your testing company
- Uploading your raw DNA file to GEDmatch
- Using the available analysis tools and other 3rd party tools
Downloading your raw DNA from your testing company
Most of the popular testing companies offer a method for you to download your raw DNA file to your computer. The method varies but I will review each briefly here.
ANCESTRY
- Go to your Ancestry DNA page for the kit that you want to download
- Click on “Settings” in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on “Download Raw DNA Data from the options to the right.
- Enter your Ancestry password and consent to the download on the following page.
- You will receive an email with a link to download your raw DNA file
- The DNA file will be downloaded as a .zip file. Save it to a location on your computer that you will be able to find easily for later steps.
FAMILYTREEDNA
- Click on “Download Raw Data” from your home page.
- You need to then select “Build 37 Raw Data Concatenated” from the list of file types. This is important as Genesis will not properly recognize the other file options listed.
- The file will download in your browser as a zipped (.gz) file. Save it to a location on your computer that you will be able to find easily for later steps.
23&ME
- On the top navigation bar, click the down arrow next to your name in the upper right-hand corner and click on “Browse Raw Data” from the list.
- Review the information on the page and scroll to the bottom and click on the “Download” option found there.
- You will receive an email from 23&Me with a download link
- Download the zipped file. Save it to a location on your computer that you will be able to find easily for later steps.
Upload your raw DNA file to GEDmatch
- Set up a new account or log into your existing account at the GEDmatch website (www.gedmatch.com).
- Click on the link to the left under the “Upload your DNA files” heading for “Generic Uploads (23andme, FTDNA, AncestryDNA, most others)
- Complete the form on the next page
- Your email address will be associated with the DNA kit being uploaded and will be visible to others when found as a DNA match to their kit.
- The remaining fields below are pretty self explanatory.
- Use an alias if you do not wish your real name to be shown. Some choose not to enter an alias. Others may simply indicate the initials of the DNA kit test taker.
- Mitochondrial/Y haplogroups may only be available if you tested with FamilyTreeDNA or 23&Me and have this information available. If not, leave these blank.
- Indicate who’s DNA you are uploading it. Is it yours? Is it a relative you’ve had tested? Make sure you have their consent to upload their DNA file.
- Click on the “Choose File” button at the bottom of the form and locate the raw DNA file you downloaded from your testing company and then click on “Upload” to complete the process.
- The next screen will show the process completing. Do not do anything until you see the “Upload Complete” indicated.
- Once you have uploaded your raw DNA file, it will take some time to process and could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a day or more depending on how busy the servers are. Be patient!
- Once completed, you will see your DNA kit(s) listed with an assigned GEDmatch kit number on the home page of the GEDmatch site.
I’m on GEDmatch…What now?
Now that you have your DNA on GEDmatch, you are ready to utilize not only the tools available at their site but GEDmatch report data is often used for other 3rd party DNA tools including DNA Painter, RootsFinder, Facebook location-based DNA matching tools such as the Ontario Canada DNA MatchFinder group which I administer and many others.
Below is a list of the GEDmatch tools available at their site. You will notice that there are two sections. The first is a list of tools available to anyone with a GEDmatch account. The Tier 1 list of tools is a paid-tier level of tools available to those looking for additional analysis solutions. The cost for Tier 1 is $10/month but you can register for a single month and then cancel it. There are many online resources to explain these tools in detail. The most commonly used are likely the ‘One-To-Many DNA Comparison Result” to get a list of all DNA kits that match yours, the One-to-One Autosomal DNA Comparison” to compare in detail your kit and another specific kit and the “People who match both, or 1 of 2 kits” which allows you to triangulate matches between yours and another kit with known ancestry.
You’ve just opened up a whole new world in genetic genealogy resources for yourself. Congratulations!