Before you start
Only the owner of a tree can export it. If someone shared a tree with you, ask the owner to export it, or export a tree of your own. Ancestry's help says you do not need a paid membership to download your tree.
The steps
- Sign in to Ancestry and click the Trees tab, then choose the tree you want.
- In the toolbar on the left, click More (the three dots) and choose Tree Settings.
- On the right of the Tree Settings page, under Manage your tree, click Export tree.
- Click Export. The button shows that it is generating a GEDCOM file. Wait until it stops.
- Click Download Your GEDCOM File.
The download arrives inside a zip file. Open or unzip it to get the .ged file inside. Menu names can change when Ancestry updates its site; if a name differs, look for the tree's settings and an export option.
What the file contains
A GEDCOM holds the facts and links in your tree, not the pictures. Photos and other media are not in the file. For a printed family history this is usually fine, because the book is laid out from names, dates, places and relationships.
Then make the book
Open the free preview, choose the .ged file, pick the person the book starts from and choose Descendants or Ancestors. The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded.
If a person looks wrong in the preview, the cause is in the tree data, so fix it in your tree and export again. For the book itself, see how a family history book is organised.
Other sites
The steps for other sites are different: see the guides for FamilySearch and MyHeritage.