Free Mac Genealogy Software[edit | edit source]
Commercial Mac Genealogy Programs[edit | edit source]
Ancestris is a free genealogy software to allow all genealogists, from beginners to experts, to build their genealogy in complete freedom. For us your data is what is most important. With Ancestris, you can enrich and maintain it without risk of loss, unlike what can happen with other non-free software on the market, when changing software. About iFamily for Mac. IFamily for Mac is a richly featured Genealogy application with a healthy community of users. This is the genealogy application that Mac users have been waiting for! Whereas other genealogy software tends to emphasize the family unit. You are free to store, read, manipulate, and publish your genealogy without depending on any software nor operating system. Unlimited You can manage an unlimited number of individuals, families, and other documents for as many different genealogies as you want.
- iFamily for Mac for Snow Leopard and newer. For older OS versions, use iFamily for Leopard (still works for Tiger)
Mac Genealogy Programs Certified for FamilySearch[edit | edit source]
FamilySearch Certified Products and Services
- Ancestral Quest for Mac Tree Share, Sources, Discussions, Change History and FamilySearch Support
- MacFamilyTree Tree Share, Sources, Discussions, Change History
Running Certified programs for FamilySearch that were created for Windows on a Mac
- You will need a valid copy of Microsoft Windows.
- You can partition your hard drive and create a windows section on your computer which will allow you to run any of the certified programs for New Family Search on your computer. You would partition your hard drive using Apple's Boot Camp. Boot Camp comes preinstalled on your computer. The program walks you though step by step how to partition the hard drive although I do recommend that you print out the instructions before you begin. Apple
- As alternatives to BootCamp there are a few virtualization programs that allow you to run the Windows OS as you would a native program program.
- Oracle VM VirtualBox is free open-source software similar to Vmware Fusion and Parallels. Virtual Box
- Parallels is currently $79.95. Parallels contains a feature similar to VMware Fusion's Unity called Coherence. Parallels
- VMware Fusion is currently $79.95. It has a feature called Unity, which allows you run Windows programs like native applications. VMware
- Oracle VM VirtualBox is free open-source software similar to Vmware Fusion and Parallels. Virtual Box
Here are the select set of resources you’ll need to explore your family’s history.
Start with Software
Your genealogy software is the repository for all the information you discover. It’s the main tool in your genealogy toolbox. Which one you choose will likely depend primarily on whether you use a Windows PC or a Mac.
Already Have Software?
Handy indexes of articles and videos by application are linked below for your convenience:
Still Looking for Software?
I’ve also created a couple of buyer’s guides to help you make a choice between software:
See my recommendations in the following sections.
Genealogy Software for Windows
I recommend RootsMagic 7 and Family Historian. There are many good alternatives though.
- Family Historian
- Family Tree Maker 2017
- Legacy Family Tree
- RootsMagic 7
Genealogy Software for Mac
- Family Tree Maker 2017 for Mac
- GEDitCOM II
- iFamily for Leopard
- MacFamilyTree 8 by Synium
- Reunion 12 by Leister Productions
Get Good Books
Setup Folders on Your Computer
You’ll need places to put archival copies of scanned documents, photos, and other files on your computer. This series of video screencasts will walk you, step-by-step, through setting up a folder system and putting files into it. They’re created on a Mac and take advantage of the powerful alias feature in Mac OS X, but most of the system will work well on Windows too.
Get Information About Your Ancestors
Not all of the information about your relatives is online, so you’ll need to do some sleuthing in the real world. But, there is a wealth of information available online. My advice to you is to consider everything, but only trust it after you prove it. That said, these online databases provide a great source of leads! There’s some overlap between the records on these sites and they each have treasured family history that the others won’t. You can search for free to get an idea which holds the most (and most interesting) genealogy data for your ancestors.
- Fold3.com (Military Records)
- Newspapers.com
- NewspaperARCHIVES.com
- Find out how you are related to the rest of humanity at OneGreatFamily
Free Mac Genealogy Software
There are tons more sites, but I want to keep this concise so that it’s most useful for you.