Ancestry Hints

What are Ancestry Hints

Ancestry Hints can help you discover ancestors and learn more about people in your family tree. Hints suggest records, photos, and other family trees that may contain information about your relatives. Common sources include:

  • Census records
  • Birth, marriage, and death records
  • Public family trees

You can review hints to decide whether the information belongs in your tree.

Note: Some hints, like those from public member trees, are only available on the Ancestry website and aren't in the Ancestry app. Use a browser to visit Ancestry and view all of the hints for your tree.
 

Find Hints

Hints appear as leaf icons green leaf or suggestions for a potential mother or father. You can view hints for your whole family tree or for one person.


From a browser

  • View all hints: Click the leaf-shaped Hints icon in the top-right corner of Ancestry. A red dot indicates new hints. At the bottom of the menu, click See all hints in and select a family tree.
  • View hints for one person: In your tree, click a person with a leaf hint, then click Hints in the card that opens.
  • View hints from the tree toolbar: Open your family tree and click the leaf-shaped Hints icon in the toolbar on the left.

From the app

You can view hints from a horizontal or vertical tree view or from a profile view. 

  • From the tree view, select a person then choose View hints. 
  • From the profile view, tap the leaf icon. A number next to the leaf icon indicates how many hints are available. If no number appears, there are currently no hints available. 

To view hints for another tree, see Switching Between Trees in the Ancestry App.
 

Review and save hints

Ancestry accounts include access to free records. A family history membership is required to access records outside our free collections. Available records depend on your membership.


From a browser

  1. Click Review to see the hint details.
  2. In the panel on the right, click Compare details to compare the record with your tree. To expand the panel, click the left-facing arrow.
  3. At the bottom of the panel, select Yes to accept the hint, No to reject it, or Maybe to save it for later.
  4. If you select Yes, review the two columns:
    • This record shows information from the record.
    • In your tree shows information currently in your tree.
  5. Select a fact to edit it as needed.  indicates facts that differ from the record and information that hasn't been added to your tree. 
  6. To add people listed in the record, select the checkboxes next to their names. People who aren't already in your tree are marked with a label.
  7. For people already in your tree, compare their facts and select the checkboxes next to any facts you want to update with information from the record.
  8. When you've finished reviewing the people and facts, click Save to tree to save your changes. 

From the app

  1. Tap a hint to review it.
  2. Select Yes to accept the hint, No to reject it, or Maybe to save it for later.
  3. If you don't need to update any facts, tap Save.
  4. To update a fact, tap the circle next to it. The record's information will appear in the In your tree column.
  5. To edit the information before saving, tap the pencil icon, make your changes, and tap Save. Tap Save again if prompted.
  6. If prompted to add other people from the record, select the people you want to add. Tap the compare icon to review their information, then select or clear individual facts as needed. People marked New will be added to your tree.
  7. Tap Save to finish.

 

Viewing Undecided, Ignored, and Accepted hints

When you select Maybe, No, or Yes, the hint is moved to Undecided, Ignored, or Accepted hints, respectively. To view these hints, go to the bottom of the Hints page.

 

Hint settings and notifications

To help with your family history research, we automatically compare your tree against popular records, photos, and other members’ trees. If we find a possible match, we send you a hint.

While you can’t turn off all hints, you can stop receiving hints from other members’ trees and hints about potential relatives. You can update your hint notifications using a browser.

  1. In the top-right corner of Ancestry, click your Profile and select Account Settings.
  2. On the left, click Trees.
  3. Scroll to the bottom, and under Hint Notifications, click the type of hint or setting you'd like to change.
    • Member tree hints: Suggestions from family trees submitted by other Ancestry members.
    • Potential relatives: Suggestions for people who may belong in your family tree.
    • New hint indicator at top of page: A red dot appears on the leaf-shaped Hints icon to indicate new hints. This indicator appears only for trees you own.
  4. Toggle the switch to turn hints On or Off or select which trees you would like to receive a new hint notification from.
  5. Click Save.

To manage the email and push notifications you receive from Ancestry about hints, see Subscribing to and Unsubscribing from Emails and Push Notifications. Remaining hints can be ignored or dismissed individually by clicking “Undecided,” “Ignore,” “No,” or “Reject.”

 

Saving hints as alternate facts

When information from a record or another family tree conflicts with a fact in your tree, you can choose which fact to keep. You can also keep both facts by designating one as primary and saving the other as alternate information. For details, see Alternate Information in Family Trees.

 

Frequently asked questions

Will I keep getting new hints?
Yes, new hints will continue to appear as we add more content or you update your family tree. Learn more about How Ancestry Hints are Updated.

Can I turn off or opt out of all Ancestry Hints?
No. You can’t turn off all hints, but you can stop receiving hints from other members’ trees and potential relatives. To update these settings, see Hint settings and notifications.

How do I hide or remove all Ancestry Hints?
You can’t hide or remove all hints at once. You can dismiss them individually by selecting the available options, such as Undecided, Ignore, or No.

How do I turn off email and push notifications about Ancestry Hints?
To manage the email and push notifications you receive from Ancestry about hints, see Subscribing to and Unsubscribing from Emails and Push Notifications.

Why is my hint unavailable?
A hint becomes unavailable when its source is deleted or made private on Ancestry. You may see the message “This hint is no longer available.” These hints will eventually be removed. For more information, see our article about unavailable hints.
 


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