Getting started with your family history
Step 1. Discover Your Story
The first step in discovering your story is reaching out to parents, grandparents—any relative that can share stories, photos, or other information with you. Using the FamilySearch Photos and Stories, you can capture, preserve, and share what you find. As you do, you will find yourself on the path to discovering your own story.
Step 2. Explore Your Family Tree
Family Tree is where your family history comes together. The second step to getting started is to explore your family tree. Since researchers and volunteers from around the world are adding to Family Tree daily, some work may have already been done for you. Add missing names, dates, and relationships, collaborate with other family members, and watch your family tree grow.
Step 3. Find Your Ancestors
Step three is to grow your family tree by searching historical records on FamilySearch.org. Your ancestors' everyday milestones and experiences—like birth, marriage, and death—often created historical records that have been indexed and made searchable online. Use Search to find more details about the people in your family story.