Ancestry Member Tree – How to Navigate Like a Pro!

by | 1 May 2018


After you have created a Member Tree on Ancestry.com—or had a family tree shared with you—you can access it by mousing over Trees in the navigation bar and selecting the family tree you want to view from the drop-down list. This either takes you to the Pedigree view for that family tree or the last open view.

Open in Pedigree View

How to navigate pedigree view on an Ancestry Member Tree.
Ancestry Member Tree—Pedigree View. Kimberly Powell Member Tree, Ancestry.com.


In Pedigree View, the first person on the left is either the “Home” individual or is the most recent individual that has been viewed in the tree. If the pedigree view begins with anyone other than the home (root) individual, the path back down to the home individual will appear in the lower-left corner (outlined in red in the above example). Click on the individual’s name or select the house icon to begin pedigree view with the home person on the left.

Note: Ancestry Member Trees require an account with Ancestry.com to view. This can be either a paid subscription account, or a free guest account. Users viewing an Ancestry Member Tree via a free guest account will have access to all family tree information (names, dates, etc.), as well as documents and photos uploaded by the tree’s creator. However, guest accounts cannot open or display records and digitized documents attached directly from Ancestry.com databases.

Navigate an Ancestry member tree via Family View

Learn how to navigate family view in an Ancestry Member Tree
Ancestry Member Tree—Family View. Kimberly Powell Member Tree, Ancestry.com.


The highlighted view buttons (see #1 above) let you toggle back and forth between pedigree view and what Ancestry.com calls Family View (pictured here). This family view of the Ancestry Member Tree displays up to three generations of ancestors and two generations of descendants for the selected individual, as well as all of their siblings. To move around the tree, either click and hold to drag the tree around in the main window, or select a different area of the tree in the small navigation window (#2) to navigate directly. Click on the little pedigree symbol next to an individual (#3) to view their ancestors or descendants.

©2022 Kimberly Powell. Use of this article elsewhere without permission violates copyright. Short excerpts and links are welcome, with credit and a link back to Learn Genealogy.

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