Guides

Merging two family trees, explained: the method, the traps, and how to check the result.

Last updated 1 September 2026

Written for the moment you actually have the problem. Each of these answers one question, and none of them requires owning GedMend.

• How to merge two GEDCOM files without creating duplicates

  The method, start to finish: work on copies, reconcile outside your main program, confirm every match by hand, and check the arithmetic before you import anything.

• What to look for in a GEDCOM merge tool

  Six questions that separate a tool you can trust with an irreplaceable file from one you cannot — including the merge feature already built into the program you use.

• Why accented names garble when you merge two GEDCOM files

  ANSEL, UTF-8 and Windows-1252 explained without jargon, why the old encoding puts accents before their letters, and a five-minute check on your own files.

• What happens to your source citations when you merge

  The most commonly lost thing in a merge. What should happen, why two similar citations are usually not duplicates, and how to prove none were dropped.

• How to check a merge did not lose anything

  Three checks to run before a merged file becomes your working tree, none of which require trusting the tool that produced it.

• What GedMend will and won't do — and how to check

  The limits, published rather than waited for, plus the two checks that let you verify the rest on your own files: the count equation and the per-person citation arithmetic.

The full user guide covers the program screen by screen, and ships inside the app as well — press F1.