The new Legacy Family Tree 10 is here — and it’s all free

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Your favorite genealogy software for PC just got better. And…it’s all FREE!

With the new Legacy Family Tree 10, you’ll discover more ancestors, be more organized, and display them in more ways than ever before. All features, tools, and reports previously available only in the Deluxe Edition are now included for free in Legacy 10.

Downloadnow-200

Watch the “What’s New in Legacy 10 video here.

Here’s what’s new:

FAN Club Report

You’ve learned how important family, friends, associates, and neighbors (FAN) are in solving genealogy mysteries. The records that were created about other people in the course of their daily lives just might mention our ancestors. Legacy 10 helps identify who those Fan Club members are based on the shared events you’ve already added. Not only does the report display the people you’ve linked to your ancestor, it also displays others who have locations that match or are nearby the places your ancestor lived, during your ancestor’s lifespan. You might not have thought to look in their records if it wasn’t for Legacy 10’s FAN Club report.

Fan

Reports! So many new reports.

You’ve always loved the Ancestor Book report, but you’ve also wanted to produce a true Ahnentafel report. Well, it’s now available in Legacy 10! (Reports > Ancestor Book > Quick Options Box > Ahnentafel Report)

Ancestor Book – Names/Lifespans Only report. This is your traditional Ancestor Book report, but condensed. It’s a quick way to see just the ahnentafel number, name, birth and death years for each individual. (Reports > Ancestor Book > Quick Options Box > Names/Lifespans Only)

Lifespans

Speaking of Ahnentafel, there is now a Use Ahnentafel Numbers option on the Pedigree chart. We know…it’s such a little thing…but it’s the little things that you’ve always loved about Legacy. We do too.

Ahnentafelnumbering

The new Surname Groups report shows a list of all the surnames in the ancestor lines of a root individual (usually you) and shows how many separate groups of those surnames have been found. From that list, you can select any surname and Legacy 10 will generate a report showing the line of ascent from you to the start of each of the groups of that surname. You’ve gotta see it to believe it! (Reports > Other Reports)

Some of you have wanted to “print” the Family View. We’ve added that ability, too. (Reports > Chart Reports > Family View Chart)

Mapping

See your ancestor’s place on a Google Map. New in v10, from Legacy’s Geo Location Database, click the new Map button and Google Maps will launch with your place’s pin right in the middle. This is right next to one of my favorite buttons – the radius search button (get a list of all nearby places). Some of you will think this is new, but it’s been there forever. 😊

BillionGraves Support

Link your ancestor to their BillionGraves record. You won’t have to search for their record again. One click and you’re there.

Billiongraves

Color Coding

One of your favorite tools just got better. You’ve probably used Legacy’s Color Coding to match your filing system, to just stay organized on the screen, or to print cool charts. If so, you already know that you can have two starting points – one set of colors for you and another for your spouse. The two sets of colors can now (finally!) be shown on your Pedigree Charts, making it easy to know if your two lines intersect.

2colors

Productivity

If you love the QuickAccess icons, you’ll love it twice as much now! We’ve increased the number of QuickAccess icons on the ribbon bar from 10 to 20.

Magnify

DNA Center – this new tool helps you keep track of everyone in your family who has taken a DNA test. 

FamilySearch - we’ve upgraded our FamilySearch tools to use FamilySearch’s latest OAuth login technologies. To continue using these tools, you must be using Legacy 10.

It’s all free!

And now for the biggest new v10 feature: everything, and we mean everything in Legacy is now free! No strings attached. All previously deluxe-edition-only features, tools, and reports are now included in Legacy 10. This includes customer favorites, such as:

  • Wall Charts – no limitations in the Ancestor, Descendant, DNA, Fan, Hour Glass, and Bow Tie charts
  • Research Guidance – Legacy’s artificial intelligence system before AI was a thing. It will create your ancestor’s To Do List for you
  • Chronology – any serious researcher knows how important a timeline is. Legacy even includes a bunch of historical timelines you can embed into your ancestor’s timeline
  • And so much more – the Descendant View, the 1,200+ questions in the Interview Questions report, the Publishing Center, Hashtags, and everything else is available with no limits

Why is it free? We want more people than ever before to have complete access to the world’s best genealogy software. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the “thing” that finally gets Aunt Elda or cousin Bob to start building their own tree. Which means – you’re no longer the only genealogy nut in the family. And when they’re ready for a little help – our free webinars about using Legacy are waiting for them.

FAQs:

Why are you making Legacy free?

We want more people than ever before to have complete access to the world’s best genealogy software. This will make it easier for you to work with other members of your family.

Will Legacy continue to be updated?

Yes. You already know that we are genealogists too. We also love to code. It’s a win-win for everyone.

PLUS, so many more “little things”

It’s the little things that make Legacy the right choice for your genealogy software. Most of the new features below are minor and you’ll probably never notice. But for those of you interested in what else we’ve done lately, here you go:

  • SourceWriter templates are now available for Canada's 1926 Prairie Provinces census, Canada's 1931 census, and Scotland's 1921 census
  • Chronology View now shows locations and notes for vital events without a date.
  • Added an option to the Master Source List to turn on and off the Show Template IDs in the list.  It also shows which sources are Basic.
  • Increased Recent Family File list from 10 to 20.
  • Added AND and OR to the Hashtag search feature.
  • The Advanced Tagging screen now also lets you add and remove Hashtags from groups of individuals.
  • You can now choose whether newly added media should be automatically tagged or not.
  • You can now globally tag or untag all media items that have been linked into your family file.
  • Hashtags can now be exported to GEDCOM files as Events. This makes them importable into other programs that don't support Hashtags.
  • In the Media Gallery and QuickLook screen, you can now click the path of any item and open the folder location.
  • Added option to not show any tags on the Name List.
  • URL links in notes, stories, sources, and event text fields can now be highlighted and will open in a browser.
  • URL links in notes, stories, sources, and event text fields are now converted to active links in web pages.
  • Hashtags can now be marked as Private and excluded from Legacy and GEDCOM exports.
  • "Estimated" has now been added as a user-definable date prefix.
  • The Available Toolbar Buttons list on the Customize Toolbar window is now alphabetized to make it easier to locate buttons.
  • Added a new Clear option to the Customize Toolbar window.
  • When selecting individuals on the Relationship Calculator, you can now choose to enter a RIN, choose from the Name List, or choose from the Search List.
  • Added a Source Clipboard button to the My Toolbar list.
  • Added a FindMyPast button to the My Toolbar list.
  • A Bibliography format override tab has now been added to the Basic Master Source window. (It was previously only on the SourceWriter window.)
  • The Primary and Secondary Cause of Death fields now keep track of the last ten causes for quick entry.
  • GEDCOM Export options are now optionally remembered between sessions.
  • GEDCOM Export option sets can now be saved and loaded so you can switch between them.
  • Support for WikiTree IDs has been added (viewing, reports, import/export).
  • Distance and Bearing Calculator now lets you load locations from the master location list.
  • GEDCOM Import now has new options to not include Source media, Location media, Event media, and Story media.
  • GEDCOM Import now has a new option to place unrecognized information into either the General Notes or Research Notes.
  • Markers from DNA tests from previous versions of Legacy are now added to the test's comments for the appropriate individuals.

Reports

  • Added [field] selector feature to book report menus
  • Added the Calendar List report as an available chapter in the Publishing Center.
  • Family Group Report and Individual Chart Report - added Age at Death option.
  • Added the ability in a Book Report to configure the sequence of Stories, Events, and Notes.
  • Added [field] selector feature to book report menus.
  • Marriage List Report - added a CSV output option.
  • Finished up option 3.10, Hide Christening/Baptism field.
  • Added new options for including numbers (AFN, BillionGraves, FamilySearch, FindAGrave, and UserID) at end of names or paragraphs.
  • Descendant chart report has a new option to remove blank lines.
  • Allow "Include Gender" as an option on all reports.
  • Added Report footer disclaimer feature.
  • Added the option to exclude surnames to the Calendar Creator and Calendar List Reports
  • Added the option to show surname in uppercase to the Calendar Creator
  • Latitude/Longitude coordinates can now be included on Address reports.
  • The Calendar List now has a "both individuals must be living" option for Anniversaries.
  • Hashtag groups can now be included on reports
  • Hashtags can now be marked as Private and excluded from reports.
  • Added Marriages Only option to Marriage report.
  • Added name breakdown option to Marriage report if outputting to a CSV file.
  • Nametags can be sorted into several different orders.
  • Added Special Characters feature to Book Report menus.
  • Added formatting buttons to Report Wording tabs.
  • Added Marriage ID number support to reports.
  • Ancestor Chart now has the option to show Ahnentafel numbers instead of generation numbers.
  • The Calendar List report now offers new name formats and the use of quoted names. Also, it now offers the option to only include anniversaries if both individuals are living.
  • The Calendar Creator report now has the option to only include first names.
  • Pedigree Chart can be colored by both Mary Hill Ancestor color groups at the same time.
  • When printing stories for an individual from the Stories window, you can now include sources. If printing all stories (as opposed to one), you can include or exclude stories marked as "Private."
  • Marriage status, child status, and relationship to father and mother are now translated when choosing to print a report in a different language.
  • More control over when event notes are included on reports.
  • Location Index now has the option to include location pictures.
  • Location Report now has the option to include location pictures.
  • Family Group Records, Individual reports, and all book reports now have the option to include marriage pictures.
  • Marriage status, child status, and relationship to father and mother are now options to include on Descendant Chart reports.
  • Individual chart reports can now include marriage events.
  • Individual chart reports can now include marriage notes for other spouses.
  • Scrapbook and Photo Albums can now be generated using Hashtags.
  • Family Group Record can now include marriage notes for other spouses - either inline or at the end of the report.
  • New CSV file output option for the Location Report.
  • Name/Search List report can now include vital notes (birth, chr, death, burial).

Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.412)

We have an important new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It adds the SourceWriter templates for the new 1921 UK census and the new 1950 U.S. census. It also provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the March 30, 2022 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.393)

We have an important new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the July 12, 2021 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.368)

We have an important new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the September 29, 2020 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.362)

We have an important new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It is a required update to continue using the FamilySearch tools of Legacy 9, and provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the September 2, 2020 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.339)

We have an important new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It is a required update to continue using Legacy 9, and provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the January 22, 2020 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


New Filter Feature for Legacy's FamilySearch Interface

FamilySearch - Red Chains

In Legacy's FamilySearch interface "red chains" (red links icon) mean that there is a linking problem. What you have and what FamilySearch has for the familial links are different. What all of this means is, there are duplicates. You have a person linked to someone else with a certain FamilySearch ID (FSID) but FamilySearch has the person linked to a duplicate with a different FSID. 

The Legacy developers have added a new filter to the FamilySearch interface so that you can filter by red chains. Finding these people is now much easier! [Please update to Legacy version 9.0.0.339 to install the new feature. See the Updates box on the Legacy Home screen.]

On the main toolbar/ribbon go to Search > FamilySearch. Before you get started, you will need to click the Update Matches button over on the left side. You will see a new option on this screen to Recheck all Red Link status icons

Recheck red links
(click image to enlarge)

 

Notice at the top of this window it says, Actions for the current filtered list. Make sure you have filtered the list for the people you are working on. I personally have it set to no extra filtering because at this point I want to capture everyone that has red chains. Click Start and let Legacy do its thing. You might just walk away and go empty the dishwasher and check the mail because depending on how large your file is and how many people have red chains it will take awhile. 

When Legacy has completed the task, change the filtering to Individuals with Red Links. It turns out I have 1370 which isn't good.

Filtered List
(click image to enlarge)

 

Notice that there is a new red chains icon to the left of the name. If your list is unfiltered, or filtered in a different way, you will still be able to see the ones that have the red chains IF you have also checked the box at the top that says Show Red Links.

I randomly chose a person off of my list and I immediately see that there are TWO duplicates. My Susan has an FSID of KFKG-XF1 but there are two more with L1GZ-JS2 and L1GZ-6WS.

Duplicates
(click image to enlarge)

 

Because Susan is linked to other family members (husband, father, mother and children) her family is a mess. I will have to go in and make sure that these are true duplicates (they are) and then check the surrounding people to make sure that they don't also have duplicates (which of course they do). This is why the red chains are different than simple duplicate checking. This algorithm is looking for errors in relationships. It will take me a while to get this family straightened out correctly but it is important that I take the time to do it right.

In the case of Susan she is the one that has the duplicates (and some of her linked relationships do too). But there is another scenario you will see. The main person doesn't have any duplicates but one or more of the linked relatives do.

Here is one where I have linked Elden Bevis to his wife Addie Bee Foust KCCM-VTP but FamilySearch has this very same Elden Bevis linked to Addie Bee Foust LTNY-S6Q. In this case it is Addie that is the problem. 

Duplicate spouse
(click image to enlarge)

 

And here is an example of the parents being messed up.

Parents have reds chains
(click image to enlarge)

 

Here is an example of problem children. Most of these kids are right but two have duplicates. 

Duplicate Children
(click image to enlarge)

 

I want to show you one more situation you will see. Sometimes you will see a red chain on the left with no corresponding duplicate on the right. This means one of three things. Either the person on the left is linked to someone that is not on your screen, the person in question has been deleted off of FamilySearch, or this FSID has been deleted through a merge. The only way to know is to open the person on the FamilySearch website itself to see what is going on. 

Where is the spouse
(click image to enlarge)

 

When I go to FamilySearch and search for KZ1C-Y1Y this is what I find.

Deleted in a merge
(click image to enlarge)

 

Every once in a while you need to have Legacy recheck people. You can do this by clicking the Update Matches button on the left side of the FamilySearch interface screen and then Check linked individuals for changes in FamilySearch. This will change some of your arrows to red if information has been added or deleted but it will also clear out FSIDs that are no longer being used.

Check for changes
(click image to enlarge)

 

Also, if the person on the filtered list has anyone in his family group with red chains he will show as having red chains on the filtered list even though he personally doesn't have red chains. If you clear out the red chains of his family members that have linking errors you will need to Update Matches to Recheck all Red Link status icons to make sure these extra red chains are cleared.

I am very excited about this new feature! This will help experienced researchers clean up FamilySearch to make it better for everyone. The reason I say experienced researchers is that if you don't know what you are doing you can really mess things up. If all of the info I have presented in this article looks foreign to you then I suggestion you read FamilySearch Training

I plan to detail a step by step merge using Legacy in a future post. This is the one thing that causes the most problems.

 

Find tech tips every day in the Facebook Legacy User Group. The group is free and is available to anyone with a Facebook account.

For video tech tips check out the Legacy Quick Tips page.  These short videos will make it easy for you to learn all sort of fun and interesting ways to look at your genealogy research.

 

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.332)

We have another great new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It's mostly a maintenance update which provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. It is a mandatory update for those wanting to continue using the LegacyFamilySearch tool. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the October 28 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.318)

We have another great new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) to download. It's mostly a maintenance update which provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the August 16 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.


Free Legacy Family Tree update now available (version 9.0.0.295)

We have another great new update for our Legacy Family Tree 9 users (free) for you to download. It's mostly a maintenance update which provides fixes to minor issues you have reported to us. So download the update to get the best Legacy ever!

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update. 

What's Been Fixed

View the April 19 release notes here. 

How to Update

For our Deluxe Edition users, all you have to do is connect to the Internet, start Legacy 9, and click on the "Install and Download Now" link on the Legacy Home tab. (If you're reading this from within the Legacy Home tab inside of Legacy 9, you'll first need to click on the Home button in the top left of the Legacy Home tab which looks like the following picture:

12-2-2013 9-36-15 AM

If you are a Standard Edition Legacy user, you will need to visit our website. Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.