--- title: "Importing & Exporting Data" description: "Import an existing GEDCOM tree, export your tree as GEDCOM, and download a full copy of your account data." canonical: "https://kleiobase.com/docs/importing-and-exporting" last_updated: "2026-10-13" --- # Importing & Exporting Data Import an existing GEDCOM tree, export your tree as GEDCOM, and download a full copy of your account data. KleioBase keeps your data portable. You can bring an existing family tree in from another app, send your tree back out as a GEDCOM file, or download a complete copy of everything in your account. Everything described here lives in one place: Settings > Import / Export ([/settings/import-export](/settings/import-export)). This guide walks through each option and explains when to use which. ## Where these tools live Open Settings from the sidebar menu and go to the Import / Export section. From there you can: - Import an existing GEDCOM tree from another genealogy app. - Export your tree as a GEDCOM file. - Download a full copy of your account data. The records and profiles you work with are created by [Uploading Records](/docs/uploading-records) and live in [Your Knowledge Base](/docs/knowledge-base). Import and export move that data in and out. ## Exporting your tree as GEDCOM A GEDCOM export turns your KleioBase tree into a standard GEDCOM file you can open in other genealogy software. This is available on every plan. To export your tree: 1. Go to Settings > Import / Export. 2. Choose a file name for your export. 3. Pick a format (see below). 4. Decide whether to include your record images or export just the text tree. 5. Start the export. The export is prepared in the background. When it is ready, KleioBase emails you a download link. The link is valid for about 7 days, so download your file before it expires. If it does expire, you can run the export again. ### Choosing a format You can export in one of two GEDCOM versions: - GEDCOM 7 - the modern version. Choose this for newer apps that support the latest standard. - GEDCOM 5.5.1 - the most widely supported version, for maximum compatibility. Choose this for apps like Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Family Tree Maker. If you are not sure what the other app supports, GEDCOM 5.5.1 is the safer choice. Because the older format cannot represent everything GEDCOM 7 can, a 5.5.1 export sometimes has to change or leave out a detail to fit; your export email reports how many items that affected. ### What travels with the tree An export carries more than names, dates and family links. It also includes the other names a person is recorded under, associates such as witnesses, godparents and officiants, any searches you recorded as having found nothing (see [Negative Evidence](/docs/negative-evidence)), place coordinates for the places KleioBase has mapped, and a profile photo where one is set. Dates written in the Hebrew, Julian or French Republican calendar are exported in the calendar the record used. See [Dates and Calendars](/docs/dates-and-calendars). The same is true on the way in: an imported file's alternate names, associates and recorded negative searches are read and kept. If you move a tree out and back, those details survive the trip. Redacted living people are the exception, by design. Their entry carries a surname and their place in the family structure and nothing else, so alternate names, associates and photos are all left out. See "Redacting living people" below. ### Including images You can choose whether the export includes your record images: - Include images bundles your scans into a single archive alongside the tree. The file is larger but carries your source images with it. - Just the text tree exports the people, families, and events without the images. This produces a smaller file. If you have a lot of images, an archive that includes them takes longer to arrive, and the export window tells you so before you start. If you only need the tree itself, a plain .ged without the images arrives much faster. ### Redacting living people Below the format and image options, a "Redact living people" checkbox lets you leave living relatives' details out of the file. It is off by default. Underneath it you will see how many of your people would be redacted, so you can tell what turning it on would cost you before you decide. Who counts as living: anyone whose profile is marked Living (see [Living or deceased](/docs/knowledge-base#living-or-deceased)), plus anyone with no recorded death who was born within the last 100 years or has no known birth year at all. Anyone marked Deceased is never redacted, no matter how recent their death. When redaction is on, a redacted person still appears in the file so the tree stays connected (children still link to their grandparents), but their entry carries only their surname, their sex, and their place in the family. Their dates, places, facts, notes, and source citations are left out. Where either partner in a couple is redacted, that family's marriage and divorce details are left out too. Redaction only affects the tree data. Record transcriptions and images are not redacted, so review what you are including before sharing an export with someone outside your household. The same "Redact living people" checkbox, off by default, appears in the setup step when you generate a [research report](/docs/research-reports) from the same Settings > Import / Export page, with the same rules. ## Importing a GEDCOM tree If you already have a tree in another app, you can bring it into KleioBase by importing a GEDCOM file. GEDCOM import is available on every plan. The only limit that applies is your plan's person limit (see [Plans & Billing](/docs/plans-and-billing)). To import a tree: 1. Go to Settings > Import / Export. 2. Upload your GEDCOM file. 3. Review the preview that KleioBase shows you. 4. Confirm the import if everything looks right. Checked your file with the free [GEDCOM checker](/tools/gedcom-checker) first? Choose **Open in KleioBase** there and the import starts with that file, so you can skip step 2. ### Reviewing the preview Nothing is added to your account until you confirm. After you upload, KleioBase analyzes the file and shows you a preview that includes: - The GEDCOM version it detected. - Counts of people, families, and events in the file. - A sample of the people in the file. - Any warnings about the file. - A capacity check against your plan's person limit. Use the preview to make sure the file is the one you meant to upload and that it will fit within your plan. Plan limits are described in [Plans & Billing](/docs/plans-and-billing). If the tree has more people than your plan holds, the preview says so and the Import button stays disabled. KleioBase then shows you which plans have room for the whole file, so you can see what it would take to import it. Nothing is imported and nothing is charged. After you upgrade your plan, or after you trim the tree in your other software, upload the file again. When you confirm, the import runs in the background. ### Importing an updated file If the file you upload contains people who are already in this workspace, recognised by the ID your family-tree site assigns each person (for example a MyHeritage export, or a KleioBase GEDCOM export you re-import into the same workspace), the preview tells you how many and lets you choose how to handle them: - **Skip people already here** (default). They stay exactly as they are. New people in the file are added and connected to them. - **Also import people who changed** (Researcher plan and above). Anyone whose record changed in the other program since your last import comes in as a new profile. Nothing you already have is changed. Duplicate matching will usually suggest merging it with the person you already have. - **Import everyone as new.** Adds a second copy of everyone already here; duplicate matching will then suggest merging the copies together. This choice only appears when the file overlaps with people already in your workspace. A change means the file differs from what it said the last time you imported it, so edits you make in KleioBase never count. If a file passes through a program that replaces people's unique IDs, those people come in as new instead. Ancestry only includes this ID for people who first came into your Ancestry tree from another program's file, so people you added on Ancestry itself come in as new when you re-import, and duplicate matching suggests merging them with the people you already have. ### Two things to know about import - Import is all-or-nothing. If a tree would push you past your plan's person limit, it will not import partially. You will need to upgrade your plan or trim the tree first, then import again. - Images inside the GEDCOM file are saved, but they are not yet turned into records. To get transcription, translation, and extracted data from a scan, upload it through [Uploading Records](/docs/uploading-records). Life events carry across in both directions. Immigration, emigration, naturalization, residence, graduation, retirement, and the other standard GEDCOM events keep their type, date, and place when you import a file, and are written back out when you export. ### Living and deceased status A person's Living, Deceased, or Unknown status (see [Your Knowledge Base](/docs/knowledge-base#living-or-deceased)) round-trips through GEDCOM using the standard structures: | Status | GEDCOM | | --- | --- | | Deceased, no date or place known | `DEAT Y` | | Deceased, with a date or place | `DEAT` with a `DATE` and/or `PLAC` | | Living | `NO DEAT` with a `DATE TO ` | | Unknown | neither structure present | Files exported from KleioBase carry these structures, and files from other genealogy software that carry them import correctly, so a person's status is preserved on both sides of a transfer. ### If your import does not go through Import needs a family-tree file, not a folder of scans. It accepts two kinds of file: a **.ged** file up to 75 MB, or a **.gdz** GEDCOM archive (a tree file named gedcom.ged bundled with its images) up to 300 MB. The most common reasons an import is turned away: - You chose a .zip of photos or documents. Import only reads a family tree, so any other file type is refused. If your goal is to add scanned records, upload them from [Uploading Records](/docs/uploading-records) instead, where they are transcribed and turned into records. - The file is too large. Export without images to get a smaller .ged, or split the tree in your other software. - The file is not a recognizable GEDCOM. KleioBase reads GEDCOM 5.5, 5.5.1, and 7.0 family-tree files. If your file will not import, re-export it as a .ged from your genealogy software and try again. Nothing is added to your account when an import is turned away, so you can safely fix the file and upload again. ## Downloading a full copy of your data The "Download my data" option gives you a single archive containing everything in your account. This is available on every plan. The archive includes: - Your account profile. - All your records, including the original images. - Your people, families, and relationships. - Your duplicate matches. - Your Research Companion conversations and the files you attached to them. - Your profile photos, avatar, and any media that came in with an imported GEDCOM. - Everything else tied to your account, such as your workspaces, folders and tags, research findings, and notifications. Like the GEDCOM export, this is prepared in the background and emailed to you as a download link. This is the full export for backup or portability. It is separate from a GEDCOM export, which contains only your family tree. ## GEDCOM export vs full data download Both options let you take your data out of KleioBase, but they serve different purposes. - Use a GEDCOM export when you want to move your tree into other genealogy software. It contains the family tree in a standard format and, optionally, your record images. - Use the full data download when you want a complete copy of your account for backup. It includes everything: your records and images, your people and relationships, your duplicate matches, and your Research Companion conversations. If your goal is to keep working on the same tree somewhere else, export GEDCOM. If your goal is to hold on to everything in your account, download your data. ## Deleting your data If you want to remove your data rather than export it, you have two options under Settings > Account & Preferences ([/settings/account](/settings/account)): - **Clear all KB data** - deletes every record, profile, match, and conversation in every workspace, and keeps your account. To remove a single workspace instead, see [Deleting a workspace](/docs/workspaces#deleting-a-workspace). - **Delete account** - deletes your whole account and all of its data. Neither happens straight away. You type your account email to continue, and KleioBase emails you a confirmation link that works once and expires after 30 minutes. Opening it asks you to confirm it is you, with your password or by signing in again with the provider you use (such as Google), and only then is the data deleted. Neither can be undone. Deleting your account is permanent and cancels your subscription. For details on what cancellation means for your plan, see [Plans & Billing](/docs/plans-and-billing). ## Related guides - [Getting Started](/docs/getting-started) - [Uploading Records](/docs/uploading-records) - [Your Knowledge Base](/docs/knowledge-base) - [Finding Duplicates](/docs/finding-duplicates) - [Research Companion](/docs/research-companion) - [Plans & Billing](/docs/plans-and-billing) Canonical: https://kleiobase.com/docs/importing-and-exporting