GEDCOM Checker and Converter

This free GEDCOM checker reads a family tree file and tells you what is wrong with it: lines your genealogy app cannot read, links to people who are not in the file, impossible dates, and probable duplicate people. It also converts the file between GEDCOM 5.5.1 and GEDCOM 7.0, and it does all of this inside your browser, so your tree is never uploaded.

How to use it

1. Export your tree from your genealogy app as a GEDCOM file. It will end in .ged, or .gdz if it was exported with its media.
2. Drop the file on the checker above, or click to choose it.
3. Read the summary and the list of issues. Each issue names the record it was found in (for example @I12@) so you can find it in your app.
4. If you need the other GEDCOM version, use the download button for it.

Large trees take a few seconds. A file of tens of thousands of people is fine; the work happens in the background so the page stays responsive.

What it checks

• Lines that cannot be read. A line with no level number, or one that breaks the GEDCOM rules, is reported with its line number.
• Broken links. A family that lists a child who is not in the file, or a person pointing to a family that does not exist. Apps often drop these people or refuse the file.
• People with no name.
• Impossible dates. Someone who died before they were born, or was buried before they died, and date ranges that end before they start (BET 1900 AND 1890).
• Unlikely parents. A parent younger than 12 at a child's birth, a mother older than 55, or a father older than 80. These are usually a wrong date or a child attached to the wrong family, not a real event.
• Possible duplicates. Two people with the same name and the same birth year. The checker only points these out; deciding whether they are the same person is yours.

It also reports the file's GEDCOM version, character set, the program that wrote it, and how many people, families, sources, notes and media items it holds.

Worked example

A family file lists three children, but one of the CHIL lines points to @I99@, a person who was deleted from the tree years ago. Most apps either skip that line without telling you or reject the whole import. The checker shows it as a broken link on the family record, so you know exactly which family to fix before you move the tree.

Limits

The checker looks at the structure and the dates in the file. It cannot tell you whether the research is right: a well-formed file can still attach the wrong parents to a child. It also does not open or check the photos inside a .gdz file, only the tree.