# What is GEDCOM?

GEDCOM is the standard file format for moving family trees between genealogy apps. Here is what it is, what it holds, and when you need it.


If you have used more than one genealogy program, you have almost certainly met GEDCOM. It is the format that lets a family tree built in one app open in another, and it has been the genealogy world's common language for decades.

## What a GEDCOM file actually contains

A GEDCOM file is plain text with a defined structure. It records the building blocks of a family tree: individuals (with names, sexes, and life events), families (links between spouses and their children), events (births, marriages, deaths, with dates and places), and references to sources. Because the structure is standardized, any program that understands GEDCOM can read a tree another program wrote.

## The two versions you will see

- **GEDCOM 5.5.1** is the older standard and still the most widely supported. Major services like Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Family Tree Maker read it reliably, so it is the safe choice for maximum compatibility.
- **GEDCOM 7** is the modern revision. It handles media, notes, and non-English text more cleanly. Choose it when the app on the other end supports it.

When you are not sure what the receiving app accepts, export 5.5.1.

## Why GEDCOM matters for your research

GEDCOM is what keeps your work portable. Your tree is not locked inside one company's website - you can move it, back it up, or bring an existing tree into a new tool. That portability is the difference between renting access to your family history and owning it.

## GEDCOM and KleioBase

KleioBase treats your data as yours. You can export your tree as a GEDCOM file - GEDCOM 7 or 5.5.1, with or without your record images - on any plan, and import an existing GEDCOM tree from another app on the Researcher plan or above. Where KleioBase goes beyond the file format is what it does with the tree: as you add records, it reads and connects them into one archive, so GEDCOM is the way your work travels in and out, not the limit of what it can become.

Canonical: https://kleiobase.com/what-is/gedcom