Ancestry.com claims that their ethnicity estimates go back “hundreds to more than a thousand years”. Can an Ancestry DNA test really go back 1,000 years? This article will show how this is valid for some customers but won’t be for others. If you’re building your family tree, Ancestry.com claims that their DNA features can go … Read more
Ancestry.com used to sell a separate DNA test that provided health reports to customers. They discontinued this product in early 2021. There’s been plenty of speculation as to why AncestryHealth was canned. This article covers the brief history of the product with a round-up of opinions on its short life span! What Was AncestryHealth? Ancestry … Read more
Do you feel a little overwhelmed when looking at your Ancestry DNA matches? I find that a great way to tackle thousands of matches is to download them into a spreadsheet. This article has a step-by-step tutorial on downloading your Ancestry matches to our Excel spreadsheet template. There are quick videos for each step so … Read more
I have uploaded my raw DNA results to four sites for free: GEDmatch, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and Living DNA. This article gives you tutorials on uploading to each site. I also purchased DNA kits from Ancestry and 23andMe. These two companies do not currently accept uploads from elsewhere. However, I have a workaround for you that … Read more
You probably know that Ancestry updates your ethnicity estimates from time to time. But how often does this happen? And what kind of changes do they make to your results? The most recent change was in September 2021. This article looks at updates in the last few years to predict when the next change will … Read more
This article will show you that Ancestry DNA results are not the same for siblings. Indeed, you may be surprised at the differences. Three families who took multiple DNA tests with Ancestry.com kindly shared their results with me. This lets me show you lots of pictures from the Ancestry displays. (The tester names are altered … Read more
I surveyed over forty people to estimate the average number of DNA matches on Ancestry. The company hasn’t published recent statistics, and I was curious about what the numbers would look like in 2021. The total counts range from five thousand matches to over 150 thousand. But the very low and very high numbers aren’t … Read more
If you’re hoping for that one new match that could tear down a brick wall, you’re probably wondering how often does Ancestry update your DNA matches. Ancestry provides an instant count of your total matches, but it doesn’t show you a history of how your numbers have grown. To figure out how often your DNA … Read more
You can remove any DNA match from your match list page by “hiding” them. It’s important to understand that hiding a DNA match does not remove you from their list. You can’t see them, but they can still see you! If you actually want to be hidden from your DNA matches, you can opt out … Read more
Are you looking in vain for an Ancestry DNA match that you’re certain you saw before in your match list? Do you see an empty web page where your match list should be? Or are you wondering why half your Ancestry matches have disappeared? This article runs through every scenario of the incredible disappearing Ancestry … Read more