FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks

There is also an instruction video about searching indexed record collections on FamilySearch.org: FamilySearch Search Tips. The handouts and presentation slides for this video can be downloaded here: FamilySearch Search Tips Handouts. You may need to activate Microsoft Silverlight to watch the video (you will be asked to do so once you visit the webpage).

1. Starting a search:
 * Start with someone who is deceased and try searching for them in a specific record.
 * For example, search for your great grandmother on the 1910 U.S. census.
 * Don’t fill in every field.
 * Most records don’t have all of your ancestor’s information.
 * Start with a basic search that includes first name (without middle name), last name, birthplace (state or country), and birth year.
 * Only add death information if you are searching for a death record '''

2. If you don’t find your ancestor:
 * Change your search parameters and search again.
 * On the search results page, use the fields at the top left to change your search parameters (which fields have information).
 * Possible search combinations include first name and birth place and date or last name and place of residence.
 * Use filters to narrow your search results.
 * On the search results page, use the filters at the bottom left to narrow your search by residence, dates, or collections.
 * You can add and remove as many filters as you need.
 * Try searching only a single record collection.
 * There may be an error on the record such as a name spelled differently or an age that is ten years off that is making it difficult to find the record.
 * Searching only that record will make it easier to find your ancestor.

3. Other Search Tips:
 * Search with a year range.
 * Ages are oftentimes incorrect on records for a number of reasons.
 * Searching with a year range is more likely to pick up those variations.
 * Search for variations in the spelling of names.
 * Names are often spelled differently either by the person recording the name or by the person trying to read the handwriting and indexing the name.
 * Make sure to search for variations in spelling, middle names, nicknames, initials, and longer or shorter variations of the same name.
 * Use Browse Only record collections.
 * FamilySearch has many record collections that have not yet been indexed. You can access these record collections online though you will have to search them page by page.
 * Don’t ignore these collections, despite the time it takes to use them as they are often goldmines of information.