Last updated: August 27, 2024
Want to know how to download your DNA match list? You can’t do it directly from your DNA testing companies anymore. Here are strategies some people use for AncestryDNA and Living DNA.
NOTE: As of 2024, for security reasons, some of the DNA testing companies now don’t allow you to directly download your DNA match list from your testing company website. Most people don’t need to do this, but sometimes you may need a full list of your DNA matches, such as when you have endogamy on your family tree. Some people also want to export their DNA match lists when they are organizing their DNA matches and want to make a master list of their matches from across multiple testing companies.
Below, we share workaround strategies for exporting your DNA matches from AncestryDNA and Living DNA.
TERMS OF SERVICE DISCLAIMER: We are providing these strategies by way of information. This post does not constitute any legal advice as to whether these strategies are compliant with the Terms of Service at your testing company, which may change frequently. We advise you to consider the Terms of Service for each company and decide for yourself whether the tool is compliant with those standards.
Download your DNA matches from AncestryDNA
The following hack for exporting your AncestryDNA matches was shared by Greg Clarke of Ontario, Canada, when he was a student in our DNA Skills Workshop. (Greg’s tool is just one available tool you may come across that can help you download your DNA matches.)
In June 2024, Greg sent us the following note:
“[I’ve updated my spreadsheet with] newly adjusted formulas that will work with the revised AncestryDNA matches page after the recent updates that have been slowly rolling out (and finally made it to Canada! Hurray!). There’s a character in each square ‘dot.’ The COPY & PASTE routine captures that character, so I’m able to not only add a column showing all the Groups that your matches belong to, I can extrapolate that so that each group (or at least each unique character) gets its own column, and the matches get populated appropriately in them.” He also clarified that the spreadsheet “was created by me for personal use. I’m sharing it with others at no cost, and it is NOT to be used as a tool for scraping. That was never my intention, and I’m trusting people will use it wisely.”
Greg created this video tutorial to help you use the spreadsheet, which is linked below.
Download your DNA matches from Living DNA
The Living DNA website doesn’t offer an option for downloading your matches, either. Greg to the rescue again! Using the same idea as shown in his tutorial video, you can go to Greg’s Living DNA spreadsheet, linked below.
Can You Download your DNA matches from 23andMe?
No, 23andMe has disabled this feature.
Can You Download your DNA matches from MyHeritage?
No, MyHeritage has disabled this feature.
Can You Download your DNA matches from FamilyTreeDNA?
Yes, here’s a video about how to download your DNA match list from FTDNA
What to Do with All Your Matches?
Not sure how to take that next step of reaching out to your matches? We’ve got you covered! Get our free guide to Contacting your DNA Matches.
