If you are managing DNA tests for others, or are considering it, you may have questions about how it works. Kelli offers a quick how-to for managing multiple DNA kits in AncestryDNA, MyHeritage DNA, FamilyTree DNA, 23AndMe, and Living DNA.

Managing DNA tests for your relatives can be a win-win proposition. They can have the benefit of any insights that come from testing without having to invest much time or effort. And you can learn from exploring and analyzing their results in greater depth and even communicating with their matches on their behalf. But how do the logistics and rules of DNA test management work at each testing company? Here’s a rundown.

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Managing DNA tests at AncestryDNA

At AncestryDNA, each person who performs DNA testing must have their own account under their own email address. The test-taker can then share their results or allow you to be a manager. If you click on your name in the upper right corner, in the drop-down menu, choose Account Settings. 

The first menu is Your Account that contains general settings such as your membership, payment method, and the perilous area with two very important things that you don’t want to mix up—Download your data and Delete account.

When managing DNA tests at AncestryDNA, you will see those raw DNA download capabilities in the section called Your DNA tests. For more information on downloading your DNA and transferring to other sites, click here.

If you go to Settings > DNA, you can look at the DNA tests shared with you. This list has the people who have invited you to view, collaborate, or manage.

AncestryDNA support has an article called, “Assigning a Manager to Your AncestryDNA® Test.” In this article you can learn how to invite someone to manage your DNA results.

To view the tests where you are a manager, viewer, or collaborator, you can choose the test from the drop-down menu when you are in the main DNA tab.

Managing DNA tests at MyHeritage DNA

At MyHeritage DNA, you can order a test for someone else using your own account or upload raw DNA from autosomal tests of others to your MyHeritage DNA account. If you go to the top tab and choose DNA and then choose Manage DNA kits from the drop-down list, you will see the DNA kit, the type of test (purchased from MyHeritage DNA or uploaded), and the status. Off to the right, if you click on the three dots, you can Re-assign kit to a different person, View Ethnicity Estimate, View DNA matches, or Delete kit.

To access the kits you manage, you can look for the drop-down list.

Managing DNA tests at Family Tree DNA

As of March 2023, there are two ways to manage DNA test results at Family Tree DNA.

Each person will still have their own kit number and password combination. It’s not possible to access multiple accounts using the same login unless you are a project administrator. You can keep all of the individual kit number/password combinations in your browser to log in to all of them from the same sign-in page, but you will need to sign out of one account and sign into another each time.

If you are logged in to view one kit, you will need to log out and then on the sign-in page, click in the first box to see the other kit number/password combinations you have used in the past.

A new section has been added in Account Settings to enter the contact details of the person managing the account if it’s not the same person whose DNA sample was used. This is important to use because if you are managing the account, Family Tree DNA’s Customer Support can only help you with the kit if they can verify that you are either the tester, the deceased tester’s beneficiary, or the manager of the account. You can also add beneficiary information to an account, which will allow access to the designated beneficiary, either a person or a Group Project, if the tester has passed away.

Another option for managing DNA tests at Family Tree DNA is a Private Project. This allows you to sign in as a Group Administrator and access results from all the accounts with your Group Project. You’ll have to apply for a Private Project, but it is free and easy to do. This is a good option if you have people who have taken a test and want to manage their own results, but also want to allow you access to their results.

Managing DNA tests at 23AndMe

If you have performed DNA testing at 23andMe, you have options to share your DNA if you click on your name in the upper right corner and choose Invite. With this option, you can share Health + Ancestry reports or Ancestry only reports.

23and Me has options for a family account. More information can be found here. When you register each kit, you have the ability to do that individually or you can place family members in one account. In a shared account, everyone will use the same email address and password to log in. A family account might be just what you need to learn more about the inferred matches of a set of siblings. For more information on what extra information you can use from the DNA test results of siblings, click here. 

Managing DNA tests at Living DNA

If you have DNA tests at Living DNA, when you log in, from the dashboard, you can view your results. If you want to view the results of another kit you manage, click on Change Profile. 

To view the list of the profiles you manage, choose Profiles from the tab on the left side.

Once you click on Profiles, you will see options to upload a raw DNA file, activate a kit, or add a new profile. 

As you can see, some companies make managing DNA tests for other people easier than other companies do. Now that you know how to work with multiple DNA kits, learn about the next steps you can take with DNA results by downloading our free guide! 

Download FREE Guide: Next 4 Steps for DNA