What problem does Download Shared Matches as CSV solve?
On the AncestryDNA shared matches page there is no built-in way to export the list. If you want to keep a record of a strong match’s shared matches or work with them in a spreadsheet, you have to copy the data off the screen by hand. Download Shared Matches as CSV adds a single button that saves every shared match on the page to a CSV file.
How does Download Shared Matches as CSV work?
A new button titled Download CSV appears in the filters toolbar of your shared matches page. Clicking this button will automatically download the shared matches on the page you are viewing to a CSV file. Leave the pages box beside it empty to include every page from the one you are on, or enter a number of pages.
Shared matches are loaded 100 at a time, with a progress bar, an estimate of the time left and a Cancel button. The file is named with the tester and the match, so every download is easy to tell apart. On an AncestryDNA ProTools account the export also includes the extra triangulation columns that ProTools shows for each shared match.
Each shared match is saved as soon as it is loaded. If a download stops partway, for example because the tab was closed or Ancestry began limiting requests, clicking Download CSV again asks whether to pick it up. Resume download carries on where it stopped and saves one file with every match, and Start over begins again.
Beside the button is a gear icon labelled Download Settings, which opens the download settings panel from the shared matches page itself. There you can change the download method and the download speed, and turn on the additional DNA details described below.
Ancestry keeps two figures behind a pop-up on each match: the unweighted shared DNA and the longest shared segment. Turning on Ancestry additional DNA details adds both to the file beside the shared cM, with the average segment size (the unweighted cM divided by the number of segments).
On a ProTools account they are collected for both comparisons, so you also get the same figures for the DNA each person shares with the match whose page you are on. Each figure needs its own request, so a download with them takes longer.
Your own figures are remembered for each DNA test, and are only looked up again for new matches and those whose shared cM has changed. Once your match list has been downloaded with the details, shared match downloads reuse your figures instead of looking them up again.
How do I use Download Shared Matches as CSV?
- Ensure Download Shared Matches as CSV is enabled in the Genealogy Assistant pop-up panel.
- Open a DNA match and click the Shared Matches tab.
- Leave the pages box empty to download every shared match from the page you are on, or enter the number of pages to include.
- Click Download CSV in the filters toolbar above the list. Watch the progress bar or click Cancel if you need to stop.
- If an earlier download for this match stopped before it finished, Download CSV asks what to do first. Choose Resume download to finish it, or Start over to download the list again.
- To change the download speed or add the extra DNA details, click the gear icon beside the Download CSV button. Set Download speed to Standard, Walk or Crawl, tick Ancestry additional DNA details if you want those columns, and click Save & Close.
- You can also open the Genealogy Assistant pop-up panel and click the settings icon next to Download Shared Matches as CSV. This opens the Advanced Settings page at the Download Options section, where the same settings are available. Changes save automatically.
CSV Columns
Match Name, Shared cM, Shared Segments, Shared Percentage, Estimated Relationship, Match Side, Tree Status, Tree Size, Common Ancestor, Notes, Groups, Connected To Tree, URL, GUID, Match Date, Possible Relationships, Meiosis, Managed By, Gender, Starred, Hidden
On an AncestryDNA ProTools account the Shared Percentage column is replaced by the triangulation columns, so the file reads: Match Name, Shared cM, Shared Segments, Estimated Relationship, Match Side, Tree Status, Tree Size, Common Ancestor, Notes, Groups, Connected To Tree, URL, GUID, Also Matches, GUID of Match, Shared cM with Match, Shared Segments with Match, Estimated Relationship to Match, Match Date, Possible Relationships, Possible Relationships to Match, Meiosis, Managed By, Gender, Starred, Hidden
Possible Relationships lists every relationship Ancestry considers possible for the DNA you share, each with its likelihood, for example 1st cousin 1x removed (52%). Meiosis is Ancestry’s estimate of how many generations separate you, counted up to your common ancestors and back down. On ProTools, Possible Relationships to Match gives the same list between the shared match and the match whose page you are on.
Managed By names the person who manages the test when it is not the match themselves, and Gender is the gender Ancestry shows for the match. Starred and Hidden read Yes for the matches you have starred or hidden on Ancestry.
With Ancestry additional DNA details turned on, three more columns are added directly after Shared cM: Unweighted cM, Longest Segment cM and Avg Segment cM (the unweighted cM divided by the number of segments). On a ProTools account three matching columns are added after Shared cM with Match: Unweighted cM with Match, Longest Segment cM with Match and Avg Segment cM with Match.
The Match Date column is the date the match first appeared in your match list, so sorting a new download by that column, or comparing it against an older file, shows you which matches are new since your last download.
NOTICE: CSV DOWNLOAD TOOLS ARE FOR PERSONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS ONLY.
Download Shared Matches as CSV is a feature of the software Genealogy Assistant.
Genealogy Assistant is an extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Apple Safari which supercharges your family history research by adding over 100 custom features to popular genealogy websites like Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, FamilyTreeDNA and more. You can watch a full video walkthrough on YouTube.
Install Genealogy Assistant for Google Chrome | Install for Mozilla Firefox | Install for Microsoft Edge | Install for Apple Safari