What problem does Download Shared Matches as CSV solve?
Download Shared Matches as CSV adds a Download CSV button to the Shared Matches tab of an AncestryDNA match. It saves the shared matches to a CSV file for Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets. Ancestry has no way to export them, so without it every match has to be copied off the screen.
How does Download Shared Matches as CSV work?
The Download CSV button sits in the filters toolbar above your shared matches, beside a box for the number of pages to download. Leave the box empty, where it reads all, to include every page from the one you are on. The download follows the filters and sort order on screen.
A progress window shows how many shared matches have been saved and roughly how long is left, with a Cancel Download button. You can use other tabs while it runs. Large downloads slow down on their own as they grow, so Ancestry is less likely to limit your account.
The file is named after you and the match whose page you are on, so each download is easy to tell apart. On an AncestryDNA ProTools account it also compares each shared match with that match, adding columns such as the cM the two of them share.
Every shared match is saved as soon as it loads, so a download that stops loses nothing. If you cancel, close the tab or Ancestry starts limiting requests, click Download CSV again when you are ready. It first asks whether to carry on with the stopped download.
Resume download shows how much was done, carries on from there and saves one file with every match. Start over downloads what the page shows now instead. A stopped download you leave is kept for 30 days, and starting over replaces it.
When Ancestry limits requests, the download pauses for two minutes and tries once more before it stops. The file saved when it stops holds every shared match downloaded so far, and Resume download adds the rest when you try again later.
The arrow beside the button opens a menu. Its last item, Download settings, opens the download settings from the Shared Matches tab itself, where you can change the download method and speed and add the extra DNA details described next.
The same menu holds Match trees (CSV), Match trees (GEDCOMs, ZIP) and Common ancestors, which save your shared matches’ family trees or find the ancestors they share. They are part of Save DNA Match Trees as GEDCOM, which has its own page.
Ancestry keeps two figures behind a pop-up on each match: unweighted shared DNA and the longest shared segment. Ticking Ancestry additional DNA details adds both to the file beside the shared cM, with the average segment size.
Your own figures are remembered for each DNA test, so later downloads only look up new matches and those whose shared cM has changed. If you have already downloaded your match list with the details, a shared match download reuses those figures and is much quicker.
On a ProTools account the same figures are also added for the DNA each shared match shares with the match whose page you are on. Those are looked up again on every download, so downloads with the details take longer on a ProTools account.
How do I use Download Shared Matches as CSV?
- In the Genealogy Assistant pop-up panel, make sure Download Shared Matches as CSV is turned on.
- Open a DNA match and click the Shared Matches tab. To download only some of the shared matches, apply Ancestry’s filters or sort first and go to the page you want to start from.
- Type the number of pages in the box next to Download CSV, or leave it empty for every page from the one you are on.
- Click Download CSV. When it finishes, the CSV file is saved to your downloads folder.
- If an earlier download for this match stopped early, Download CSV asks what to do first. Click Resume download to finish it, or Start over to download the list again.
- To change the speed or add the extra DNA details, click the arrow beside Download CSV and choose Download settings.
- Choose a Download speed. Standard suits most lists; choose Walk or Crawl only if Ancestry still limits your downloads.
- Tick Ancestry additional DNA details to add the extra columns.
- Click Save & Close.
The same settings are on the Advanced Settings page under Download Options. To open it there, click the settings icon next to Download Shared Matches as CSV in the pop-up panel.
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 file drops Shared Percentage and adds columns for the match whose page you are on:
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.
Also Matches and GUID of Match name the match whose page you are on. The columns ending in “with Match” or “to Match” give the shared match’s DNA and likely relationships with that person.
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 matches you starred or hid on Ancestry.
Match Date is the date the match first appeared in your match list. Sorting a new download by that column, or comparing it with an older file, shows which matches are new since your last download.
With Ancestry additional DNA details ticked, three more columns follow Shared cM: Unweighted cM, Longest Segment cM and Avg Segment cM, which is the unweighted cM divided by the number of segments.
On a ProTools account, three matching columns follow Shared cM with Match: Unweighted cM with Match, Longest Segment cM with Match and Avg Segment cM with Match.
NOTICE: CSV DOWNLOAD TOOLS ARE FOR PERSONAL RESEARCH ONLY.
Related features
- Download Matches Pages as CSV File: Download your Ancestry DNA matches to a CSV file, as many pages as you choose, following the filters and sort order you have on screen.
- Download Clusters as CSV File: Save every pair of matches that share DNA in your Ancestry clusters grid to a CSV file, for the whole report or just the cluster you have open.
- Save DNA Match Trees as GEDCOM: Save a DNA match’s linked tree as an ahnentafel or GEDCOM, download the trees of a whole match list, and find the ancestors your matches have in common.
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.
Install Genealogy Assistant for Google Chrome | Install for Mozilla Firefox | Install for Microsoft Edge | Install for Apple Safari