Albums are a great way to organize and share your family tree’s media (photos, documents, videos, and audio) with family and friends.

Albums follow your family tree's privacy settings and can be shared with anyone who has access to your family tree.

Learn how to:

Accessing albums

From the top of the Ancestry website or the bottom of the Ancestry app, select Memories.
Choose Albums or Go to albums.
Select an album to view it.

Creating albums

At the top of the Ancestry website or the bottom of the Ancestry app, select Memories.
Choose Albums or Go to albums.
Click the + folder icon or Create album.
Add details about the album: an album name is required; the date, location, and description are optional.
Select Done.
(Optional) Select +Add media or +Add to album to add media to your new album.

Adding media to albums

From a browser:

Go to the album you want to add media to.
In the top-right corner, click +Add to album.
Choose how you want to add media.

To add media files already in your tree, select the checkboxes next to the ones you want (up to 100 items) and then click Add media in the bottom right corner.
To upload new media files, drag and drop your supported file into the space provided. Or, click Choose files > find and select the file on your device > click Open or OK > click Add media. If you don’t see “Add media,” check the box next to the file you want to add to your album.

From the app:

Go to the album you want to add media to.
In the bottom right corner, tap + Add media or the + sign in a green circle.
Choose how you want to add media.

Add from gallery > tap the files you want to include and then tap Save (top-right).
Scan photos > Hold down the shutter for 3 seconds to scan or tap the microphone on your phone and say "Go." When the scanning is complete tap Done (top-right).
Take photo > Snap a photo, then choose Use Photo or Retake. If you select Use Photo, you can edit it and then save it to your album.
Camera roll > Tap the files you want to include, then tap Done (top-right).
Upload document > Tap the document you want to upload.
Record audio > Tap the microphone at the bottom of the page to start a new recording. Recordings can be up to 14 minutes in length. > Tap pause to stop recording; after pausing, tap Resume to continue recording or Finish → to end the recording > Add a title, description, speaker(s), and anyone mentioned in the recording > Tap Save.
Upload audio > Tap the audio file you want to upload.
Request media > Select a relative listed, or invite others as editors or contributors to your tree.

Sharing albums

Albums follow your family tree's privacy settings and can be shared with anyone who has access to your family tree.

If your tree is public, your albums and their contents will also be public.
If your tree is private, only people you've invited to your tree can see your albums. For help inviting people to your tree, see Sharing a Family Tree.

Important: Media files connected to living people are automatically kept private in albums. Only those invited to the tree with permission to view living people can see the media files tagged with living people.

To share an album:

From an album you want to share, select the three dots (top-right) and choose Share album.
If your tree is public, skip this step. If your tree is private, select Share album to share the album with those already invited to the tree.
- To invite someone to your tree, see Sharing a Family Tree.
- To change your tree’s privacy settings, select Privacy settings or Go to tree settings.
Choose a sharing method and follow the on-screen instructions.

Sorting albums

You can sort albums by their titles or creation date.

Go to the Albums page.
Select Sort, or use the arrows icon.
Choose how you want to sort the albums.

Sorting and filtering album media

You can sort album contents by the date added, the event date, or the media title.

Go to the album you want to sort or filter.
Select Filters or the filter icon.
Choose how to filter the media, then select Done or Apply.

Managing albums

From an album you want to manage, select the three dots (top-right) and choose an action.

Edit details > update the album name, date, location, or description, then tap Done.
Change/Edit album cover > Select a photo. The photo will automatically be saved as the album photo.
Delete album > To confirm, select Delete. Deleting an album deletes the album only and none of the media inside of it. The album’s media will stay in the media gallery.

Frequently asked questions

Who can see my albums?
Albums follow your family tree's privacy settings.

If your tree is public, your albums and their contents will also be public.
If your tree is private, only people you've invited to your tree can see your albums. For help inviting people to your tree, see Sharing a Family Tree.

Important: Media files connected to living people are automatically kept private in albums. Only those invited to your tree with permission to view living people can see the media files tagged with living people.

Why does a shared album appear empty?
If you find a shared album empty, it could be because the album only contains media tagged with living people, and you might not have the necessary permissions to view living people on the family tree. Contact the tree owner to request access.