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GEDCOM vs JSON - importing and exporting your family tree

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Sooner or later you’ll want to get your family tree out of one place and into another - onto a second computer, over to a cousin who uses different software, or simply into a safe backup file you can sleep easy about. RootsPrint gives you two ways to do that: GEDCOM and JSON. They sound technical, but the choice is simpler than it looks, and this guide walks you through it.

First, why bother exporting at all?

Here’s the trade-off that makes RootsPrint private: your trees live only in your browser, not on our servers. Nobody can peek at your family - but nobody is quietly backing it up for you either. That job is yours. Clear your browser data or switch to a new laptop without exporting first, and the tree won’t be waiting for you.

So treat exporting like saving a document. Do it whenever you’ve done real work. It takes a few seconds and it’s the single best habit you can build.

GEDCOM: the shared language of genealogy

GEDCOM (the file ends in .ged) has been the common format for family history for decades. Almost every genealogy program on earth can read and write it, which makes it the format to reach for when your data needs to travel outside RootsPrint.

Reach for GEDCOM when you want to:

  • Move your tree into - or out of - another genealogy app.
  • Send your research to a relative who uses different software.
  • Keep a long-term archive copy in a format that will still open in twenty years.

One honest caveat: because GEDCOM is a shared standard rather than any single app’s private format, a few program-specific flourishes don’t always survive the hop between programs. The important things - the people, names, dates, and how everyone connects - come through reliably.

JSON: RootsPrint’s own format

JSON (the file ends in .json) is RootsPrint’s native format. Think of it as a perfect snapshot: it stores your tree exactly the way the app holds it, with nothing translated or approximated.

Reach for JSON when you want to:

  • Keep a faithful backup you’ll bring back into RootsPrint later.
  • Carry a tree between your own devices with every last detail intact.

The one thing that surprises people: photos don’t travel

This catches everyone out at least once, so let’s be clear about it. Both GEDCOM and JSON carry the words of your tree - people, relationships, dates, notes, and places - but not the photos you’ve added. Portraits are stored separately in your browser, and an exported file simply doesn’t include them.

What that means in practice: if you rebuild a tree on a new device from an exported file, the people and connections all arrive, but the faces don’t. So keep your original photo files somewhere safe of their own - a folder in your cloud drive or on your computer - and you’ll be able to re-add them. Good news: your photos do appear in PDF and PNG exports of the chart itself, so a printed or shared tree still looks complete.

So which one should you pick?

Here’s the rule of thumb, and it fits on one line:

  • Staying inside RootsPrint? Use JSON - it’s the most faithful copy.
  • Heading to or from other software? Use GEDCOM - it’s the universal one.

And if you’re not sure? Export both. They’re tiny text files, and having two backups has never once made anyone’s day worse.

How to import a file

Bringing a tree in is quick: open the editor, find the import option in the File menu, and pick your .ged or .json file. Everything happens right there on your device - your file is never uploaded anywhere.

When an import doesn’t look quite right

Most imports just work, but if something seems off, here’s where to look before assuming the worst:

  • People are there but photos are missing. That’s expected - see the photos note above. Re-add portraits from your saved originals.
  • Some dates look vague or shifted. GEDCOM stores dates in many styles (“ABT 1900”, “before 1912”, partial dates with only a year). A rough or year-only date coming through is normal, not a bug - fill in specifics where you know them.
  • A relationship landed in the wrong place. Occasionally a file from another program records a connection in a way that maps differently here. Use the built-in validation checks, which flag things like a child born before a parent, then nudge the person into place by hand.
  • The file won’t import at all. Make sure it really ends in .ged or .json and hasn’t been renamed from, say, a .zip. A file exported straight from genealogy software is your safest bet.

After any import, it’s worth a quick skim of the tree - spot-check a couple of branches you know well - before you carry on building.

A quick word on privacy

Importing and exporting both run entirely in your browser. Your files never touch a server, ours or anyone’s. If you’d like the fuller picture of how your data stays yours, have a read of family tree privacy.