Correcting Error in family line.

RoyStubbs

If there is a way I cannot find it, but need to correct an error in my immediate family tree. Again, don't know how it was entered, but the person shown as my mother's sister is not the correct person of that name and it links into another's family tree.

Gordon Collett

Very often if you see a person with two very different sets of parents, it means that someone incorrectly merged two different people. Fortunately people who accidentally do this often then don't know how to deal with the two sets of parents and just leave the parents alone. That makes things much easier to fix.

Go to the Change Log for your mother's sister and look for merges. If the very first entry is a merge, you can just click Unmerge and restore the two people. If other changes have been made to the record, you can only Restore the person that was deleted in the merge then need to go and correct the person that was the result of the merge to remove any information, including parents and siblings that should not be there.

The other possibility is that when someone was working on assembling your mother's siblings they found you aunt's name already in Family Tree and added it to the family, not realizing it was someone else of the same name. In this case you won't find any merges and all you need to do is click on the paper and pencil icon next to that woman's name and remove her from the family. But do be absolutely certain there were no merges first.

If this is not clear, please post your aunt's ID number and I can walk you through the process with specific instructions.

RJGKennedy1

This question has been moved to the correct area.

HawkinsAlanArthur

Hello Roy,

You are interested in correcting erros in your famlily line. We are attaching the following knowledge article for our reference.

In Family Tree, you can correct the name, sex, or event information for a person, regardless of whether you added it.

Family Tree is an open, collaborative environment. Your change shows in a change history, along with your user ID and a means to contact you. Any user, including you, can reverse changes if you make a mistake.

Before you start

• Focus on accuracy. Your change should make the information about a person more correct.
• Be prepared to explain your changes, and, when possible, attach sources.
• Consider contacting the user who made the last change before you make a correction. To find contact information, click Detail View. Then click the name showing in the "Last Changed" details.
• Be aware that other Family Tree users could be watching this record. (You can see how many are watching when you make your correction.) They receive an email notification if you change the record. They might contact you to discuss your change.

Steps (Website)

1. In Family Tree, display the person page of the individual whose information you want to correct.
2. If you do not see Vitals near the top of the screen, click Details.
3. For the information you need to correct, click Edit.
4. Review the sources and reason statement. Continue only if your change makes the information more accurate.
5. When editing a name, choose the appropriate language in the field above the name fields.
6. Make your changes.
   • If the option is available to delete information, you can click Delete in the bottom right corner of the box.
7. If you change a date or place, select a standardized date or place.​ If no matching standard is available, click None of the Above.
8. Enter a reason statement to explain why the information is correct. If the existing reasoning is applicable, leave the existing explanation, and add your own comments.
9. Click Save.

Note: We recommend that you refresh the web page after you save changes.

Steps (Mobile App)

1. Navigate to the Person page of the individual whose information you want to correct.
2. Tap Details.
3. In the Vitals section, tap the information that you want to change.
4. Tap Edit.
5. Review the sources and reason statement. Continue only if your change makes the information more accurate.
6. Edit the information, and press Continue.
   • If you are able to delete the information, you see a Delete option at the bottom.
7. Enter a reason statement to explain why the information is correct. If the existing reasoning is applicable, leave the existing explanation, and add your own comments.
8. Tap Save. 

Steps (Family Tree Lite)

1. On the Family screen, tap the name of the person whose information you want to correct.
2. Tap the information that you want to change, and tap Edit.
3. Review the reason statement. Continue only if your change makes the information more accurate.
4. Edit the information.
   • If you are able to delete the information, you see a Delete option at the bottom.
5. Enter a reason statement to explain why the information is correct. If the existing reasoning is applicable, leave the existing explanation, and add your own comments.
6. Tap Save. 

After you finish

Whenever possible, attach sources to show where you found your information. 

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Thank you for keeping the information correct.