Home› Welcome to the FamilySearch Community!› FamilySearch Help› Family Tree

Please help. My entire account/ lineage is gone, erased.

BKHook
BKHook ✭
September 12, 2022 edited September 15, 2022 in Family Tree

Is there anyway to restore all of the research I've done adding my family over the years. There is only a very small portion of it left.

Tagged:
  • Root Person
  • Restore my lineage.
  • Find Home Person.
  • Recents List
0

Best Answers

  • Carla Tobler
    Carla Tobler mod
    September 12, 2022 edited September 12, 2022 Answer ✓

    @BKHook

    Thank you for posting your question in the Community regarding missing lineage on your account.

    FamilySearch has made a recent change regarding the root or main position in Family Tree. When you log out and back in to Family Tree, instead of your tree opening to the root person (yourself) it opens to the last record you viewed. This change has caused some confusion.

    If you will click on the Recents tab and select yourself (always at the top of the drop down menu) your tree will revert back so your record is in the main position, and you will see your ancestors as you always have.

    In the Landscape, Portrait and Fan Chart view you can click on the Home Icon in the upper right corner of the page. This will also take you back to yourself in the main position.

    We believe this will solve the mystery of your missing lineage.

    Best wishes.

    0
  • dontiknowyou
    dontiknowyou ✭✭✭✭✭
    September 12, 2022 Answer ✓

    @BKHook on the profiles that remain, examine the change logs to see what happened.

    0

Answers

  • BKHook
    BKHook ✭
    September 12, 2022

    Thank-you both so very much. I was heartbroken when I thought it was all lost. I guess I need to come back on more often but first I need to read up on all of the new changes. Thanks again. 😍

    0
  • Chris Bieneman Schmink
    Chris Bieneman Schmink ✭✭✭
    September 12, 2022

    And all the new changes seemingly just for the sake of change are confusing people, even long-time users, with often very little if any evident value to the changes.

    • Chris
    2
  • TerryNewell1
    TerryNewell1 ✭
    September 14, 2022

    Whatever FS changed has also made ALOT of my info disappear. I "found" part of my father's side, but my kids and grandkids, all my siblings and all their families, mom's info and family line, my wife's family line, etc, etc, etc is gone. Where do I find all of that? Not just the tree is gone, but every bit of info I had entered with each and every cousin, niece, nephew, son, daughter, grandkids, brother, sisters, wife's ex-wife's, need I go on, GONE.

    0
  • Chris Bieneman Schmink
    Chris Bieneman Schmink ✭✭✭
    September 14, 2022 edited September 14, 2022

    @TerryNewell1 When you sign in to your account and go to your tree, follow the steps below exactly, once you're signed in.

    -- On the top menu bar just to the left of the green FamilySearch tree logo, left-click "Family Tree."

    -- In the drop-down menu left-click "Tree."

    -- Now over on the far right side at the top of the tree that is showing (regardless of whether it's the "Landscape," "Portrait," "Fan Chart," or "Decendancy" view (or even the new "First Ancestor" view), click whichever view name you see and change it to "Landscape" if it isn't already in that view.

    -- You will now see the following in that top-right position:

    image.png

    -- Click the "Home" icon that looks like a little house near the middle.

    Unless some very unusual (and highly unlikely) change happened to your tree, you should now see yourself in the middle of the pedigree chart (the "Landscape" view) with everyone right where you last saw them when things were working the way you expected.

    IF that does not work and you followed the above steps exactly (always using left mouse-button clicks), then something else quite unexpected has happened in your tree and it will be necessary for you to contact FamilySearch Support using the new appointment system.


    NOW: it is highly recommended that people use a software package such as RootsMagic (there are others, it's just the one I prefer) to back up your entire tree from FamilySearch's Family Tree periodically. That way you've stored it all on your own computer, and in the event of a catastrophic event, you can always reconstruct your tree in FamilySearch. It would be extremely unlikely that everyone you previously entered in FamilySearch is suddenly actually "gone" and no longer in the FamilySearch system (whether you can see them or not). So starting with your closest deceased relatives and adding them back into your FamilySearch tree, you're almost certain to also get all of their ancestors as well because they're likely all still there, with the relationships, as they had been before.

    If even the above paragraph turns out to be wrong, you'll need some advanced help from a very knowledgeable FamilySearch user (suggest you use a FamilySearch support person in a scheduled appointment). But it's quite likely you'll never even have to worry about this eventuality.

    Please let us know how this turned out for you. Hopefully you'll have your family all "restored" once you follow the steps at the top. Unfortunately, the recent change that shows the pedigree chart starting with the last person you were working on in your last previous session in FamilySearch, has caused considerable grief for a number of people. Many have already recommended that FamilySearch returns to starting with "you" (the account holder) in the center of the tree each time you sign into FamilySearch. Just remember that you can always return yourself to the middle, with your children to your left and your parents to your right (in the Landscape view) by merely clicking that little "Home" (house) icon. YOU are the home person in your own account, and that icon designed to put you right back in the middle, or home position on the tree.

    --Chris

    5
Clear
No Groups Found

Categories

  • 29.9K All Categories
  • 24.1K FamilySearch Help
  • 122 Get Involved
  • 2.7K General Questions
  • 442 FamilySearch Center
  • 461 FamilySearch Account
  • 4.4K Family Tree
  • 3.4K Search
  • 4.7K Indexing
  • 634 Memories
  • 6.5K Temple
  • 321 Other Languages
  • 34 Community News
  • 6.6K Suggest an Idea
  • Groups