How to undo a merge

JeffLuke

Hi,

I came across an incorrect merge.

Here is the link to the merge analysis:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/changelog/merge-analysis/MHGF-G8L/GT8Y-MDZ?changeId=d8817e80-3a4e-11ef-b6c0-45a7570acc07_2_4

It looks like the merge can't be undone because a change was made (I attached a source).

It there a way to undo this?

Thanks!

Wayland K Adams

Hi- You are right that once a change has been made to the surviving person of the merge, the merge can no longer be undone. But you can always restore the person that was deleted in the merge. To restore a deleted person, simply click on the name of the deleted person, and open the person page for the deleted person. You will see at the top, a prompt to restore the person. Select that, add any notes, and restore.

Now there are some things to be aware of when restoring a person deleted by a merge.

1- The restored deleted person will be exactly the same way it was prior to the merge.

2- The person that survived the merge, on the other hand, will not be the same as it was prior to the merge. it will have all the things it had prior to the merge, plus any items/changes made during the merge, plus any changes made after the merge. This includes all the vital data, relationships, sources and memories.

Bottom line, you must review each person, especially that one that had survived the merge, to make sure it only has vitals, relationships, sources, and memories applicable. This is an important task anytime you restore a person that was deleted during a merge.

Here are the more detailed instructions.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-do-i-undo-a-merge-in-family-tree

CherylMillerBlack

Keep in mind that often the reason a bad merge happened in the first place is that sources (with incorrect information) got attached to the wrong person.

I find it helpful to look at EVERY source and determine whom it belongs to (if possible), no matter where it was attached before the merge. Sometimes, you may find there are incorrect sources in the mix belonging to many different people!

Of course, when you decide a source needs to be removed, make sure you delete the corresponding information in the record.

JeffLuke

Thank you!

I was able to restore the merged person. You were right, the incorrect merge seems to have been started because records were attached to the wrong person. It may take a while to sort it out :)

Wayland K Adams

Glad you got the person restored. It can take a while to sort it out but must be done so the merge is not done again. Good Luck

Paul W

@JeffLuke

One thing that is very easy to do (I know from experience!) is to leave the tagged detail on the Details page. Then, in spite of removing one (or more) of the sources, the impression is still presented that the individual was, say, at two places at the same time at the time of a census. As part of the cleaning up of the profile, this is possibly the most overlooked piece of "housekeeping" and is likely to cause much confusion and possibly lead to a re-merge by another user.

JeffLuke

Thanks all for the comments! I believe I have it all sorted out correctly now. I probably would have missed correcting the the Details page / Other Information section if not for the guidance here. The help is much appreciated!