Organize Ancestry DNA Matches By Grouping & Labeling

Learn how to use the AncestryDNA group filtering and labeling tool. If you've had a parent take a DNA test, Ancestry will group your DNA matches to your mother's or father's side.

If you haven't had a parent-tested, you can manually filter the matches. How to Filter and Sort Ancestry DNA Matches

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CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction
0:50 Automatic Parental Groups
1:44 Manual Assign Matches to Parental Groups
2:35 Relationship Labels

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✅ Let's connect:

#AncestryDNA #geneticgenealogy #FamilyHistoryFanatics

[PhotoPhriend]

I'm delight that Andy included how one can potentially separate Mother's/Father's side when neither took the DNA test. This technique is quite helpful. I just wish more of my family was interested and willing to take the DNA tests. I seem to have plenty of 5th cousins. Where are the rest of my relatives? Thank you for showing us this new Ancestry tool.

[trevorrix]

Thanks for spreading the word. These welcome facilities were rolled out some time ago now. Unfortunately the list of relationships to pick from does not go further out than 5th cousins, so one has to pick distant relationship - not so useful.

[suz]

What I also do is check the shared matches. If we both share a match that I recognize as my fathers side, I have my answer. 😊

[LindaSchreiber]

I agree with Trevor Rix. I wish they took the options down to 5th Removeds and 6th. I've been picking 5th, and then adding 'actually 5th once removed', for example, in notes.
Maybe this will be expanded soon. I can hope....

[FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Devon says: I used this feature on my Aunt's DNA match list that I manage. We don't have parents who have tested, so all of our maternal/paternal is manual. However, when I use this with color-coding, notes, and the Shared Match list, I'm able to do some sorting of DNA more easily. I am blessed to have distinct grandparent and great-grandparent lines. However, I did discover enough DNA matches for a potential brother of my 2nd Great-Grandfather Samuel Curtis Brown. However, that potential brother is the aunt of Samuel's wife. So there's a little tree collapse happening. BUT enough folks who descendant from William Brown, I should be able to see if there are double relationships or just one. Fingers crossed. That'll involve WATO BUT I can use the AncestryDNA match list to make it work.

[whychromosomesmusic]

The color coding would probably only confuse me. I could not keep track of them eventually.

Plus too many first cousin marriages, sisters and brothers of two family marriages, even a father and son married sisters marriage, not to mention lots of relations who are only halves (including my own half-siblings).

I just do it manually in a notebook. Except I have figured out pretty easily which side is maternal or paternal all the way down to about 40 cM.

One word of caution -- Ancestry DNA sometimes glitches (or did on me several times) and entire groups of matches will not show up unless you reset it. I figured out I needed to list them in order of cM's and make sure there are not large gaps between the cM's. Had to cross out an entire page of matches because it did that. And start again.

But thanks to both of you for giving me an idea of how I can use the autosomal matches to my advantage. Still kind of disappointing that some administrators of DNA projects don't use autosomal matches at all -- only the Y DNA. Especially for some of us who have NPE's in our direct paternal line. I guess the one advantage is that I have TWO of those to research! lol Kind of like kids who have more than four grandparents.

[whychromosomesmusic]

I guess I'm kind of lucky in that I have a large number of known family members (paternal and maternal) from close family to second cousins and for some time if I look at a match I just click on Shared Matches and see who we both match and if I know the lineages from those people I can figure out (most of the time) how we are probably related. Plus I've done enough of the on hands research that I have the documentation to back it up as well. However there is one situation that still is not resolved -- the time and place and persons of the Non-Paternal Event (NPE) of my direct male line. In other words, when and where did my family surname change from CHANDLER? Still do not know that.

[brianroach]

I am trying to colour code my DNA matches, however I need to edit or correct the name of my great grandparents. Any idea how to do that?

[billdillon]

Thank you so much. I've seen the "Do you know this person" tab but never paid any attention to it.

[sharonjacob]

Andy this is only great if you have one of the parents otherwise Ftdna beats this hands down with their algorithm. It's just way to much work doing this manually.

[whychromosomesmusic]

I am in the process of doing this and have a question for when I have finished.

Listing ALL of my Ancestry DNA matches in a notebook from largest cM's all the way down to the smallest (6 cM? or maybe smaller? not sure) and noting in the side margin P for Paternal and M for Maternal. The number of cM's for each match and my estimation of the most recent ancestors (couples if known or just one -- usually husband) that are probably how we match.

Then is it better for me to start with the lower cM matches and do comparisons with Shared Matches and work my way UP to the higher ones OR is it better to start with the higher cM matches and work my way DOWN to the lower ones and why is one better than the other?

I would probably choose the lower as I think that is where I would find more earlier ancestors (for those matches who may have already done that research) than my great-great grandparents (all of whose names I already have with documentation to back at least that much up). The one great-great grandmother still giving me fits is a JONES! lol Go figure! lol And her first name is Elizabeth! Talk about a generic name all around! lol

[kellyv]

I don’t have my parents DNA but I have been color coding through connections. I am finding many people that are related to both my mom and dad. But I have no idea how. Is this common? I am also confused on how I should code. My dad’s side is easy because his family came from Switzerland and there are hardly any confirmed connections which is very sad to me. This was the side I was hoping to find. So I have been coding his that I can confirm to his mom’s side. My mom is throwing the wrench in things. When I find someone connected to a person that is connected to both sides do I make the main person connected to both sides as well? Or go with the majority of the same connections. Does that make sense lol See why I am confused lol TIA

[JoeSmith-zgfq]

what do you do if you made a mistake in selecting which parent and you confirmed. How can this be fixed?

[misssilencedogood]

Thank you for posting this however ancestry refuses to allow me to add ANYONE EXCEPT mother's side. Father's side is greyed out despite having DNA linked all of my close father matches which there are in fact more of. I have ZERO close mother matches on one test I manage. Why does it still say Mother's side with ZERO option to change this? HELP! LOL I have been trying to get a response from Ancestry about this apparent glitch since this was added.

[alanheadrick]

Hum...I did this for a 3rd cousin just now. She is on the fathers side and nothing changed for the other matches. I'm going to guess Ancestry has all the matches under 20cM blocked? Or she doesn't match anyone else? Which means all of the other matches are on the mothers side?

[alanheadrick]

I noticed Ancestry shows my daughter in law is 4% Southern Japanese. I noticed about half her matches have 0% Southern Japanese and the other half range 2 to 10% Southern Japanese. Could this indicate a mother / father side indication? I know it won't be 100% accurate.

[lizzmiranda]

How can someone hire you! I want to find my dad

[IainMCooke]

This is been available for many months, it could be automatic without the need to do them one by one as myHeritage already does