Is there any way you can search your family tree online without having to sign up for anything?

Answer 1

The few sites that I tried eventually charge. I recently heard of Ellis Island

having a site and library. Also for those interested in the Holocust Memorial

has a listing of names.

Answer 2

Answering your question is complicated. It is feasible, but not practical. Here's why.

When you search for your ancestors, particularly those in recent times, you need to be able to use censuses; birth, death, and marriage records; military records; property records; legal records; wills; and many, many more documents that confirm and verify your ancestors. These documents are typically not free. In order to view them, you have to pay for them from the agency that holds them.

Searching for these records is painstaking, time-consuming, and just not practical.

When you pay for a membership on a genealogy site, you get access to these records in an easily searchable format. The savings on time, energy, and cost far outstrips a nominal, monthly membership fee.

Another thing that you get when you join a genealogy site is access to a basic family tree builder. You can purchase more complicated programs from these sites to build your tree, but you may find that it's not needed.

One of the unfortunate disadvantages, though, of using a genealogy site is that all the information you input into your family tree and your family tree becomes the property of the genealogy site. Should you cancel your membership, you lose access to that information. So, once you've created your family tree, you want to convert it and all its information to a program that can be downloaded to your computer. That way, you've preserved all your work for your own use and don't have to keep paying for a membership that you no longer need.

On a genealogy site, your information is stored in what is called a GEDCOM file. This is an abbreviation derived from GEnealogy Data COMmunications file, which is a proprietary file. This file format cannot be read or used on a computer. But there are ways around that.

There are free apps available that will convert a GEDCOM file into a useable format where you can view and use your information. They are pretty intuitive and easy to use.

Honestly, though, trying to do everything for free really doesn't work because of the cost associated with paying for legal documents. You'll end up paying more for documents than you would for a monthly membership on a paid genealogy site. And you spend untold hours of time and energy trying to track down records that you may never find.

Answer 3

No.