Navigate to the Records
Begin your search for information on FamilySearch Record Search in one of three ways:- Use the search box at the top of the page (which searches for names across all collections)
- Click a place on a world map to view record groups available for that region
- Select View All Collections for a browseable list.
Search Tips for FamilySearch Record Search
Place Search - FamilySearch Record Search allows you to search for records by country, state/province, county, or city. To do this, simply start typing the name of the place and then select the best match from the list which appears below. Be sure to actually select a place from the dropdown list before hitting enter to initiate your search, or you won't get any results. Not all records are specific about locations (e.g. your grandfather's death certificate may only indicate his place of birth as United States or Pennsylvania rather than Pittsburgh), so if you don't receive the expected results, please broaden your location.
Wild Card Search - Use an asterisk (*) following three characters in one of the name fields (either first name or surname - can't do both at once) to initiate a wild card search for that name (e.g. joh* in the surname field will return matches for John, Johns, Johnson, Johannsen, etc.)
Advanced Search - Advanced search offers the option to add in extra information, such as the names of a parent or spouse. This feature is best used at the individual record level (not when searching across all record groups, or across a region) as not all records include family members or other such additional details in the index.
Filter Your Results - Once you’ve entered your search terms and viewed the initial results, you can further filter those results by clicking one of the "Narrow by" keywords at the top of the search results page. A pop-up box will display all of the options that include your search terms, and let you further select only those which interest you.
How to Read the Record - When you're viewing digitized document images, it's not always easy to know what you're looking at. But FamilySearch offers help here too. Once you've clicked on a name to view the expanded record, you can choose from four menu options: About This Collection, Copy to Clipboard, View Image and How to Read the Record. "About This Collection" is always worth a visit to learn exactly where the information you're viewing came from and who created the original records. "How To Read the Record" is also helpful when viewing an unfamiliar record type - it launches a PDF document that contains an actual record from the collection with add-on notes highlighting what you can expect to find.
If you find that you really get a lot from the free genealogy records available at FamilySearch, you can thank the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who have generously donated their time to help to index these new collections through FamilySearch Indexing. If you're interested in volunteering yourself, the software is easy to download and use, and instructions are well thought out and generally self-explanatory. A little of your time can help get that genealogy record online for someone else who is searching for it - for free!
