Downloading and Importing MyHeritage

ICW and Triangulation data via Pedigree Thief

Written with the guidance of Colin Thomson who is the developer of the Pedigree Thief tool. See the Help page of Pedigree Thief for more information if needed by right clicking on the PT icon in your browser.

Downloading the Data

Gathering your Matches.

Pedigree Thief needs to create its own database to then be able to gather the rest of the desired data.

On MyHeritage, navigate to the DNA Matches page.

Select the Test person for whom the matches are to be gathered.

If updating the database, change sort order to 'Most recent'.

Click 'Pedigree Thief' icon.

Change “number of pages to be read” as required.

On the first time of use - the only options available is “Select the number of pages to read” and “Read Matches (and DNA)” or "Read Matches (no DNA)" and "Import - Matches File". At least one page has to be read for each test person. (This is to place profile details in the database.) 

MyHeritage imposes data download limits which can lead to your account being blocked if overused. The "(no DNA)" option does not gather the chromosome data thus gathering more matches for the loss of detailed segemnt data.

The "Import - Matches File" allows you to populate PT's database with the Matches file that was previously provided by MyHeritage but has now been withdrawn. 

Having read a matches page, clicking the Pedigree Thief icon will now display a "Downloads" section. "Save Matches" will produce a csv file which can be imported into GDAT using the template provided at the foot of the PT Help page. If the "(and DNA)" option was selected then a "Save Segments" options will be available which again can be imported into GDAT using the supplied template.

Gathering your ICW and Triangulation Data

Navigate to one of your MyHeritage Match pages

Click 'Pedigree Thief' icon.

Set the number of ICW matches to read. (Try not to gather too many at once as this can trigger MyHeritage's download limit. You can always repeat, setting the ICW limit higher each time.)

Click 'Save ### ICW' button. This will produce a file named “MyHeritage ICWs for <profile Name> and <match name>.csv “. Save it somewhere safe for later.

Click 'Save ### Triangulations' button.  This will save a file named “MyHeritage Triangulations for <profile Name> and <match name>.csv “. to your downloads folder.

Repeat as many times as desired for each match you wish to have this information for.

Note: The "Save Chromosome Data" button will create a csv file that can be imported into GDAT using the template provided at the end of the Pedigree Thief help page.

Importing into GDAT

Import the direct downloaded files into GDAT (see the relevant section above for details)

Import the ICW file through "Pedigree Thief > 3: MyHeritage ICWs". Review the Import Summary if desired.

Import the Triangulation file through "Pedigree Thief > MyHeritage Triangulations". Review the Import Summary if desired.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as desired for each match you wish to have this information for.

ICW and Triangulation imports from Pedigree Thief can be done in any order without issues.

Note: As an alternative to downloading individual files for each match, you can download omnibus files by opening Pedigree Thief on the MyHeritage Matches page. PT will default to the oldest update not previously downloaded or you can select a more recent date or 'All'. 

Ancestors of Matches

Gathering a MyHeritage match's family tree can be done in one of the following ways depending on your level of access and or personal preference.

1. Using the Pedigree Thief browser extension to gather the tree data. This is gathered by viewing the match's tree and clicking on the Pedigree Thief icon. Then click "Copy Ahnentafel", and load this into GDAT through the F2 page of the match, via the right click "Import > PedigreeThief" menu item.

2. Using the One2Tree browser extension (Windows only) to gather the tree data. This is gathered by viewing the match's tree and clicking on the One2Tree icon. The use Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C to copy the entire page, and import this into GDAT via the F2 page of the match, via the right click "Import > One2Tree" menu item.
   Note: The unpaid version of One2Tree will only gather 4 generations at a time. The paid version defaults to 12 generations but will gather up to 52 generations.

Note: If you are going to gather tree data via either PedigreeThief or One2Tree, you will want to ensure that you are viewing a match's tree from the point that they have assigned to themselves, and not from the home person in the tree (which can occur if the DNA kit is managed by a different person). In GDAT, use the "Links Specific to the current Profile" "Go" button to reach the match's page at MyHeritage. Then scroll down to find the match's tree on the page, this usually appears below the "Shared DNA Matches" listing. Click on the match in this tree view, and then on "View in Tree". From here, you can use one of the browser extensions to gather the available tree data. If you choose to use the "View Tree" link at the top of a match page, there is the possibility that you may end up viewing the tree from a different person's position, and not your DNA Match's position in the tree.

3. Loading via Gedcom is also possible via the GDAT F2 page of the match and the right click "Import > Gedcom" menu item. This method however requires you to have a Gedcom file for this person's tree, either extracted from your own family tree, or received from your Match while communicating with them. It is also possible to use Pedigree Thief to create a Gedcom from a match's tree if desired.