GEDCOM to JSON — Convert Family Tree Files to JSON Online Free
Convert GEDCOM family tree files to structured JSON. Extract individuals, families, and statistics. Private — your family data never leaves your device.
GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communication) is the standard file format for family tree data, used by every genealogy application for fifty years. It is a plain-text, hierarchical format — clean, simple, and human-readable — but no database, no analytics tool, and no visualization library can read it directly. The GEDCOM to JSON tool parses the full GEDCOM hierarchy and emits a structured JSON object: individuals with their names, birth and death dates and places, sex, and occupation; families with their spouses, children, and marriage details; and summary statistics that give you an at-a-glance view of the data. The conversion runs entirely in your browser — your family data is never uploaded and never seen by anyone but you.
The GEDCOM format is elegant in its simplicity. Every line is LEVEL TAG VALUE (or LEVEL @ID@ TAG VALUE). Level 0 records are top-level structures: HEAD (header), INDI (individual), FAM (family), TRLR (trailer). Higher-level lines are sub-records. A birth event is 1 BIRT followed by 2 DATE ... and 2 PLAC .... The parser reconstructs this hierarchy into a tree, then walks the tree to extract individuals and families. The approach handles files of any size — GEDCOM files from major genealogy services can be tens of megabytes with thousands of individuals.
The most common use case: a user exports their family tree from Ancestry or MyHeritage as a GEDCOM file and wants to explore the data programmatically — building a custom visualization, running a statistical analysis, or migrating the data to a different format. The JSON output is the bridge between the fifty-year-old GEDCOM standard and modern data tooling. Every byte stays in the browser.
How to use
Export your GEDCOM file
Open your genealogy software (Family Tree Maker, Gramps, Ancestry, MyHeritage, RootsMagic) and export a GEDCOM file. The standard file extension is `.ged`. GEDCOM is a plain-text hierarchical format that has been the genealogy data interchange standard since 1984.
Paste the GEDCOM content
Open the .ged file in any text editor, copy the entire content, and paste it here. GEDCOM files are human-readable: each line starts with a level number (0-9), an optional record ID in `@` signs, a tag (like INDI or FAM), and a value.
Get structured JSON
The converter parses the hierarchical structure and outputs two arrays: individuals (with name, sex, birth, death, occupation, and notes) and families (with husband, wife, children, and marriage details). Summary statistics count total individuals, families, males, and females.
Frequently asked
What GEDCOM version is supported?
GEDCOM 5.5 and 5.5.1 are the most widely deployed versions and both are supported. The parser uses the standard record structure (INDI for individuals, FAM for families) which has been stable since GEDCOM 3.0. If your file uses an older version (4.0, 3.0), it should still parse correctly as long as the INDI and FAM tags are present.
Is my family data safe?
Yes. All processing runs entirely in your browser. Your family tree data is never uploaded to any server. The page works offline after loading, and nothing is stored between sessions. Genealogy data often spans generations and includes sensitive information — the privacy guarantee is non-negotiable.
What information is extracted?
For each person (INDI record): full name, sex, birth date and place, death date and place, occupation, and the first note. For each family (FAM record): husband ID reference, wife ID reference, list of child ID references, and marriage date and place. Statistics at the bottom count individuals, families, males, and females.
What about sources, notes, and multimedia?
Source citations (SOUR), repositories (REPO), and multimedia objects (OBJE) are not extracted in the structured output. The focus is on the genealogical relationships — who is related to whom, when they were born and died. For full GEDCOM fidelity, use a dedicated genealogy application.
Can the JSON be imported into another system?
The output is standard JSON with predictable key names (`individuals`, `families`, `stats`). It can be imported into any JSON-aware tool — Python scripts, JavaScript visualizations, D3.js family trees, or MongoDB collections. The structure is deliberately flat and simple for maximum compatibility.
Limitations
- No pedigree analysisThe output is a flat JSON representation of individuals and families. The tool does not compute relationships, build pedigree charts, detect ancestors, or calculate generational depth. Use genealogy software for those analyses.
- No source or multimedia recordsSource citations, repositories, and multimedia objects are not extracted. The parser focuses on persons and families — the core genealogical data model. Full-fidelity GEDCOM parsing requires a more specialized tool.
- Single-note extractionOnly the first NOTE record within each individual or family record is extracted. Additional notes (e.g., biographical details, conflicting evidence, source context) are omitted.
Platform notes
- macOS
- MacFamilyTree and Reunion export GEDCOM natively. The file can be opened in TextEdit — GEDCOM is plain text despite the `.ged` extension.
- Windows
- Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, and Legacy Family Tree all export GEDCOM. Right-click the `.ged` file and open with Notepad to view and copy the content.
- Linux
- Gramps (the leading open-source genealogy application) exports GEDCOM. For CLI processing, `gedcom-parse` (npm) provides programmatic access, but the browser tool is private by default.
- Web
- Runs entirely in the browser. Family data is never transmitted to any server. GEDCOM files often contain personally identifying information spanning multiple generations — the browser-local processing guarantee is essential for this data category.