Feature List

Navigation: RootsMagic 8 > Getting Started >

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RootsMagic is the award-winning genealogy software that makes family history easy. RootsMagic Essentials is a free genealogy program that contains core features from RootsMagic. This list shows the features found in RootsMagic Essentials as well as the additional features unique to the full version of RootsMagic.

RootsMagic Essentials	RootsMagic 8	Feature
General Features
Y	Y	Runs under Windows 7 (SP1+), Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11
Y	Y	Runs under macOS High Sierra (10.13), Mojave (10.14), Catalina (10.15), Big Sur (11), Monterey (12)
Y	Y	Single-file database format
Y	Y	Support for international character sets through Unicode integration
Y	Y	Integrated backup and restore help safeguard your data
Y	Y	Automatically check for updates to your software
	Y	Free technical support
	Y	Database tools let you test the file integrity, rebuild indexes, and compress database to remove deleted records
Portability
Y	Y	Run RootsMagic directly from a flash drive on Windows, Mac, or both
Navigation
Y	Y	Easily switch between different data views (People, Places, Sources, Media, Tasks, Addresses, Search, Publish, etc) without losing your place in those views
People Page
Y	Y	Pedigree View (5 or 6 generations)
Y	Y	Family View
	Y	Descendant View (2-7 generations)
	Y	People List View (Customizable and filterable)
	Y	Couple List View
Places Page
Y	Y	List view of all places in your file
Y	Y	Reverse places in list to view together geographically (Provo, Utah, Utah, USA => USA, Utah, Utah, Provo)
Y	Y	Instantly view on screen all people with an event in a place
	Y	Directly edit a person from the list of people with an event in a place
	Y	Map view of all places in your file
	Y	Geocode (automatically add latitude/longitude) places
	Y	World gazetteer to find places
	Y	PlaceClean feature to automatically clean your place list
Sources Page - Documenting Your Information
Y	Y	Add source documentation to any person, fact, or family
Y	Y	SourceWizard automatically writes proper sources for you
Y	Y	Almost 400 SourceWizard templates based on Evidence Explained, Evidence!, and Cite Your Sources
Y	Y	Hints in the Source fields guide you in entering your sources
Y	Y	Assign industry-standard quality terminology (for sources, information and evidence) to your master sources
Y	Y	Easy to use source list tracks all your documentation (certificates, census, books, etc)
Y	Y	Enter each source only once, then reuse it elsewhere
Y	Y	Reuse citations for multiple facts or people
Y	Y	Directly view and edit all citations for any source
Y	Y	Instantly view a list of all people or facts using a source or citation
Y	Y	Add a global source to each person when importing a GEDCOM file.
Y	Y	Record repositories where the sources are found
	Y	Create your own source templates using the powerful built-in template language
	Y	Easily merge duplicate sources from the master source list
	Y	Add a source to multiple people at once
	Y	Easily make a copy of a source
	Y	Copy (memorize) sources to reuse (paste) elsewhere
Media Page
Y	Y	Attach photographs, sound clips, and video clips to any person, family, place, source, or event
Y	Y	View media as thumbnail grid or list
Y	Y	Include photos in your books, group sheets, and other printouts
Y	Y	Attach documents (Word, PDF, etc) to any person, family, place, source, or event
Y	Y	Relative links to media to faciliate moving between computers
	Y	Drag and drop media into albums
	Y	Fix broken media links
Tasks Page
	Y	Add tasks to keep track of needed or completed research
	Y	Track goals, results, dates, status, priority, and more
	Y	Link tasks to people, family, events, sources, citations, places, and more
	Y	Filter tasks based on task data, or items the tasks link to
	Y	Place tasks into folders to group them as Research Logs
	Y	Research Log view displays a folder as a table including goal, result, sources, and more
	Y	Easily view all tasks in a particular repository
	Y	Print filtered tasks as either a task list or research log
Addresses Page
Y	Y	Keep track of addresses for people in your file
Y	Y	Keep track of repositories where records are stored and research is done
	Y	Merge duplicate addresses and repositories
Search Page
Y	Y	Simple person search easily finds people by name, sex, birth/death year
Y	Y	Advanced person search finds people by name, record number, events, dates, places, notes, and many other types of data
Y	Y	Easily find people by married name or nickname
	Y	Search and replace for notes, names, places, media items, etc.
	Y	WebSearch lets you search popular websites for people in your file
	Y	Find Everywhere lets you find text in any record in your file: people, families, notes, sources, media, places, to-do items, research logs, and more.
	Y	Search and replace various record types (names, places, media filenames, etc)
Y	Y	Easily view or edit people in search results without losing your place in the search or having to re-do the search
Publish Page
Y	Y	Print reports to screen or printer
	Y	Publish large format charts to printer or file
Y	Y	Share your data with FamilySearch (optional)
Y	Y	Upload or download an Ancestry tree
	Y	Share your data with Ancestry (optional)
	Y	Publish your family online at MyRootsMagic.com
Y	Y	Print to any printer connected to your computer
Y	Y	Customize headers, footers, margins, and fonts for any printout
	Y	Save reports to PDF (Acrobat)
	Y	Save reports directly to your word processor (.DOCX)
	Y	Save list reports directly to your spreadsheet (.XLSX)
Y	Y	Print color coding in pedigree charts, group sheets, charts, narrative reports, and more
	Y	Include pictures in reports saved to .DOCX
	Y	Include indexing in reports saved to .DOCX
Settings Page
Y	Y	Easily view and modify settings from one location
Y	Y	Settings for program, folders, general, display, preparer, WebHints, and LDS
Easy to Learn and Use
Y	Y	Easy file management
Y	Y	Family members are automatically linked as you add them
Y	Y	Automatically checks for duplicates as you add people
Y	Y	Click in an empty parent or child slot on screen to add parents or children
Y	Y	Just double click on a person's name to edit that person
Y	Y	All information for a person is shown on a single streamlined 'Edit person' window
Y	Y	Sidebar on main screen makes navigation easy
Y	Y	Resize edit and search dialogs to see as much information as you want
Y	Y	Online help with video
Organize Your Information
	Y	Open up to 4 databases in separate windows to support multiple monitors
Y	Y	Alternate names in lists makes it easy to find a person by their other names
Y	Y	Display relationships to root person in info panel
	Y	Drag and drop people between databases
	Y	Automatically link dragged people into the other database
	Y	Named Groups of People lets you create groups you can use in reports or other areas
	Y	WebTags let you add links to websites attached to people, sources, places, etc.
Editing
Y	Y	Add unlimited people, facts/events, notes, sources, and more
	Y	Open up to 3 Edit Person screens at the same time
Y	Y	Edit person screens are modeless, meaning you can leave it open while doing other things in the program
Y	Y	60 predefined fact types (birth, marriage, death, occupation, religion, etc)
Y	Y	Easily track multiple relationships, such as adoptions, foster parents, etc
Y	Y	See a person's age at every event on their edit page
Y	Y	Enter place history, latitude and longitude for each place
	Y	Create your own user defined fact types, and add any number of roles
	Y	Sharing events among multiple people lets you assign witnesses or other people involved in an event
	Y	Craft your own customized sentence for each fact or role from the live-edit pane in "Edit person" window
	Y	Add private events that you can suppress from printing or exporting
Report Types
	Y	Address labels for mailings
	Y	Address List - A list of the addresses in your file
Y	Y	Ahnentafel - A list of ancestors
Y	Y	Birthday List - A list of birthdays and anniversaries for people in your file
	Y	Box chart reports (both ancestor and descendant)
	Y	Box charts - Select box style
	Y	Calendars with birthdays and anniversaries
	Y	Custom report designer - with fields that can span columns or rows and even include notes
Y	Y	Descendant List - An indented list of the descendants for a person
Y	Y	Direct Descendant List - A direct line of descendants down to a single person
Y	Y	Duplicate List - A list of potential duplicate individuals in the database
	Y	Fact List - A list of people with or without a particular fact
Y	Y	Family Group Sheets
	Y	Individual List - A list of the people in the database
	Y	Individual List - Include the facts, parents, spouses, and children of each person
Y	Y	Individual Summary - A summary of information for a person in your file
	Y	Kinship List - A list of everyone related to an individual
Y	Y	LDS List - A list of LDS ordinances in the database
Y	Y	Marriage List - A list of the couples in the database
	Y	Missing Information List - A list of people missing selected information
	Y	Multimedia List - A list of the media in the database
	Y	Narrative reports (modified register and ancestor)
	Y	Narrative reports (register (NEHGS), indented descendancy, Henry descendancy, and D'Aboville descendancy)
	Y	"On This Day" report shows family events on a selected date, as well as famous births and deaths, and historical events
Y	Y	Pedigree Charts (standard and cascading)
	Y	Photo Tree - Tree with 3 generations of pictures
Y	Y	Place List - A list of the places in the database
Y	Y	Place List - Print the events which happened in each place
Y	Y	Place List - Include latitude, longitude, and notes for each place
	Y	Relationship chart shows exactly how two people are related
Y	Y	Repository List - A list of the repositories in the database
Y	Y	Repository List - Include the sources, and tasks with each repository
	Y	Research Logs - Sortable research logs of the data you have researched
Y	Y	Research Notes - Prints the research notes and comments for every citation for a person or family.
Y	Y	Scrapbook of pictures for people, families, sources, and places
Y	Y	Source List - A list of the sources in the database (sorted and grouped)
	Y	Statistics List - Statistics for any group of people
	Y	Surname Statistics - Statistics on the surnames in the database
	Y	Task List - A customizable list of tasks in your file
	Y	Timeline List - A chronological timeline of events for a person or group of people
	Y	WebTags List - A list of WebTags in your file
	Y	Who Was There List - A list of people who could have been in a particular location at a particular time
Spectacular Large Format (Wall) Charts
	Y	Fan Charts in any orientation (top to bottom, left to right, etc)
	Y	Ancestor Wall Charts in any orientation (left to right, bottom to top, etc)
	Y	Descendant Wall Charts in any orientation (top to bottom, left to right, etc)
	Y	Hourglass Charts (combined ancestors and descendants) in any orientation (top to bottom, left to right, etc)
	Y	Add a background image or color
	Y	Print charts up to 100 feet wide
	Y	Export charts to PDF or SVG files
Notes - Telling the Story
Y	Y	Add notes and stories/notes to any fact, person, couple (family), or shared role, place, place details
Y	Y	Notes print in narratives, group sheets, and other reports
Y	Y	Print your documentation (notes and sources) in your reports, summaries, and forms
	Y	Note formatting (bold, italics, underlining)
	Y	Add private notes that you can suppress from printing or exporting
Tools
Y	Y	Date calculator
Y	Y	Pop up calendar when entering dates
Y	Y	Soundex calculator (including alternate methods)
Y	Y	Bookmark any individuals in your database
Y	Y	History list lets you backtrack through last 200 people visited
Y	Y	Back button moves back to previously visited people
Y	Y	Potential problem list
Y	Y	View WebHints for Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, or Findmypast
	Y	DataClean helps you clean up problems in names and places in your database
	Y	Problem list is interactive (edit problem person or family directly from problem list)
	Y	Mark possible problems as "not a problem"
	Y	Place name standardization and geocoding
	Y	Mapping people and places
	Y	Create groups of people that you can name and select by that name
	Y	Color coding to highlight groups of people's names in color so they are easy to spot
	Y	Counts the number of separate trees in your database.
	Y	Relationship calculator shows you the relationship between any two people
	Y	File Compare lets you compare two RootsMagic files side by side and copy people, events, names, notes, sources, and media between them
Merge Features
Y	Y	Powerful merge capabilities
Y	Y	Prioritized merge list
Y	Y	Color-coded record comparisons makes it easy to spot differences
	Y	Mark possible duplicates as "not a match"
	Y	SmartMerge automatically handles the "obvious" duplicates
	Y	ShareMerge helps when collaborating with other RootsMagic users
Compatibility
Y	Y	Direct Family Origins import (versions 4 and later) (*Windows)
Y	Y	Direct Family Tree Maker import (version 16 (2014) and earlier) (*Windows)
Y	Y	Direct Legacy import (versions 3 and later) (*Windows)
Y	Y	Direct PAF import (versions 2.x and later) (*Windows)
Y	Y	Direct Master Genealogist (TMG) import (versions 1 - 10) (*Windows)
Y	Y	Full GEDCOM 5.5 support so you can exchange data with other programs
Y	Y	Ancestry Tree Import
Y	Y	FamilySearch Family Tree import
Y	Y	Full LDS support. LDS support can be turned on or off.
Ancestry Support
Y	Y	Upload RootsMagic data to an Ancestry tree
Y	Y	Download an Ancestry tree (including all media) to a new RootsMagic file
	Y	Share data back and forth between RootsMagic and Ancestry
	Y	View and accept Ancestry hints for people in your RootsMagic file
FamilySearch Support
Y	Y	Download data from FamilySearch
Y	Y	Share data back and forth with FamilySearch
Y	Y	Share notes, sources, ordinances, events, and people with FamilySearch
Y	Y	View, add and edit discussions on FamilySearch