· GEDCOM export guide

Export your tree from Gramps

Gramps is a free desktop program. It exports GEDCOM 5.5.1 through its Export Assistant; the Gramps manual notes that a GEDCOM file can't hold everything Gramps records.

Desktop program

Checked against Gramps's own help pages on September 21, 2026. Open Gramps's help page (opens in a new tab)

Step by step

  1. Choose "Family Trees" → "Export..." (Ctrl+E, or ⌘+E on a Mac). The Export Assistant opens; click "Next".
  2. Under "Choose the output format", select "GEDCOM" and click "Next".
  3. Set the export options — for example "Do not include records marked private" and the filter for living people — and click "Next".
  4. Choose the file name and folder, click "Next", then "Apply".
  5. The summary shows where the file was saved. Click "Close".

Labels in quotes are copied from Gramps's help pages; if a screen looks different, those pages are the reference.

What the file carries

  • People, families, events, places, notes and sources — filtered by the options you chose.

What it leaves out

  • Media files: a GEDCOM file only refers to them. (The Gramps XML package, .gpkg, bundles media, but it isn't a GEDCOM file.)
  • Some details only Gramps keeps, which its manual lists — among them tags and note formatting.

If something goes wrong

  • If saving fails, close the assistant and choose a folder you can write to.
  • A "Missing Media" message means a media file the tree refers to can't be found.

Good to know

  • The Gramps manual suggests adding your researcher information before exporting, so the GEDCOM file is valid.

7gens is not affiliated with or endorsed by Gramps. Gramps is a trademark of its owner; the name is used here only to describe how to export your own data.

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Import your GEDCOM
Export a GEDCOM file with the "Export Assistant" — 7gens