May 2020
I often end up getting asked how to share DNA results form Ancestry so I thought I’d write up a guide to it.
First of all—why share DNA results and what does this mean?
Sharing DNA results does NOT mean your giving your DNA data to someone else. It only means you are sharing with someone the DNA Matches you have. So, no need to be concerned about somebody stealing your DNA. Well, why would you want to share these data? Answer—it helps somebody working to help you with your matches. In Ancestry you can see your matches and you can see which matches share DNA within a group, or genetic network. BUT—you can not see how much DNA is shared between two of your shared matches. That’s where the value of sharing your DNA match data comes in.
Okay, so how do we do this? Here are the steps:
(1) Point your browser to your DNA tab on Ancestry, “Your DNA Results Summary”
(2) Click on the little “gear” icon for Settings:
(3) Scroll down until you see the Sharing Preferences under the Privacy section and click on the Change link:
(4) Now, click on “Add a person”:
(5) Identify the person you want to share your DNA match data with. There are two ways to do this. You need either the Ancestry Username (used for logging in) or the person’s email address that is associated with their Ancestry account. Choose the access level you wish to convey to this person. For many needs the Viewer level is fine. If the person wants you to work on their account such as organizing matches by tag groups then you’ll need to select Manager. Don’t worry, though. You still own the account and that person can not remove your kit or change primary settings such as linking the DNA test kit to a tree.
(6) Once the invitation has been sent the other person should receive an email within a minute or two. The Accept button in the email must be clicked in order to complete the sharing process. That’s important to remember.
(7) That completes the sharing process. Now, the person should be able to log into Ancestry DNA and be able to select the DNA test to view by clicking on the View Another Test link.
Final Note: If you have any questions or comments on this short guide please let me know (send me a comment). I will likely update this page periodically, largely reflecting any changes that may be made on the Ancestry side.