Best of FamilySearch: Your Guide

FamilySearch is one of the most powerful — and most overlooked — tools in genealogy.

In this video, I walk you through the best features of FamilySearch in 2026, focusing on the tools I believe every serious family historian should know how to use. This is not a full tour of the website. Instead, we’ll focus on the features that can make the biggest difference in your research.

You’ll learn:

• How the World Collaborative Tree works (the good and the bad)
• How to use Find by ID and Following to track ancestors
• Search strategies inside Search Records
• Why Full Text Search is a game changer
• The difference between the Catalog and the Digital Library
• How to use the Research Wiki to identify what records exist for a location
• And several often-overlooked tools on the Home Page

If you’ve been using FamilySearch casually, this video will help you use it strategically.

? Related Videos on Full Text Search:
• FamilySearch Full Text Search – Was LIVE
• OMG! FamilySearch FULL TEXT SEARCH – The Ultimate Strategy to Find Records
• FamilySearch Hidden Records: Full Text Search (2024)? Visit: GenealogyTV.org

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