DNA Matches Spreadsheet - How to Easily Manage Your Contacts

When you get your DNA test done, you will discover hundreds or thousands of new matches: distant cousins who share your DNA. But, you have yet to determine how they are related to you. Now you are faced with the task of connecting with these matches. How can you tell to which branch of the family they belong? Who do you contact first? How do you prioritize?

Charting Companion makes this easy for you with the DNA Matches spreadsheet. The DNA Matches spreadsheet is automatically created when you do a DNA Matrix. In the DNA Matches spreadsheet, all your DNA matches are listed in order of centiMorgans (cM, how much DNA you share), and organized by which branch of your family they are likely from. In the DNA Matches spreadsheet, the people in the left column are in your genealogy database. In the example below, they are the descendants of the same grandparents, divided into four families. The people in the top row are the DNA matches (highlighted in yellow). At the intersection are the degree of match (cM). The two people highlighted in pink are the closest match (400 to 600 cM). The people highlighted in blue only match the elusive Flurgis family, because they don't tie into any other branch. Clearly these are the matches to contact first if you have a brick wall in that part of your family tree.

The DNA Matches spreadsheet finds the needle in the haystack, and makes the important information jump out. The DNA Matches spreadsheet is included in ver. 7 of Charting Companion. Click for more details. Charting Companion works with all genealogy programs: Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, Legacy, Ancestral Quest, Family Historian, GEDCOM, etc. Get Charting Companion today and make family history.