Need help converting a pre-2006 .FTW file to .gedcom format

Question

Hi!  I need help converting a pre-2006 .FTW file to .gedcom format so I can upload. I am now a mac user. Any help would be appreciated. Any thougts, ideas, people that could help?

Comments

Me too. I have hard time how to use .FTW to GEDCOM on family tree maker 2005

Answer 1

I had the same problem myself, once. This link will take you to the Mackiev.com site. They are now the makers of Family Tree Maker. It explains all of the steps necessary. You will have to install the Family Tree Maker 2005 Starter Edition first. (available on their site for free)

https://support.mackiev.com/235807-Opening-old-and-unsupported-files-in-Family-Tree-Maker

Comments

Thanks. I tried that but didn't work on my Mac as I believe it is PC only software. Did you perform the conversion on a Mac?

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No, I was using a PC. I could convert it for you if you want but if there living people in the file you might feel more comfortable having someone you know convert it instead. You can find my email on my profile page if you decide to send it here. You'll have to send it directly to me since the private messaging doesn't allow attachments. It might take a day or two before I can get to it.

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Mike, I sent you a private message. Thanks for your generous offer to help!

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For anyone else landing on this page. You could import it into a program like rootsmagic. For example rootsmagic has an import option specifically for Family Tree Maker. The import option is for "Family Tree Maker (2014 and earlier)". you just need the .ftw or .ftm files. Might not be a bad idea to have any other files Family Tree Maker referenced too. I am not sure if it referenced directories like MyPictures for files? if it did, you will have missing reference objects...but that can be corrected later, as long as you have those files somewhere.

Here is a video pointing to how to do it.

in the video I notice there isn't the "...(2014 and earlier)" I mention above. "...(2014 and earlier)" is what is listed when I try importing in Rootsmagic 7 on May 5th, 2019.

https://youtu.be/y5Oqin5C6n0

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Thanks anonymous! I had an FTW file from a version of Family Tree Maker in the '90s. rootsmagic essentials is free and had no problem loading the old file (created on windows, loaded on my mac).

Answer 2

As suggested by someone anonymously in a comment thread, on the mac i successfully used the free version of Rootsmagic Essentials to load an old FTW file I created sometime in the '90s on an Windows. Repeating it here where it might be more visible. Good luck!

Answer 3

Hello,

I have gone this path - PC to Mac.

If you install MacFamilyTree, it will automatically convert your .ftm files to GEDCOM (.ged) and open them appropriately)

It will of course save them in it's own format, but you can export to gedcom too.

Hope this helps.

MBPro - Retina - OS 10.14.6