Skip to content
Draw My Tree docs

Getting started

Welcome to Draw My Tree. This guide gets you from a fresh account to a tree with a few people in it.

Signing in

Open the app and sign in with email, Google, or whatever provider your account uses. You only need to set this up once; Draw My Tree remembers you on the same device.

If you signed up but can't log in, double-check the email address you used. If you're still stuck, sign out and use the "Forgot password?" link on the sign-in screen.

Your home page

After signing in you land on Your trees. This is where every family tree you own lives.

A few things to know about this page:

  • The trees table lists every tree, showing when you last edited it and how many members and relationships it holds. Click a tree's name to open it.
  • Search filters by tree name as you type. Useful once you have a few trees.
  • Size and Created filters help you scope the list. "Small" is fewer than 25 people; "Medium" is 25–99; "Large" is 100+; the Created filter can narrow to trees made in the last 30 days.
  • Sort orders by name, last edited, members, or relationships. Click a column header to sort by it, and again to flip the direction. New trees start sorted by most recently edited.
  • The right column holds a New tree card for starting a tree and a Documentation card linking the guides.

Creating your first tree

In the New tree card on the right, type a name (something like "Prescott family" or "Mom's side") and press Create tree. A tree is just a container; you'll add people next.

You can rename a tree later, so don't agonize over the name. You can also create as many trees as you want; some people keep one tree per branch of their family, others put everyone into a single tree.

Opening a tree

Click a tree's name in the table to open it. Each row also has an Open button and a ⋯ menu with Rename and Delete. You'll land in the tree editor.

The editor has four main parts:

  • The canvas in the middle, where your tree draws itself. Scroll or pinch to zoom; click-and-drag the background to pan. A small minimap in the corner gives you an overview and lets you jump to a far corner without manual panning.
  • The toolbar at the top, with a back button, the tree's name, a family-name filter, and a person search.
  • The rail, a strip of buttons that is always on screen: down the left edge on a computer, along the bottom on a phone. Each button opens the side panel on one surface — Person (details and story for whoever you've selected), People, Filter, Appearance (saved presets and every visual setting), Export, and, on trees you own, Import. The button for the surface you're looking at is highlighted; press it again to close the panel.
  • The side panel, which opens beside the rail and shows one surface at a time.

When you open a brand-new tree there's nothing to draw yet. That's where the next guide picks up.

Keyboard and mouse

  • Scroll wheel / pinch: zoom in and out
  • Click and drag on empty canvas: pan around
  • Click a person card: select them and open the details panel
  • Click empty space: clear the selection
  • Press ? on the tree page for the full list of keyboard shortcuts: zoom (+/-), pan (arrow keys), fit the tree (Ctrl/⌘ + 0), full screen (F), reset (R), search (/), and show or hide the side panel (P)