In the 2018 year in review article I wrote a couple days ago, a reader commented that they didn’t realize that MyHeritage had combined DNA matching with tree matching.
They have and it’s super easy.
DNA and Tree Matching in 4 Easy Steps
Here’s how to see your combined matches in 4 short steps.
- Sign on and click on DNA Matches.
- Click on the little filter icon.
- Click on “All tree details.”
- Then, click on “Has Smart Matches.”
That’s it!
DNA Matches Plus SmartMatches
Voila – using this filter setting, the only matches you will see are your DNA matches that are also SmartMatches, meaning the other person shares a common ancestor (or more) in a tree with you. You’ll see a combination of both features. We’ll use my match with Michael as an example.
Scroll down to review all of your information in common with this match including:
- Summary Information (estimated relationship, % match, shared cM match, number of shared segments, largest segment in cM,)
- Shared Ancestors
- Shared Ancestral Surnames
- Shared Ancestral Places
- Shared DNA Matches, including triangulation indicated by the purple circled segment icon at right
MIchael matches my mother too, so if I didn’t already know which parental side Michael matched me on, I do now. Triangulating with multiple other relatives assures me of a valid match.
- Pedigree charts
- Shared Ethnicities
- Chromosome Browser – Shared DNA Segments
Who do you match, share ancestors and triangulate with?
Testing at or Transferring to MyHeritage
You can either test at MyHeritage or transfer a DNA file from other vendors to MyHeritage.
To order a DNA test, click here.
To transfer a DNA file to MyHeritage, click here.
The article, MyHeritage Step by Step Guide: How to Upload-Download Files provides you with easy to follow instructions.
Have fun😊
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Is a subscription to MyHeritage required to get Smart Matches? I followed your directions and it says that I have no Smart Matches. I have lots of matches but no subscription. Is there something I’m missing? Thanks!
Hmmm, it could be. I do have a subscription.
You don’t need to subscription to get Smart Matches, you do need one to add them to your tree. And there has to be one or more people on MyHeritage with a tree that has a person/people that match your tree. I don’t have subscription & regularly get emails about Smart Matches. 90% of the time they’re from my father in law’s tree & since I can’t add them, I just keep getting them.
I let mine expire, so I have a tree ‘in the system’ and still see these on my DNA list. (Thanks to Roberta for the find!) However, in the non-dna area, you can add a “basic tree” for free, I think 220 people limit. Also know that on the DNA side you can also create and post a tree with the same limit (without the other account). When people post no tree on the DNA side, I suspect they might have a tree on the pay side for accounts that I cannot see. Not always so, but it could be why many don’t go through the trouble of making another on the DNA side. If you observe what you click on and can get into, you can find out some good stuff on that ancestor once you get in there.
Wow!!! Thank you so much!!
It’s hard to keep up with all the genealogy news, but it’s always a pleasure to read your posts. Plus, I learn so much here!
Thanks again for another well-explained, instructional article! I’d just like to add that if you don’t have any Smart Matches and you have a connected tree, call My Heritage. When I uploaded an improved tree several weeks ago and reconnected the kits I manage , no Smart Matches appeared (there had many before). I left it a while, thinking it may be processing in the background. When I finally called, I was told that some sort of ‘glitch’ had stopped the processing on my new tree and he ‘nudged’ something to complete the process.
Thank you for your continuing posts which are interesting, informative and helpful.
Following your post today on finding information from links on MyHeritage I did some searching on a link (I can use name CD)which has always been a little puzzling as it is quite close in DNA terms (172.1 cM) but I had never been able to see a link in our trees, though CD had not taken hers all that far back.
Looking at the shared links with CD I found two with people whose relationship to me I knew. Both of them matched more distantly than I did – GY is 41.9 to me, 0.2 to CD and BS is 2.4 to CD and 0.2 to me.
These should have been clues to what my link with CD was, except that the two shared matches are on totally different sides of my family, GY from paternal grandmother, a double link 5 generations ago and BS from paternal grandfather, also 5 generations back. I can add that we and the links are also in different parts of the world, – I am in Oxford England, CD in New Jersey – the link to GY and me is in Central Germany around 1800, the link between BS and me in Yorkshire in the same period.
Do you have any suggestions about what might have happened in this case – could it be a freak of the matching system?
Best wishes,
Mark
It could be. I would look for anyone else and then look only at triangulated segments.
Thank you for quick response. Thinking about the figures more, it looks as if CD must be descended, probably a great-granddaughter, of one of my father’s brothers or sister. That would explain all three relationships suggested by DNA match and the percentages, and my and CD’s ages. I must ask her if she has any more info. about her grandparents’ birth. My paternal uncles and aunt all lived in different countries, Australia, South Africa and Burma (Myanmar), and the second world war widely dispersed them and many others so all kinds of meetings including with people from USA would have been possible. I daresay we can never work it out. I suppose my only question would be, can such a match (172 cM, 9 shared segments, largest 42 cM) ever happen by chance rather than by genuine relationship?
No, I’ve never seen an individual segment at 20 cM that isn’t legitimate.
That works very good except they now have a tree attached to my account that isn’t my tree. I guess I need to find out how to remove that tree from my account.
I just checked and I don’t have any of that but I don’t accept the matches without reviewing everything. I am very leary of that.
I would contact MH support to see how to disconnect that tree.
I prefer MyHeritage’s DNA match pages to ancestry BUT trying to find a female ancestor in someone’s tree by her married name/s is a PITA. I wish MyHeritage used maiden names as default. If someone wants the married names shown they could choose that. All my ancestors had multiple spouses. Trying to remember all the husbands and wives is mind boggling.
I agree.
Thank you, Roberta. I had missed the “Smart Matches” filter, and sure enough, I do have one DNA match who smart matches me and is likely a 3rd cousin I never knew about. I’ll be contacting her right away.
I know. It’s addictive isn’t it😁
You don’t need a subscription to receive smart matches, at least I have smart matches and no subscription. Your smart matches are not necessarily in your direct line, they can be with anyone in your tree.
I followed this all I got was no results found.
Thanks for this. I now have the first ever “confirmed” DNA match via MyHeritage although I have innumerable “matches” (even if I already did have this person on my own tree).
It makes things slightly easier; some caveats though, some of them are “smart match” through marriage, and some that were smart matches through their father’s side turned out to be related through their (not filled in) mother’s side.
I like the ancestry map; if matches overlap in the same geographical location, this may mean something too.
All of these things are just tools. But such great tools😁
That’s a great thing to know. Thanks.
Thanks for all your help.
When I review a Smartmatch, I see some details I’d like to accept, but others that I know are incorrect. Is there any way to edit the review before accepting it?
At present I seem to only have options to accept everything or decline the match entirely.
When I view a SmartMatch, I’m always concerned about this, so I experimented with one that was presented to me as a DNA+SmartMatch. When I clicked confirm, I was then presented with my card and their card side by side and I could extract what I wanted and leave what I wanted. I checked afterwards to be sure that’s actually what happened, and it did. There is a MyHeritage support group on Facebook that I’ve found very helpful.
However, if you search by person and are presented with a card where the only option is to “Save Match,” you don’t get a review option so I wouldn’t save that to your tree.
Thanks Roberta, I tried that and it worked. A bit scary though as when you go to ‘Confirm’ it comes up with “Save to your tree. Only ‘New’ and ‘Improved’ information will be saved” with no indication that there is a chance to review the New and Improved information.
I had clicked on “Save Match” once before and found it added a lot of errors which I then had to go through and delete.
That’s why I tried it with a tree if a cousin that was very small. I am very leary too.
If the only option you see is Save Match, it’s probably that other type of search. I’m not in front of my computer. Just be sure you recognize the difference. I’m very Leary if saving anything from someone else’s tree to my own.
I honestly never knew about this. Thanks for the tip! I am checking it out now. I only have a few, it seems. I’ve been focusing my efforts on AncestryDNA for the longest time. Makes sense as that’s where my most of my matches are.
Thanks again! =D