Set Up a Filae Account: Find French Records with Free Latter-day Saint Access

An estimated 90 million people in the world today have French ancestry. Among these are thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who reside in France, its territories, and elsewhere in the world.

That’s why FamilySearch has partnered with Filae, a leading French genealogical website, to provide free access to their website and resources to members of the Church. If you have French ancestry, here is why you should be using Filae, along with a quick guide on how to set up a Latter-day Saint Filae account.

Want to create your Filae account right away? Click here to get started.

Why Create a Filae Account

If you have French ancestors, Filae may be able to help you discover new information about them or new records you haven’t seen before. You can add this new information to the FamilySearch Family Tree, growing and sharing what is known about your ancestors.

Filae is an enormous online repository of French genealogical records. Public archives, local societies, and specialty publishers have contributed billions of records and 150 million record images. Among the records are French civil registrations (births, marriages, and deaths), censuses, church records, passenger lists, and military records from the Napoleonic era to World War II.

Many of Filae’s millions of users have created searchable family trees too. These trees help Filae users connect and collaborate with others who share their ancestry.

How to Create a Filae Account

Anyone may access Filae by subscribing with a premium account. However, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may activate a Filae account for free with their Latter-day Saint access. To activate a free account, do the following:

1. Go to FamilySearch.org/partneraccess to see a screen like the one shown below. Under Filae, click Join for Free.
2. Sign in with your FamilySearch or Church account. Be sure you are using an account with your membership information attached to it.

• Confirm the option to create your free Filae account. (If you already subscribe, choose “Already have a Filae account?” to convert your existing account to a free Latter-day Saint partnership account.)

How to Get Started on Filae

Start exploring Filae by choosing among these options:

1. Search for records about a specific relative. To add details about a parent or spouse, click Add a spouse, a parent.
2. Request record alerts. Create an alert if you would like Filae to notify you in the future of any records that match your search.
3. Start a new tree on Filae by clicking the plus sign. If your recent ancestry is not from France, consider beginning this tree with an ancestor who lived in France.
4. Import a family tree file. If you have a family tree file (GEDCOM), upload it by selecting Import GEDCOM. If your only family tree is on FamilySearch.org, use a Family Tree certified program such as Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree, or RootsMagic to extract your data and create a GEDCOM file.

As you explore these options, browse the search results drawn from Filae’s historical records and contributors’ family trees. If record images are available, study them closely. If you find familiar data in someone else’s family tree and want to connect, you can click the submitter’s profile name.

Get Started Now

Source: Family Search