AncestryDNA Helper
Extension Delisted
This extension is no longer available in the official store. Delisted on 2025-09-16.
This extension downloads list of matching users and ancestor information.
The extension helps with analyzing and comparing your AncestryDNA test results. The automated scanner, accessible using the Full Scan and Resume Scan buttons added to your DNA Home Page, will go through your list of DNA matches and open each one to scan their pedigree charts.
Once the scanning process is complete, you can download your list of matches and pedigree charts as .csv files for analyzing them in a spreadsheet or database program. You can also use the additional search features added to the top of your matches list to search for matches by usernames or exact/similar surnames. The ancestors of matches report also includes an incidence value for each row that calculates how frequently people with the same name and a similar birth year appear among your matches. This value can be useful for detecting possible common lines of descent.
If you have multiple DNA tests under your account, a new shared match icon will appear next to each match allowing your to easily see which other test(s) also match this same result by hovering your mouse over this icon. You can also compare two or three of your tests to each other using the compare features at the bottom of your DNA Home Page.
Latest reviews
This extension no longer works, and unfortunately it is no longer being maintained. There is some background info and alternatives described here: https://dataminingdna.com/whatever-happened-to-the-ancestrydna-helper
I loved it when it worked. its useless now
Today may be the last day it works as Ancestry is saying our browser customizations will no longer work. I hope that isn't true. I've scanned my 91,000 matches and a total of over 300,000 matches combined with 4 kits. I'm still scanning this morning as new matches arrive for as long as I can. I won't be able to keep up with the kits without it and I wasn't able to view all matches for a couple years anyway. I will continue to use AncestryDNA Helper for as long as it works because I love having the data. Thank you Jeff!
It only downloads the first page of my matches
Good Extension Problem has not worked for 3 days now please fix looks to be ancestry blocking.
Ancestry DNA can't do the best job it can without this helper...fantastic program should be a norm
The instructions claim that I will find a (' "Scan" button next to your DNA test to scan all of your match data. ') No such button, after reading all of the reviews/complaints this one is hitting the trash, I don't like using Chrome anyway, Opera is safer and faster than Chrome...
haven't gotten to use it yet. i'm currently scanning. took me about 12 tries to get it to scan. the trick is to hit refresh and then as fast as you can, hit scan. and i do mean AS FAST AS YOU CAN. good luck!
love it
I find the download of matches extremely useful amd a huge time saver.
I wasted 5 days downloading a large database of matches from an Ancestry DNA test. One of my interests in using this extension was to hopefully do a more complete surname search (since ancestry.com is broken). After it was finally compete it became apparent that the helper's search feature does not work AT ALL. They supposedly have a yahoo support group. That was worthless. She (Barbara Taylor) blamed the problem on ancestry.com. I would not recommend this extension at all. I am going to try DNAGedcom. And one more issue - this extension toggles all your "new" blue dots - so all the unseen matches appear as seen and the ones previously seen appear new.
The extension provides much needed improvement to accessing and even finding your Ancestry DNA matches, which easily exceed 65000 for most users.
Despite all the negative reviews, it works for me using Windows 10 on a Lenovo Thinkpad. It doesn't look so pretty but it has been helpful to me. I hope it continues to work since Ancestry search functions are useless.
I do not "dislike" this extension...it's just hugely frustrating in its application. I think this extension should be taken out of the public domain until the developer can make it work correctly and consistently. It's also too bad that ancestry.com has not provided support to the app developer.
What a waste.
I loved this when it worked. I have deleted and installed this 3 times. It no longer scans. Comparisons work 10% of the time. So disappointed.
Doesn't work even after removing it and re-adding it. Using an iMac with latest OS.
DNAgedcom client works better.
I am revising my review based on the latest improvements. I recommend that you use a separate computer and don't use it while it is scanning, on one of my records it took 28 hours to scan the database for 21,464 records, but it got them all. Now I can import into my mysql database for processing.
Doesn't work....
Doesn't work. It's an invisible application.
Does not work at all on my MAC using Chrome. I emailed the author and received no response.
Never really worked. Downloaded a couple dozen out of hundreds of matches after days of scanning, now jut keeps refreshing the page.
A great app for working with your AncestryDNA. It occasionally has problems, AFAIK all of which are caused by either Chrome and Ancestry updates, so it takes time for the developer to modify this app to compensate.
The scan opens a separate tab for each individual match and is limited to 51 tabs so I cannot scan and export the 2500 matches I have on my DNA report. I am not able to see any reports, just get 51 matches in an Excel spreadsheet.
This app was extremely useful when it worked. It hasn't worked well for me for 6 - 8 mos now. Very disappointed.
