How to Find and Fix GEDCOM Errors
A practical guide to detecting impossible dates, missing records, duplicate entries, and other data quality issues in your GEDCOM family tree file.
Why data quality matters
Errors in your GEDCOM file don't just affect individual records - they cascade through your analysis. An incorrect birth date can make migration timelines wrong, census gap detection inaccurate, and relationship calculations misleading.
Regular data quality checks help you catch problems early and maintain a reliable tree that you and others can trust.
Common GEDCOM errors
Date errors
- Birth after death (typos or copy-paste mistakes)
- Death dates in the future
- Marriage before age 12 or after death
- Parents born after their children
- Unrealistic ages (over 120 years)
Missing data
- Individuals with no birth or death information
- Families with no children recorded
- People with no source citations
Structural issues
- Duplicate individuals (same person entered twice)
- Unlinked individuals (not connected to any family)
- Circular relationships (someone listed as their own ancestor)
Using the Error Detection tool
Navigate to Integrity > Errors to scan your entire tree. GEDminer categorises issues by severity:
- Critical: Impossible situations that definitely need fixing (birth after death)
- Warning: Unusual but potentially valid situations (marriage age under 16)
- Info: Missing data that could be added for completeness
Each error shows the affected individual, the specific problem, and the conflicting data values so you know exactly what to fix.
Using the Vital Sharpener
The Vital Sharpener (Integrity > Vital Sharpener) focuses specifically on date and place precision:
- Estimated dates: Flagged with "ABT", "BEF", "AFT" or "CAL" prefixes
- Year-only dates: Missing month and day
- Missing places: Events with dates but no locations
The tool ranks records by research priority, so you know which incomplete records are most valuable to sharpen first.
Fixing errors in your software
GEDminer is an analysis tool - to fix errors, edit your tree in your main genealogy software:
- Note the issues: Export or screenshot the error list from GEDminer
- Fix in your software: Open the affected records and correct the data
- Re-export: Generate a new GEDCOM file
- Re-analyse: Upload the corrected file to verify the fixes
This cycle of analyse-fix-verify is the most efficient way to systematically improve your tree's data quality.
Preventing future errors
- Always cite sources: A record without a source is just a claim
- Enter full dates: "15 Jan 1885" is better than "1885"
- Use consistent place formats: "London, England" everywhere, not sometimes "London" and sometimes "London, Middlesex"
- Check before merging: When combining trees, verify overlapping individuals carefully
- Regular audits: Run GEDminer analysis periodically, not just once