Month: September 2025

We’re thrilled to introduce RootsMagic 11, the latest version of our award-winning genealogy software. This release is more than just new buttons and menus—it’s about making your family history research easier, clearer, and more enjoyable. Every change we’ve made in RootsMagic 11 was inspired by user feedback, so you can spend less time wrestling with software and more time uncovering your story.

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A Clearer, More Comfortable Workspace

When you sit down to work on your family tree, you want information at your fingertips without having to guess what a button does. That’s why we’ve simplified the interface in RootsMagic 11. Views like Pedigree and Family are now labeled directly on the page, while cryptic icons have been replaced with menus that spell out your choices.

On the People page, a new side panel header shows the basics about a person immediately—names, vital events, relationships, even icons for notes, sources, media, and DNA. Switching between spouses or parent sets is just a click away, so you’ll always know where you are in the tree.

A Life Story at a Glance

Sometimes you don’t want to dig through multiple screens just to understand someone’s life. The new Life Summary panel gives you a complete snapshot—life events, spouses and children, parents and siblings—all in one place. You can expand or collapse sections, quickly add relatives, or rearrange children and spouses with simple drag-and-drop.

Think of it as your research dashboard: one page where you can see a person’s story unfold and take action without losing your place.

Better Editing

RootsMagic 11 makes editing smoother and more intuitive. If you’ve ever struggled to track down which event a citation belongs to, the new Sources view puts every citation for a person on one screen—no more hunting around. Notes and tasks work the same way: a single view shows them all, with quick indicators so you know exactly where information already exists.

This means less time clicking through windows and more time actually working with your data.

Better Searching

Searching is often where breakthroughs happen, and RootsMagic 11 gives you more powerful tools to zero in on the right people and facts. The Advanced Search has been redesigned so you can combine rules with AND, OR, or BUT NOT, search by multiple event fields, and even look for people without sources or those who aren’t linked into the tree.

When you find someone, the results now include a Life Summary so you don’t have to leave the search page to see the bigger picture. And because results can now be customized, printed or exported, you can take them with you into research sessions or share them with others.

Bringing AI Into Your Research

RootsMagic 11 introduces the AI Prompt Builder, a first in genealogy software. It helps you create clear, reusable prompts to use with the AI of your choice. Want to draft a life sketch, write an obituary, or get historical context for a person’s life? The AI Prompt Builder can structure the request for you, pulling in the details you want from your database while giving you options like “no fake info” or preferred output format.

This isn’t AI doing the research for you—it’s a way to make AI work smarter for you, helping you write, summarize, and explore ideas more efficiently.

Reports, Proofs, and Beyond

We’ve also added practical improvements you’ve been asking for: print relationship charts for any calculated relationship, mark facts as “proposed” to capture theories without cluttering your proven research, and use new proof icons to track your confidence in each fact. The Explorer now incorporates the Life Summary panel, making navigation smoother than ever.

And under the hood, RootsMagic 11 brings full support for the latest Mac hardware, faster performance, and dozens of small enhancements that make daily use more pleasant.

Ready to Grow With You

RootsMagic 11 was built to help you do what you love most—discovering and telling your family story. Whether you’re analyzing sources, tidying up your notes, exploring DNA connections, or writing narratives with AI, this release gives you tools that fit naturally into the way you work.