Photos and Stories

Find and enjoy photos of your ancestors.

FamilySearch has a great collection of photos and documents online. Some of them may be your ancestors! Here's how to get started viewing them:

1. Log in to your FamilySearch account. If you don't have one, or if you need help logging in, see The Family History Guide for help.
2. In the top menu, click Memories and select People.
3. For instructions on finding and browsing Photos in Memories, click here.
4. See how many pictures of your ancestors you can find! Remember to click "View My Relationship" below the photo to see how you are related to the person.
5. Another way to view and organize photos in FamilySearch is in the Gallery (Memories > Gallery). You can find help for using and customizing your Gallery in The Family History Guide.
6. Not finding photos? See "Gather and Share Your Memories" below.

Discover and read stories about your ancestors.

FamilySearch also has many stories of ancestors through the years. Reading your ancestors' stories can help you understand their lives and the experiences they had in life.

1. To see a list of stories for your ancestors, go to the All the Stories website. You'll be prompted to log in to FamilySearch, and then stories will appear in the left panel.
2. For instructions on using the features of All the Stories, click here.
3. Enjoy learning about your ancestors by reading the personal accounts of their lives. Which of your ancestors' stories do you relate to the most?
4. Not finding stories? See "Gather and Share Your Memories" below.

Gather and share your memories.

If you didn't find many photos or stories on FamilySearch—or even if you did— you can gather photos and stories of your ancestors and share them on FamilySearch. This can be a great experience for you and for the many people who will find and enjoy what you upload.

(If you prefer to use platform other than FamilySearch, you can create an account in one of the Partner sites and explore photos and stories from member trees. See the Projects for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast in The Family History Guide.)

1. Spend some time gathering ancestor photos and stories from your home and from relatives. There are some helpful instructions for doing this in The Family History Guide (see both Goal 1 and Goal 2).
2. Upload the photos and stories to FamilySearch. For instructions, see The Family History Guide sections for photos and for stories.
3. A great way to find original stories is to interview an older person about his or her life. You can use your phone to do this, with the FamilySearch Memories app. For instructions, click here. You can find additional interviewing tips here.

More to Enjoy ...

Record My Story