BJ, Thank you very much for your advice. I wanted to split the tree so I could share selected branches with very distant relatives who would only have an interest in the branches which were common to both of us. Your method seems to have done this. And thanks to all of the other listers who were kind enough to take the time to provide me with their thoughts. In a message dated 11/21/2011 12:39:22 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, bhamilton3@cox.net writes: I see where you have received some advice on splitting trees so I won't go into those. Here is the one sure way I've found to split the trees and get everyone into their proper "island" or "branch". It is a bit messy but it will do the job. I haven't done this recently and I no longer have FTM 2010 loaded so please forgive me for any small differences in the process. Always work with a copy of your data base. That way you can recover to the original by simply deleting the copy and returning to your original data base. The easiest way to do this is to create a backup of your file. You can then File, Restore the backup to a separate data base. 1. Using your copy of the data base, go to your father's record in the People, Family work area. 2. Click the Person option in the Menu Bar; from the drop down list, select Attach/Detach, select Detach Selected Person 3. Select the Existing family for your father and mother. This will keep your father with his parents but he will no longer be attached to your mother or their children. 4. With your father as the Focal person, Click Publish, Charts, Extended Family Chart (EFC). 5. Generate the EFC for All Individuals. 6. Once the EFC is generated, you should see two separate branches or islands. Alternating branches will be distinguished by a shaded background. Your father's branch should be the one at the top. 7. Click on your father's box and click the right mouse button. 8. Select the option - Select Person and All Relations. This will select everyone in your father's branch. 9. Place the cursor over your father's box and click the right mouse button. Toward the bottom of the list, select Export and then select Export Selected Persons. 10. Follow the instructions and you will now have a file of your father's branch. 11. Go to Plan and Delete this copy of the tree. Restore the backup file again and repeat steps 1-11 for your mother. Restore the backup file again and repeat steps 1-11 for your spouse's father. Restore the backup file again and repeat steps 1-11 for your spouse's mother. I find this the easiest way to create separate files for each grandparent. While this may sound tedious and complicated, it really isn't and it is the only way that I know to get complete islands. Good luck. BJ On 11/20/2011 4:30 PM, PINEYRICK@aol.com wrote: > I would like to split my family tree into four branches. Each branch would > start with a grandparent. When I try to do this using : export / > selected individuals / and either ancestors or descendents, it does not seem to > "collect" every individual within that tree. Short of doing this > "individually," there are 6500 in the tree, has anyone had an successful experience > doing this an alternate way? > > I use FTM 2010. > ********************************** List information page http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Software/FTM-TECH.html Online Support for Family Tree Maker Version 16 and earlier http://pastftm.custhelp.com/ Version 2008 - 2011 http://ftm.custhelp.com/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FTM-TECH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message