How to Download Your AncestryDNA Raw Data

If you tested with AncestryDNA, a complete copy of your genetic data is sitting in your account right now, and most people never download it. Your AncestryDNA raw data file contains roughly 600,000 to 700,000 genetic markers, far more information than the ethnicity estimate and match list you see on their site. Downloading it takes about ten minutes, costs nothing, and lets you analyze your DNA with third-party tools for health, trait, and pharmacogenomics insights AncestryDNA does not offer.

Here is exactly how to get your file, what is inside it, and what to do with it next.

Why Download Your Raw Data at All?

Two reasons: ownership and possibility.

Ownership. The 23andMe saga showed millions of people why keeping a local copy matters. After the company declared bankruptcy in March 2025, the genetic data of more than 15 million customers was sold to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit created by 23andMe's former CEO [1]. Legal scholars pointed out that customers had almost no say in where their genetic data ended up, because direct-to-consumer genetic data is not covered by federal health privacy law the way your doctor's records are [2]. AncestryDNA is a stable company, but the lesson generalizes: the only copy of your DNA data that no corporate event can touch is the one saved on your own computer.

Possibility. AncestryDNA built its product around family history. The raw file behind it can do much more: health risk variants, medication response genes, carrier status, and hundreds of traits. Third-party analysis tools read the same markers and produce reports AncestryDNA never offered. None of that is possible until you download the file.

How to Download Your AncestryDNA Raw Data (Step by Step)

This reflects the current process as of July 2026. Ancestry updates its interface from time to time, but the flow has been stable for years.

Step 1: Sign in

Go to ancestry.com and log in to the account that manages your DNA test.

Step 2: Open your DNA settings

Click DNA in the top menu and choose Your DNA Results Summary. Then click the Settings gear near the top right of the page.

Step 3: Find the download section

Scroll to the bottom of the Settings page to the section labeled Download or delete. Click Download DNA data.

Step 4: Confirm and verify

Check the box confirming you understand that Ancestry cannot protect your data once it leaves their platform, then click Continue. Verify your identity either by entering your account password or by having a code emailed to you.

Step 5: Watch your email

Ancestry emails a download link to the address on your account. It usually arrives within minutes but can take up to 24 hours. Two things to know about that link: it works only once, and it expires after 7 days. If you request the download twice, only the newest email's link is valid.

Step 6: Download the file

Open the email, click Download DNA Data, then click the download button on the Ancestry page that opens. Your browser saves a .zip file. Inside is a single text file named AncestryDNA.txt.

Step 7: Rename it immediately

Every AncestryDNA download uses the exact same filename. If you manage tests for a spouse, parent, or child, rename each file right after downloading (for example, mom-ancestrydna.txt) so you never mix up whose data is whose. Then repeat the process for each profile: go back to your DNA Results Summary, use View Another Test, and follow the same steps.

What Is Inside the File?

Open AncestryDNA.txt in any text editor and you will see a header block followed by hundreds of thousands of rows that look like this:

rsid    chromosome    position    allele1    allele2
rs12564807    1    734462    A    A
rs3131972    1    752721    A    G
rs148828841    1    760998    C    C

Each row is one genetic marker:

• rsid: the reference SNP identifier used by every research database
• chromosome: which chromosome it sits on (1-22, X, Y, or MT for mitochondrial DNA)
• position: the exact coordinate on that chromosome
• allele1 / allele2: your two copies of the variant, one from each parent

Note that AncestryDNA splits your genotype into two columns, while 23andMe uses a single genotype column. Both are standard formats, and any decent analysis tool (including GenomeInsight) auto-detects which one you have. An occasional row may show 0 for an allele, meaning that marker could not be read reliably. That is normal and affects only a small fraction of markers.

One honest caveat: Ancestry states the export is intended for personal, genealogical use and has not been produced under clinical laboratory procedures. That is true of every consumer genotyping service, and it is why raw data analysis is educational rather than diagnostic.

What Can You Do With Your Raw Data?

Health risk analysis

Your file contains variants in genes like APOE (Alzheimer's risk), BRCA1 and BRCA2 (breast and ovarian cancer risk), HFE (iron overload), and dozens more. Consumer genotyping covers only a fraction of the known risk variants for any condition, but even partial data can flag things worth discussing with a doctor. See how this works in practice with our guides to APOE4 and Alzheimer's risk and checking BRCA from raw DNA data.

Pharmacogenomics (how you respond to medications)

This is the most immediately useful category. Variants in CYP2D6, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, SLCO1B1, and VKORC1 influence how your body processes antidepressants, blood thinners, statins, and pain medications. Research networks have shown that actionable pharmacogenetic variants are extremely common: one study of 82 pharmacogenes found that the vast majority of people carry at least one variant that could affect prescribing [3], and several US medical centers now run preemptive pharmacogenetic testing programs for exactly this reason [4]. Your AncestryDNA file already contains many of these markers. Start with our pharmacogenomics guide or learn how to check drug interactions with your DNA.

Carrier status

If children are in your present or future, carrier screening matters. Your raw data can reveal whether you carry one copy of variants for conditions like cystic fibrosis (CFTR) or sickle cell disease (HBB). Carriers are typically healthy themselves, but two carriers for the same condition have a 25% chance of an affected child per pregnancy. Read more in our cystic fibrosis carrier screening guide.

Traits

Hundreds of everyday traits have known genetic associations: caffeine metabolism (CYP1A2), lactose tolerance (MCM6), eye color (HERC2/OCA2), muscle fiber type (ACTN3), and many more. Individually they are curiosities; together they make your raw file genuinely fun to explore.

Genealogy beyond Ancestry

Services like GEDmatch accept AncestryDNA files for cross-platform cousin matching, chromosome browsers, and admixture tools. If family history is your main interest, uploading to one or two additional databases expands your match pool considerably.

Privacy: Read This Before Uploading Anywhere

Your raw genetic data is permanent, uniquely identifying, and reveals information about your blood relatives whether they consented or not. Researchers have shown that genomic data shared across services can be cross-referenced to re-identify individuals [5], and even supposedly anonymized datasets have been re-identified through trail matching [6]. A few ground rules:

• Prefer tools that process your file locally. GenomeInsight runs the entire analysis in your browser with JavaScript. Your file never touches a server, so there is nothing to breach, sell, or subpoena. Most other services upload your file to their cloud; read their privacy policy before agreeing.
• Know the legal limits. In the US, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) bars health insurers and employers from using your genetic information against you, but it does not cover life, disability, or long-term-care insurance, and it does not regulate what consumer companies do with data you hand them [7].
• Store the file like a medical record. Keep it on an encrypted drive or in a password-protected folder, not in a shared cloud folder or email attachment.
• Think about relatives. Your file implies things about your parents, siblings, and children. Upload thoughtfully.

For a side-by-side look at how the major tools handle your data, see our DNA health report privacy comparison.

Troubleshooting

The email never arrived. Check spam and promotions folders first; the message comes from Ancestry, not AncestryDNA branding. Still nothing after 24 hours? Request the download again from Settings. Remember that only the most recent email's link works.

The link says it expired. Links are single-use and expire after 7 days. Start over at Step 2; the whole process takes only a few minutes.

I downloaded files for two relatives and cannot tell them apart. Every AncestryDNA file is named identically, so this happens to everyone. Open each in a text editor and compare a few rows against each person's known results, or simply re-download one at a time and rename immediately.

The file will not open. It is a plain text file inside a zip archive. On Windows, right-click the zip and choose Extract All; on Mac, double-click it. Open the extracted .txt with Notepad, TextEdit, or any editor. Do not open it in Excel for analysis purposes; it is hundreds of thousands of rows.

Next Steps: Analyze Your File Free

Once you have AncestryDNA.txt saved somewhere safe:

1. Go to genomeinsight.org/upload
2. Drag and drop your file onto the page (gzipped files work too)
3. Wait about 60 seconds while the analysis runs entirely in your browser
4. Browse your free results immediately: traits, ancestry composition, and a basic health overview
5. Optionally unlock the full report (52 health conditions, 14 pharmacogenomic genes covering 50+ medications, carrier screening, 481 traits) for a one-time $49

No account is required, and because the processing happens on your device, your genetic data never leaves your computer. You can verify that yourself by watching the Network tab in your browser's developer tools while the analysis runs.

Tested with 23andMe instead? The process is similar but the menus differ; use our 23andMe raw data download guide.

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Related Reading

• What to Do With Your 23andMe Raw Data - Seven free options that work with AncestryDNA files too
• Best 23andMe Raw Data Analysis Tools - How the major analysis services compare
• DNA Health Report Privacy Comparison - Which tools upload your data and which do not
• GenomeInsight vs Promethease - Cost, privacy, and features compared

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References

1. Ram N, Prince AER, Roberts JL, Fox K, Spector-Bagdady K. The precarious future of consumer genetic privacy. Science. 2025;389(6765):1092-1094. doi:10.1126/science.adz7229
2. Harvard Gazette. What happens to your genetic data if 23andMe collapses? Q&A with I. Glenn Cohen. March 20, 2025. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/03/what-happens-to-your-genetic-data-if-23andme-collapses/
3. Bush WS, Crosslin DR, Owusu-Obeng A, et al. Genetic variation among 82 pharmacogenes: The PGRNseq data from the eMERGE network. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2016;99(5):558-569. doi:10.1002/cpt.350
4. Dunnenberger HM, Crews KR, Hoffman JM, et al. Preemptive clinical pharmacogenetics implementation: Current programs in five US medical centers. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology. 2015;55:89-106. doi:10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010814-124835
5. Erlich Y, Narayanan A. Routes for breaching and protecting genetic privacy. Nature Reviews Genetics. 2014;15(6):409-421. doi:10.1038/nrg3723
6. Malin B, Sweeney L. How (not) to protect genomic data privacy in a distributed network: Using trail re-identification to evaluate and design anonymity protection systems. Journal of Biomedical Informatics. 2004;37(3):179-192. doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2004.04.005
7. National Human Genome Research Institute. Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Genetic-Discrimination