Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Struggling to find your ancestors on FamilySearch… even when you know the record exists?
You’re not imagining things. Sometimes the problem isn’t your research skills… it’s the indexing.
In this video, I walk you through exactly how I handle poorly indexed records inside FamilySearch—including how to:
- Reorganize households when names are out of order
- Correct transcription errors (yes, you can fix them!)
- Add missing details like ages, relationships, and events
- Create household clusters so families actually make sense
You’ll also see a real example from an 1885 census in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico—where pages are messy, relationships are unclear, and indexing is incomplete (aka… real genealogy life 😅).
This is one of the most underrated skills in genealogy: not just finding records, but fixing them so they work for you.
If you’ve ever thought, “Why can’t I find this person?!”—this video is for you.
👇 Tell me in the comments:
Have you ever fixed an index on FamilySearch… or do you avoid it?
----------------
CONTINUE LEARNING
One Woman, Multiple Places: Untangling a 19th-Century Identity Crisis youtu.be/C2wvuPIE5Ko
📺 7 Ways to Clean Up Your FamilySearch Family Tree youtu.be/PNSYBkjdyEg
📺 FamilySearch Is Missing Something Big (And It's Hurting the Family Tree) youtu.be/yYslzH0HpVQ
↪️ Grab your FREE genealogy research guides and templates at familyhistoryfanatics.com/resources
⚡ Want to grow your family tree faster? Join our membership program.
youtube.com/channel/UCmkKepHoafldMRZ4UNt0Akw/join
📗 Like to read? Check out these books
familyhistoryfanatics.com/books
💬 Let’s Connect:
Your feedback helps shape future videos—so don’t be shy. What’s confusing you right now in FamilySearch?
✔️ Subscribe for more genealogy tips: tinyurl.com/FHFanaticsYouTube
✔️ Website: familyhistoryfanatics.com
✔️ Share Video Ideas: familyhistoryfanatics.com/contact
This video is part of a series of genealogy research tutorials designed to help viewers build their family tree and expand their family history research. Subscribe to our channel if you love genealogy as much as we do!
#FamilyHistoryFanatics #genealogy #FamilySearch
Struggling to find your ancestors on FamilySearch… even when you know the record exists?
You’re not imagining things. Sometimes the problem isn’t your research skills… it’s the indexing.
In this video, I walk you through exactly how I handle poorly indexed records inside FamilySearch—including how to:
- Reorganize households when names are out of order
- Correct transcription errors (yes, you can fix them!)
- Add missing details like ages, relationships, and events
- Create household clusters so families actually make sense
You’ll also see a real example from an 1885 census in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico—where pages are messy, relationships are unclear, and indexing is incomplete (aka… real genealogy life 😅).
This is one of the most underrated skills in genealogy: not just finding records, but fixing them so they work for you.
If you’ve ever thought, “Why can’t I find this person?!”—this video is for you.
👇 Tell me in the comments:
Have you ever fixed an index on FamilySearch… or do you avoid it?
----------------
CONTINUE LEARNING
One Woman, Multiple Places: Untangling a 19th-Century Identity Crisis youtu.be/C2wvuPIE5Ko
📺 7 Ways to Clean Up Your FamilySearch Family Tree youtu.be/PNSYBkjdyEg
📺 FamilySearch Is Missing Something Big (And It's Hurting the Family Tree) youtu.be/yYslzH0HpVQ
↪️ Grab your FREE genealogy research guides and templates at familyhistoryfanatics.com/resources
⚡ Want to grow your family tree faster? Join our membership program.
youtube.com/channel/UCmkKepHoafldMRZ4UNt0Akw/join
📗 Like to read? Check out these books
familyhistoryfanatics.com/books
💬 Let’s Connect:
Your feedback helps shape future videos—so don’t be shy. What’s confusing you right now in FamilySearch?
✔️ Subscribe for more genealogy tips: tinyurl.com/FHFanaticsYouTube
✔️ Website: familyhistoryfanatics.com
✔️ Share Video Ideas: familyhistoryfanatics.com/contact
This video is part of a series of genealogy research tutorials designed to help viewers build their family tree and expand their family history research. Subscribe to our channel if you love genealogy as much as we do!
#FamilyHistoryFanatics #genealogy #FamilySearch
