RootsMagic
 | This article needs more citations. (November 2026) |
| RootsMagic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original author | Bruce Buzbee |
| Developers | RootsMagic, Inc. (formerly: FormalSoft Inc) |
| Release | February 4, 2003 |
| Stable release | 12.1.2
/ October 26, 2026 |
| Operating system | Windows, Mac OS |
| Size | 110.17 MB (Windows) 161.45 MB (MacOS) |
| Type | Genealogy software |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www |
RootsMagic is a genealogy software program designed and written by RootsMagic, Inc, an American software design and development company founded by Bruce Buzbee in 1987.[better source needed] Bruce originally wrote the program Family Origins, with the initial release of RootsMagic occurring on February 4, 2003.[better source needed]
Features
RootsMagic genealogy program assists family historians in tracking, organizing, printing, and sharing family history.
- The software was originally developed as a Microsoft Windows-only application, but is now available in Mac OS.
- It is designed as a single-file database with the ability to open multiple databases at once.
- It can import or export data from/to websites Ancestry.com and/or FamilySearch.org, as well as database files from various application formats.
- It allows backups to hard drives, flash drives, Dropboxs and more.
- It has seven different views providing multiple methods of navigating records:
- Pedigree view with either five or six user selectable generations visible;
- Family view for viewing and editing an entire single family unit on one screen with parents shown as primary, including grandparents and children;
- Tree view allows graphical viewing of ancestors in various branch relationships (added in version 12);
- Descendants view with between two to seven user selectable generations branching below the primary person selected;
- People list view displaying a customizable table of selected facts for multiple people contained in the database;
- Couples list view similar to the People list but displaying a list of paired couples in database, with marriage date and place;
- Associates view displaying a list people with various types of associations set by the user
- "Drag and drop" feature allows copying individual records, families, and entire extended families from one database file to another.
- May be used to create user website files, and maintains its own free website (hosted at MyRootsMagic.com) for customers to publish their own genealogies.
- There are three downloadable versions of RootsMagic UK Version 12 sold in the United Kingdom; Basic (£29.95), Standard (£39.95) and Platinum (£49.95) with slightly higher pricing for USB delivery. An Upgrade version is also available (£19.95) for previously registered users. U.S. version 12 sold by RootsMagic, Inc costs $39.95 for new users and $29.95 for registered users of previous versions. The version known as RootsMagic Essentials is a free download offered as a no time limit, no subscription sample package for new users to try before making a purchase of the full software version.
Major release history
| Version | Released |
|---|---|
| v.1.0 | February 4, 2003 |
| v.2.0 | May 24, 2004 |
| v.3.0 | September 8, 2005 |
| v.4.0 | March 25, 2009 |
| v.5.0 | November 28, 2011 |
| v.6.0 | November 19, 2012 |
| v.7.0 | November 25, 2014 |
| v.8.0 | September 30, 2021 |
| v.9.0 | February 27, 2023 |
| v.10.0 | June 19, 2024 |
| v.11.0 | September 5, 2025 |
| v.12.0 | October 8, 2026 |
File format
RootsMagic 4 through 12 databases use SQLite 3 as its database engine. So, the .rmgc and .rmtree database files created are readable using third party SQLite management and development tools. Subsequently, the .rmgc file extension is used for RootsMagic versions 1 through 7 database files while the .rmtree file extension is used for versions 8 and above.
Platforms
RootsMagic was designed to operate on the Windows and Mac OS platforms, however some users successfully operate RootsMagic on Linux machines using Wine.
With the RootsMagic 10 release, the application operated on Windows 8, 10, and 11, as well as MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra) through 14 (Sonoma). Version 11 operates on Windows 10 or 11, as well as MacOS 12 (Monterey) through 26 (Tahoe). Version 12 operates on Windows 10 or 11, as well as MacOS 12 (Monterey), 13 (Ventura), 14 (Sonoma), 15 (Sequoia), 26 (Tahoe), or 27 (Golden Gate)
References
- 1 2 3 2009-11-20 RootsMagic Essentials, Modern Software Experience
- ↑ Family Origins Newsletter, This will probably be the last issue of the Family Origins newsletter (I hear a lot of you saying “I thought you stopped writing it a long time ago <g>). As many of you know, we (FormalSoft) have been working on a new genealogy program called RootsMagic which we released in February 2002. Many of you have been using Family Origins since we first licensed it to Parsons Technology over 12 years ago. You have gone through all the company changes with us (Parsons, Intuit, Broderbund, The Learning Co., Mattel, Genealogy.com). ...As of January 2003, Genealogy.com has discontinued our Family Origins program, ....
- ↑ "RootsMagic Update History".
- ↑ Bruce Buzbee, President, RootsMagic, Inc. (Privately Held; Computer Software industry), June 1987 — Present, LinkedIn
- ↑ Bruce Buzbee, For over 18 years Bruce has been writing genealogy software, having originally written the popular Family Origins program., Logan Utah Regional Family History Center
- ↑ Proctor, Maurine (Oct 11, 2010). "Bruce Buzbee: Making Family History Fun and Easy". Meridian Magazine. Archived from the original on Aug 30, 2012. Retrieved Oct 10, 2026.
- 1 2 RootsMagic 5, New Software Released 28 Nov 2011
- ↑ "RootsMagic UK Family History Software". RootsMagic, S&N Genealogy Supplies. Oct 2026. Retrieved Oct 10, 2026.
- 1 2 RootsMagic, RootsMagic 4, Modern Software Experience
- 1 2 3 4 RootsMagic News, RootsMagic News
- ↑ RootsMagic 6, New Software Released 19 Nov 2012
- ↑ RootsMagic 7, New Software Released 25 Nov 2014
- ↑ RootsMagic 8, It’s here! Presenting RootsMagic 8
- 1 2 RootsMagic Update History (version 8 & 9)
- ↑ RootsMagic 9, It’s here! RootsMagic 9
- ↑ RootsMagic 10, Introducing RootsMagic 10!
- 1 2 3 RootsMagic Update History
- ↑ SQLite Tools for RootsMagic
- ↑ RootsMagic, Wine AppDB entry
- ↑ Wineskin, Wineskin Tutorial
- ↑ , RootsMagic 10