How Do I Reactivate My Ancestry.com Account?

You may have started researching your family tree through Ancestry.com and then got sidetracked by other things or decided to not renew your membership. Now, you are ready to jump back in and do more research on the people in your family history that helped create the person you are today. How do you reactivate your Ancestry.com account? You can get information and assistance from Ancestry.com customer support here, and you can follow the steps below to reactivate your account.

Reactivating Your Ancestry.com Account

If you are renewing or restarting your Ancestry.com membership, follow these steps:

1. Open Ancestry.com in your computer's browser.
2. Log into your old account.
3. Navigate to "Account settings."
4. You may see the following in the "Membership" section:
   • Renews on: this will show when your membership will automatically renew if you have not canceled automatic payments.
   • Expires: this will show when your membership is set to expire, or when it expired if you did not automatically renew it.
   • Registered Guest: this is the account for those who do not have an active membership. From this section, you can modify your account from guest to registered member.
5. Scroll to "Modify Membership" section.
6. Click "Upgrade."
7. Key in your payment information.
8. Select "Start membership." This will renew/restart your Ancestry.com membership.

Forgotten Password

If you have forgotten your password and need to recover it to reactivate your Ancestry.com account, do the following:

1. Open Ancestry.com in your computer's browser.
2. Click "Sign In" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
3. Select "Forgot Password."
4. Enter the email address associated with your Ancestry.com account.
5. Click "Continue."
6. Check your inbox for a reset email from Ancestry.com and get the reset code.
   
7. Enter the reset code and click "Continue."
8. Enter your new password.
9. Confirm new password.
   
10. Click "Continue." You can now use your new password to log back into your Ancestry.com account.

Things to Consider

When reactivating your account, you have the option to set up automatic monthly, semi-annual or annual renewal. Your account will automatically renew on the schedule you determine unless you cancel automatic renewal.

You also have three types of membership to choose from:

1. U.S. Discovery Membership
2. World Explorer Membership
3. All Access Membership

Reactivating your Ancestry.com account is quick and easy following a few simple steps online. For more information or assistance, contact Ancestry.com member support here.