How to download your raw DNA file from AncestryDNA

Source: Ancestry, "Downloading DNA Data", https://help.ancestry.com/hc/en-us/articles/53933317283603-Downloading-DNA-Data (older address: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Downloading-DNA-Data).

The steps

1. 1Sign in to Ancestry, open your DNA Settings and select the test you'd like to download.
2. 2Scroll to the Download or Delete section and select Download DNA data.
3. 3Tick the box to confirm you understand, and click Continue.
4. 4Verify it is you, with your password or a code sent by e-mail.
5. 5Wait for the e-mail about downloading your DNA data. It can take up to 24 hours. The file is not attached.
6. 6Open the link in the e-mail and click Download DNA Data. The file saves to your computer.

What you get

A zipped file (Ancestry's page names it dna-data-(date).zip).

Good to know

• The link works once and expires after a week. If you asked more than once, only the newest e-mail works.
• Tested with Ancestry's newer sequencing? A separate, much larger VCF file exists, with its own help page ("Downloading Your NGS Variant Call Format File"); you need at least 350 MB free.
• Once on your computer, the file is no longer protected by Ancestry. Choose where you upload it carefully.

Then