FAQ & Troubleshooting

Is my DNA data uploaded anywhere?

No. Everything DGBrowser captures — your matches, shared matches, segments, and trees — is written to a database file on your own computer, and syncing to GDAT copies it to another file on your computer. None of it is sent to DNAGedcom or any other service.

Besides loading the web pages you visit, DGBrowser itself contacts DNAGedcom only to check for app updates, to sign you in if you choose to use a DNAGedcom account, and to send error diagnostics about the app (which you can turn off).

What diagnostics does DGBrowser send?

When something goes wrong in the app — an error, a warning, or a crash — DGBrowser sends a short technical report to DNAGedcom so the problem can be found and fixed. A report contains the error details, the DGBrowser version, your operating system, which testing site was involved, and your DNAGedcom username if you are signed in. When a site's page data can't be read, the report includes the address of that data without its query string. Reports do not contain your matches, segments, trees, or any other captured DNA data, and never your passwords.

To turn diagnostics off, open Settings… and untick Send diagnostics. A detailed log is also kept on your own computer, in a Logs folder inside DGBrowser's settings folder; it is not sent anywhere.

Do I need a DNAGedcom account to use DGBrowser?

No. The sign-in window that appears at startup is optional — click Continue without signing in, and tick Don't ask me again at startup if you'd rather not see it. Capture, the URL list, and Sync to GDAT all work without an account. See Sign in to DNAGedcom.

Yes — they use the same database format. In Settings…, click Use the DNAGedcom Client's database and DGBrowser writes to the same file the Client uses, so what you capture shows up in the Client's matches, kits, and reports.

Don't capture and gather at the same moment. Avoid browsing match pages in DGBrowser while the Client is running a gather on the same database — the two apps would be writing to one file at once. Using them one after the other is fine.

Your sign-ins to the testing sites are not shared: DGBrowser and the Client each keep their own, so you sign in to each site once in each app.

Do I have to sign in to my testing sites every time?

No. DGBrowser remembers your testing-site sign-ins between sessions, like a normal browser. A site may still ask you to sign in again when its own session expires.

Where is my captured data stored?

In a dnagedcom.db SQLite file, by default in a DNAGedcom folder in your user profile:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/DNAGedcom/
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\DNAGedcom\
Linux: ~/.local/share/DNAGedcom/

The status bar at the bottom of the window shows the exact path. You can change the folder and file name under Settings….

I browsed my matches but nothing seemed to happen

That's usually normal — capture is deliberately silent. To check it's working, click Sync to GDAT…: the kit list shows everything captured so far. If a site's kits don't appear:

Check the site is enabled under Settings… → Vendors.
Check “Write captured data to the DNAGedcom database” is ticked in Settings.
Make sure you actually opened the match list or match pages — DGBrowser captures the data those pages load, so a site's home page alone captures nothing.
Scroll or page through the list; most sites load matches only as they come into view.

Windows warns about an unknown publisher when installing

Expected — the Windows installer isn't yet signed with a commercial certificate. In the blue SmartScreen dialog, click More info, then Run anyway. See Install & Update.

DGBrowser says it can't start the browser engine

The embedded browser failed to initialize — most often after an incomplete install or an overzealous antivirus quarantine. Reinstall DGBrowser from the downloads; if the message mentions a missing license, the installation is incomplete and a reinstall fixes that too.

A testing site says my browser is unsupported

DGBrowser identifies itself as Google Chrome precisely to avoid this, and the sites are tested with each release. If one starts rejecting it, check for an app update (the green Update to… toolbar button, or re-download) — site changes are handled in updates.

A sign-in window disappeared / opened somewhere unexpected

Pop-up windows open as new tabs in DGBrowser. Look along the tab strip above the page — the sign-in form is there. When you finish, close that tab and return to the site's tab.

Can I run DGBrowser and GDAT at the same time?

Yes — browse and capture in DGBrowser while GDAT is open. The one thing to avoid is syncing into a GDAT database file that GDAT currently has open: close it in GDAT first, sync, then reopen.

How do I remove everything DGBrowser has stored?

Uninstall the app, then delete the DNAGedcom data folder listed above (and your GDAT file, if you synced into one). DGBrowser keeps its own settings, its log files, and your remembered testing-site sign-ins in a DGBrowser folder next to your other application settings; delete it too to remove those sign-ins from this computer. If you pointed DGBrowser at the DNAGedcom Client's database, that file belongs to the Client — don't delete it unless you mean to remove the Client's data as well.