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How to Hide a Match on Ancestry DNA

Do you want to learn how to hide a DNA match on Ancestry? In this post, I’ll show you the easy steps to hide a DNA match, as well as how to see matches that you have previously hidden.

There are lots of reasons why people would want to hide DNA matches from their Ancestry DNA list.

Some people hide their matches as they go through their DNA match list so that they know which matches they have already researched. Others hide matches to not be distracted by a particular match while they search through their list.

How to Hide a Match on Ancestry DNA

No matter your reason for wanting to hide a match, you’ll learn everything that you want to know about hiding matches below.

How to hide a match on Ancestry DNA

If you have decided that you would like to hide one of your Ancestry DNA matches, you should first visit their DNA match page to find the button to hide them from your list.

Once you are on the DNA match page, the one that displays information about your connection with your match, you will see a “Tools” button on the top left of the page.

The red arrow points to the "Hide match" option on your Ancestry DNA match tools
Simply click on Tools, then “Hide match” in order to hide any DNA match that you wish to hide

From a mobile phone, this option is located on the top right of the page, but it is a “tools” icon instead of the word “Tools”.

Your DNA match will not be notified that you have hidden them from your list.

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If you hide a DNA match will they still see you?

If you hide your DNA match, they will still be able to see you on their DNA match list. The action of hiding your match only removes their visibility on your list, and they will not know that you hid them.

Hiding a DNA match only filters them out into a separate group in your DNA match list. It does not delete your DNA match from your list or remove your genetic connection, and you will still be visible on their list.

Unless they hide you, too, of course.

Is hiding a DNA match the same as making DNA private on Ancestry?

No, hiding a DNA match does not change your privacy settings on the AncestryDNA site. Your DNA match list is already private and not visible to anyone else except you, unless you have given someone else access to it.

In other words, none of your DNA matches can see everyone that is on your DNA match list. They can only see you and the closer relatives that you share in common.

However, it is important to know that if you hide a match, it does not change the way that you show up on anyone else’s DNA match list. Even if you hide all of your DNA matches on Ancestry, they will all still be able to see your name on their DNA match lists.

I believe that the DNA match list is the most useful and interesting aspect of DNA results, but I understand that some people may not wish to show up as a DNA match for other users of the site. For those who are interested in learning how to make their DNA results completely private in order to not show up on anyone’s DNA match list on Ancestry:

How to see matches you have hidden on Ancestry

DNA matches that you have hidden in the past will be placed into your “Hidden Matches” group of matches on your Ancestry DNA match list.

There aren’t any surprise matches in that group – just ones that you hid. I’ve hidden matches accidentally before, which is why it seemed to me like some of my Ancestry DNA matches seemed to disappear.

In order to access the DNA matches that you have already hidden on Ancestry, you need to first go to your main Ancestry DNA match list.

Directly from your match list, click the “Groups” button, which will cause a drop-down menu to appear with the names of all of your DNA match groups. Some of these groups are made by default, though if you have made custom groups, you will see them here.

At the end of the drop-down menu, you’ll see “Hidden Matches”. In parenthesis next to the group, you will see the number of matches that are in this group.

The screenshot below shows you just where to click. You can see that I have one match in my Hidden Matches group:

The image shows how to access your DNA match Groups on Ancestry, which is how you will find your hidden DNA matches
Click on Groups, and then “Hidden Matches” to find matches that you have already hidden

If I click on the Hidden Matches group, I will then only see the DNA matches that are in that group. In other words, I will only see the DNA matches that I have hidden.

In my case, it’s just one person.

It’s a good idea to occasionally look to see how many matches are on your hidden list, since it is possible to accidentally assign them to this group. If you accidentally hide a match, you won’t be able to see them or details about your relationship.

How to unhide a match on Ancestry DNA

If you would like to unhide a match on Ancestry, you can do so. It is very easy to take matches off of your Hidden Matches group list.

Once you are looking at your Hidden Matches group (instructions above), just click on the DNA match that you would like to “unhide”.

Once you are looking at your DNA match’s page, you will see the “Tools” option at the top right of the screen (on desktop):

The red arrow points to "Show Match" which is where you should click to take matches off of your Hidden Matches list
The red arrow in this image shows just where to click to take your DNA match off your hidden matches list so they will show up on your main DNA match list

Just the tools button, and then “Show match”.

Now, your match should show up on your regular DNA match list again.

Conclusion

I hope that this post has helped you understand more about how to hide a DNA match on Ancestry, as well as how to access those matches you’ve already hidden.

If you have any questions about something that you read in this post, or if you would like to share your own tips about how to use the “Hide Match” tool, please feel free to join us in the discussion below.

Thanks for stopping by today!

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