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I want to migrate from Gramps (with media)

790 words·4 mins
Table of Contents

Use this when you’ve been maintaining a tree in Gramps and want to move it to Charted Roots. Gramps users have an advantage other migrations don’t: Charted Roots has dedicated Gramps XML import that preserves more than GEDCOM, and the .gpkg package format bundles your media files so they extract automatically into your vault.

By the end you’ll have a .gpkg file from Gramps, an imported tree in your vault with media in place, and Gramps-specific entities (notes, source citations, custom event types) carried through more faithfully than GEDCOM allows.

What you’ll need
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  • A working Gramps installation with your family tree open. Versions 5.x and 6.x both produce compatible exports.
  • (Recommended) A Staging folder configured under Settings → Charted Roots → Folders → System folders.

Steps
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1. Export as a Gramps Package (.gpkg)
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In Gramps:

  • Family Trees → Export (or in some versions: Tools → Family Tree Tools → Export).
  • The export wizard appears. Pick a destination folder.
  • For the format, choose Gramps package (.gpkg) — this bundles your XML data with media files in a single archive.
  • Apply privacy filters if you want to exclude living persons.
  • Click Forward through the remaining steps and Apply.

If you don’t need media, choose Gramps XML (.gramps) instead — it’s smaller and faster, just no media bundled.

Why not GEDCOM? Gramps can export GEDCOM too, but Gramps XML preserves more: custom event types, structured notes, multiple researcher levels, and Gramps-specific source classifications all carry through XML but are flattened or lost in GEDCOM. Use the native format unless you have a specific reason not to.

2. Open the Charted Roots Import Wizard
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Control Center → Tools → Import/Export → Import. Pick Gramps XML as the format (the wizard handles .gpkg, .gramps, and .xml from this option). Drag-and-drop the file.

3. Configure import options
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  • Entity types — leave defaults on (People, Events, Sources, Places).
  • Target folder — your Staging folder if you set one up.
  • Notes — enabled by default. Gramps notes attached to people / events / places get appended as ## Notes sections in the corresponding entity note.
  • Create separate note files — opt-in. When enabled, Gramps notes become standalone cr_type: note files with wikilinks from the entity. Recommended if you plan to round-trip back to Gramps later, since note identity is preserved.

Media files in the .gpkg are extracted automatically into your configured media folder.

4. Run the import
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The wizard shows progress as it parses the XML, creates entity notes, and extracts media. Larger trees (10K+ people) take a few minutes.

The Data Quality Preview surfaces issues — but Gramps XML produces fewer than GEDCOM since the data model maps closely. Place-name variants are still worth normalizing if you have inconsistent regional formatting.

See I want to import a GEDCOM file and clean up the result for the universal import + post-import cleanup workflow.

5. Verify
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Open a few entity notes to confirm:

  • ✅ Person notes — relationships, dates, places, attached media
  • ✅ Event notes — Gramps events map to Charted Roots event types (births, deaths, marriages, plus the broader life-event types)
  • ✅ Place notes — full hierarchy (city → county → state → country) preserved when “Create place notes” was enabled
  • ✅ Media — files extracted into your media folder, linked via media: arrays on entities
  • ✅ Notes — appended as ## Notes sections (or as separate note files if you opted in)

The first media item on each entity serves as the thumbnail (matching Gramps’ convention).

Variations
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  • Without media (smaller export). Choose Gramps XML (.gramps) instead of .gpkg. Faster export, smaller file. Re-attach media manually if needed.
  • GEDCOM from Gramps. Possible but discouraged — see step 1’s “Why not GEDCOM?” note. Use only if a downstream tool requires it.
  • External media folder. If your Gramps media is large (gigabytes), consider creating an Obsidian symlink that points at the Gramps media folder rather than duplicating files. Skip the .gpkg and use .gramps (XML-only); manually create the symlink afterward.
  • Round-trip support. Gramps XML round-trip works for the core data model. gramps_id and gramps_handle are preserved on imported entities, so re-exporting later (Control Center → Export → Gramps XML) preserves identity.
  • Repositories. Gramps repository records create properties on source notes but not separate repository notes. The repository name and address land on the source’s frontmatter.

Related guides#

Reference
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