It usually takes six to eight weeks for AncestryDNA® to process your DNA after your sample is received. However your AncestryDNA processing time can vary.

Remember that before AncestryDNA can process your DNA sample, you must first:

1. Create a free Ancestry® account if you don't already have one.

2. Sign in to your ancestry account.

3. Activate your DNA test. This will connect the DNA sample you send in to your Ancestry account. If a sample is mailed in but is not connected to an account, we don't know who the sample belongs to, and we cannot process the test.

What to Do While Waiting

If you have a current subscription to Ancestry, you can fill out—or expand upon—a family tree during the DNA processing time. If you don’t have an Ancestry membership, you can still build a family tree and explore the extensive collection of records on Ancestry with a free 14-day trial.

Ancestry has billions of historical records worldwide. And Ancestry members have created more than 100 million family trees, some of which are public and may contain information about your ancestors. So there's a lot you can potentially discover in searching for your family stories in Ancestry's records.

Checking the Status of Your AncestryDNA Test

You can check the status of your sample on your DNA homepage after activating your test by clicking the “DNA” tab from any page on Ancestry.

You can also sign up for text updates about the status of your test.