Installation

Welcome to WinGeno — a free, privacy-first genogram editor for social workers, family therapists, and researchers.

Download the package for your platform from wingeno.app.

Note: No account, registration, or internet connection is required. All data stays on your device.

Browser Version

The browser version at try.wingeno.app runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to any server and no installation required.

Limitations:

Your First Genogram

When WinGeno starts, an empty canvas is shown. Follow these steps to create a basic three-generation genogram:

  1. Click Male or Female in the toolbar to place the first person on the canvas.
  2. Place a second person as the partner.
  3. Select both persons, then click Partner Connection and choose a relationship type (e.g. Married).
  4. Both persons should still be selected. If not, select them again. Now, click Add Child and choose Male Child or Female Child.
  5. Click any person to open their fields in the Properties panel — enter name, birth date, and other details.
  6. Save with File → Save (Ctrl+S).

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Persons, Parents & Connections

ButtonDescription
MaleInserts a male person — displayed as a square.
FemaleInserts a female person — displayed as a circle.

Index Person

Select a person and check Index person in the Properties panel to mark them as the subject of the genogram. Only one index person is allowed per genogram.

Deceased

Enter a Death date in the Properties panel to mark a person as deceased. A diagonal cross (X) is drawn through their symbol.

Parents

Select one person (the child) and click Add Parents in the toolbar (or right-click → Add Parents). WinGeno creates a parent pair above the person and draws the family connection automatically.

Partner Connections

Ctrl+click two persons to select them, then click Partner Connection in the toolbar and choose a type. You can also right-click one person and choose Connect — that person is pre-selected as the first partner, so you only need to click the second person to complete the connection.

RelationshipVisual
MarriedDouble horizontal line between partners.
DivorcedDouble horizontal line with two diagonal slashes.
Living TogetherSingle horizontal line.
ConsanguineousDouble line with consanguinity marker — for related partners.

To change an existing relationship or set the Separated flag, click the connection line and edit the Relationship field in the Properties panel.

Children & Unborn

Select two persons, then use Add Child or Add Unborn in the toolbar, or right-click a person and choose the relevant option from the context menu.

Children

ButtonDescription
Biological (Male / Female)Standard biological child of the selected couple.
AdoptedAdopted child — shown with a dashed line.
FosterFoster child — shown with a dotted line.

Unborn

ButtonDescription
PregnancyPregnancy — small triangle symbol.
MiscarriageSpontaneous pregnancy loss — small filled circle symbol.
Stillbirth (Male / Female)Stillborn child — small transparent gender-specific symbol with X.
AbortionIntentional termination — small triangle symbol with X.

Drawing Tools

ToolDescription
Text BoxAdds a free-floating text label anywhere on the canvas. Use the Properties panel to change text, font size, and alignment.
LineDraws a straight line. Configurable as solid or dashed, thin or thick, with or without an arrowhead at the end.
FreehandDraws a freehand path — useful for highlighting areas or adding informal annotations.

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Symbols

Click any symbol to show their properties in the Properties panel.

FieldDescription
NameFree text — displayed below the person symbol on the canvas.
BirthBirth date (full date or year only).
DeathDeath date. When set, the person is shown as deceased.
AgeCalculated from birth/death dates, or entered manually.
Index personMarks this person as the index person (one per genogram).

Relationships

Click a partner connection line or child connection to show its properties.

FieldDescription
RelationshipMarried, Divorced, Living Together, Consanguineous, Separated.
DateDate of the event (e.g. marriage or divorce date).
Child typeBiological, Adopted, Foster, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Stillbirth, Abortion.

Texts & Lines

FieldApplies toDescription
TextText BoxThe text content of the box.
Font SizeText BoxAdjustable font size.
AlignmentText BoxLeft / Center / Right.
Line TypeLineSolid or Dashed.
Line WeightLineThin or Thick.
WidthLineNumeric width in pixels.
Arrow at EndLineAdds an arrowhead at the end of the line.

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Open & Save

Genograms are stored as .geno files — WinGeno's native file format.

Tip: Enable Auto-save on exit in Options so WinGeno saves automatically when you close it.

Recent Files

The most recently opened files are listed under File → Recent Files. Moved or deleted files are removed from the list automatically.

WinGeno 1.x Import

WinGeno can open .geno files from previous WinGeno 1.x versions. Use File → Open and select your WinGeno 1.x file. After importing, save the genogram with File → Save As under a new name.

Note: Layout positions may differ marginally after import. All persons, connections, and dates are preserved.

Export

Use File → Export to export your genogram as a raster image.

Print (as PDF)

Use File → Print to open the PDF setup panel with a live preview. WinGeno saves the genogram as a PDF file and opens it in your PDF reader to print.

Genogram options

OptionDescription
Fit to pageScales the genogram to fill the page.
Center on pageCenters the genogram without scaling.
Black and whiteRenders in black and white.
Print footerAdds a footer with the file name and date.
Print legendAdds a legend box explaining the symbols used.

Paper & orientation

OptionDescription
Paper sizeA4, Letter, and others.
OrientationPortrait or Landscape.
Margins (mm)Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins in millimetres.

Click Save PDF to choose a file location and save the PDF.

Note: If the target PDF file is already open in another application, close it first and try again.

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Basic Editing

Selecting

Context Menu

Right-click any person or shape for quick actions:

Right-clicking the empty canvas shows a minimal menu with Paste only.

Zoom & Pan

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Language & Appearance

Open Help → Options → General and select a language. Takes effect immediately.

SettingOptionsNotes
ThemeFluent Normal, Fluent Compact, SimpleFluent Compact uses smaller controls. Requires restart.
Color schemeLight, Dark, SystemSystem follows the OS setting. No restart needed.

Custom Languages

WinGeno loads its UI text from plain .txt files. You can create your own translation or correct an existing one — no coding required. This works on all desktop platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux); it is not available on mobile.

Place a file named translation.xx-XX.txt in the translations folder next to the WinGeno executable (e.g. translation.pt-PT.txt for Portuguese). WinGeno picks it up automatically on the next start and adds it to the language list.

Use one of the four built-in files as your starting point — they are copied to the translations folder next to the executable on installation and contain all keys with their translated values. Each line follows the format KEY=Value; lines starting with ; are comments.

Tip: Partial translations are fine. Any key not found in your file falls back to the built-in English text automatically.
Note: The language tag (xx-XX) must be a valid BCP 47 culture code (e.g. pt-PT, nl-NL, pl-PL) — otherwise WinGeno will not recognise it.

Automation

SettingDescription
Auto-save on exitSaves the genogram automatically when WinGeno closes.
Auto-load last fileReopens the last used genogram when WinGeno starts.

Canvas

SettingDescription
Show gridDisplays a dot grid on the canvas.
Snap to gridSnaps shapes to the nearest grid point when moving.
Black & white shapesRenders all shapes in black and white on screen.
Toolbar positionTop, Bottom, Left, or Right.
Property panel positionLeft or Right.

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Use a Genogram in other Applications

Once your genogram is ready, here are three ways to use it beyond WinGeno:

  1. Copy & Paste into documents — no file needed
    Press Ctrl+A to select all, then Ctrl+C to copy. Switch to Word, PowerPoint, LibreOffice or any other application and press Ctrl+V — the genogram is pasted as an image instantly.
  2. Export as image file
    Use File → Export to save the genogram as a PNG or JPG. Then insert it into any document via its Insert Image command. Useful when you want to keep, archive, or reuse the image.
  3. Save as PDF
    Use File → Print to save the genogram as a PDF file. WinGeno opens it automatically in your PDF viewer — ready to print or attach to a case file.
💡 Try it: Open a blank Word document, switch back to WinGeno, press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C, switch to Word, press Ctrl+V. Your genogram appears instantly.

Genogram Symbols

A quick reference of symbols used in WinGeno genograms.

Persons

MaleMale
FemaleFemale
Male, deceasedMale, deceased
Female, deceasedFemale, deceased
Male, index personMale, index person
Female, index personFemale, index person

Relationships

MarriedMarried
DivorcedDivorced
Living TogetherLiving Together
Married, separatedMarried, separated
Living Together, separatedLiving Together, separated

Children & Pregnancy

Adopted childAdopted child
Foster childFoster child
PregnancyPregnancy
MiscarriageMiscarriage
AbortionAbortion
StillbirthStillbirth

Twins

Monozygotic twinsMonozygotic (identical)
Dizygotic twinsDizygotic (fraternal)

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Sample Genogram

This example walks through building a three-generation genogram step by step. The family is set up as follows:

Step 1 — Place Marge and Michael

Click Female in the toolbar and place Marge on the canvas. Click Male and place Michael. Select each symbol and enter their names and birth years (or ages) in the Properties panel.

Step 2 — Connect Marge and Michael

Ctrl+click both Marge and Michael to select them. Click Partner Connection → Divorced. Select the connection line and enter 1970–2000 in the Date field.

Step 3 — Add Tom as their son

Select the partner connection line between Marge and Michael. Click Add Child → Male Child (Biological). Select Tom's symbol and enter his name and birth year.

Step 4 — Place Sandra, John, and Angelina

Place a female symbol for Sandra, a male symbol for John, and a female symbol for Angelina. Enter their names and details in the Properties panel. Mark Angelina as deceased (enter her death year).

Step 5 — Connect the couples

Ctrl+click Sandra and John → Partner Connection → Married. Enter date 1965. Ctrl+click Angelina and John → Partner Connection → Married. Remove or leave the date blank (unknown).

Step 6 — Add Marc and Sabrina as children of Angelina and John

Select the Angelina–John connection line. Click Add Child → Male Child for Marc, then again for Female Child for Sabrina. Enter their names and birth years (or ages).

Step 7 — Connect Sabrina and Tom

Ctrl+click Sabrina and Tom → Partner Connection → Living Together. Enter date 1995.

Step 8 — Add Lisa and Laurie as monozygotic twins

Select the Sabrina–Tom connection line. Click Add Child → Female Child to add Lisa. Add Laurie the same way. Then Ctrl+click both Lisa and Laurie and click Partner Connection → Monozygotic Twins. Enter birth year 2000 for both.

Step 9 — Mark the index person

Click Tom's symbol and check Index person in the Properties panel. Tom is the subject of this genogram and will be highlighted with a distinct border.

Step 10 — Save

Use File → Save As to save your genogram as a .geno file. Use File → Print to save as PDF, or File → Export to save as PNG / JPG.

Problem Report

Please download the latest version of WinGeno from wingeno.app and confirm the issue persists before reporting.

When sending a problem report to support@wingeno.app, include the following information:

Note: Please write in English or German.