What is Behold?

Behold is a genealogy program for Windows that allows you to view and use all your genealogy data at once. You organize it how you want. You include what you want.

Behold's reads any and all GEDCOM files that genealogy programs produce. It does a lot of error checking and will help you find problems.

Behold's Everything Report lets you see all your data about everyone and how their lives overlap. Its presents your information to best help you analyze the evidence you've researched'.


Download Behold. Try it free for 45 days:

Latest Version:
1.2.7, 02 Sep 2021

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Available for Windows. Compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7.
On a Mac, will run with a Windows emulator.
Runs in Unix with Wine. See FAQ
 

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Only $40 US
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People from 24 countriesAustria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Congo Republic, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and the United States
have already purchased Behold.

And all upgrades are free forever!

 

Behold Lets You Work With Your Data

Useable Output

Behold's Everything Report presents all your data to you as you want to see it. You can easily reorganize the families any way you want. All indexes are included in the report. People, places and sources are all linked together with a simple click needed for navigation.

Behold has a standard Windows interface that works the way you expect it to. The treeview makes navigation obvious and easy.

Here is what Behold looks like:

Behold's Everything Report can be exported to rich-text format and loaded into your word processor. It can be exported to html and put on your website. You can even print it to have a hard copy of all your research that you can take with you. It In each case, the output looks just like it does in Behold.


That's Not All

Behold's different emphasis repackages the traditional genealogy program into what it always should have been. It has many special features that are only possible in Behold because of its unique report-first design. These have been included to help you grasp the entirety of you data to help you with your genealogy work.

To me, entering and documenting your data is the important work that genealogists need to do. Too many genealogy programs are wasting your time getting you to design your sentence structures or format your citations, which is cumbersome and time-consuming and produces less-than-perfect results.

Behold presents your data without making you worry about formatting. You should spend your time recording and working with your sources and your conclusions, and not wasting time figuring how to format it.

Behold is being designed to help you simply and easily document your sources, develop your conclusions and record the reasoning you used.

Click here to find more about what Behold will do for you.


Join Me as I Change the Way Genealogists Work

I've found during my many years doing my family genealogy, that I needed a better program than those out there. Behold is being developed to be that program for me. And I hope you find it to be one for you as well ... One that can let you see and use all your data at a glance.

These web pages include much additional material about Behold, plus a discussion forum, a feedback form, and a responsive author (me!). I offer an always-updated Future Plans page that lists what I've completed and am working on for the next release, as well as future ideas for Behold. You can also keep up to date with my Behold Blog, where I share some interesting thoughts and comments on genealogy and programming and everything.

Want a free trial of Behold? Click here to go to the Download Page

If you like what I'm doing, and really want to encourage me, then consider purchasing a lifetime license for Behold. It is available now at $40 US.

Ready to buy Behold? Click here to go to the Buy Now Page

 

Want more info? Check the other pages of this site.
(Use the navigation tabs that are at the top and bottom of every page.)


User Feedback

"Behold is a paradigm shift in genealogy programs!" - Rich Crooks

"I have found the software brilliant." - Robert Whitehead

Behold really gives me... "Behold really gives me a bigger picture of my genealogy file. The difference is amazing compared to the tunnel vision created by conventional database programs."

- Deck Bargy
I'm using Behold now... "I'm using Behold now for about 9 months and still very happy about it! Thanks to the possibility to create an HTML file, I have been able to insert the file into my website. Everybody in the family is happy with the Everything Report as it gives you plenty of ways to navigate through the entries. You can try it on my website go to: www.acket.be. The service offered by Louis Kessler is outstanding, I appreciate the human touch!"

- Hendrik Acket
I also like Behold a lot... "I also like Behold a lot because it allows me to see in a glance, which people have no sources, which sources are not complete and/or should be edited and lots of other errors and glitches. You do have a refreshing way of looking at handling of genealogical data. When Behold will have editing and saving capabilites, I think it will grow even more into an invaluable tool for every genealogist who takes his "hobby" seriously. For me it already is and it keeps getting better. You really should take pride in what you have accomplished already!"

- Frédérique Bazelmans
I use Behold each day... "I use Behold each day, sometimes just for checking Gedcom files, others for great reports."

- Brett
The program itself is a ... "The program itself is a genealogist's dream come true. Louis has been able to extend GED file information into a more consistent and manageable manner than any other program on the market today."

- Stephen McCarthy
I am very impressed with... "I am very impressed with Behold. I have been working on a book version of the information I have gathered and find The Everything Report to be an answer to my prayers. I no longer have to keep going back & forth in my original program, clicking here, there, and everywhere to have the info at my fingertips."

- JoAnn
I use Behold for three ... "I use Behold for three purposes. First, to generate reports for family members who say "Send me everything you've got." Second, to see inconsistencies and clean up my GEDCOM. Finally, to reorder families and see how everyone fits or is related to the other - I love that and I think it is unique and is probably the reason I purchased a license."

- Dave Williams
Louis, you really have ... "Louis, you really have accomplished something very impressive. I was aware that Brother's Keeper wasn't displaying any of the reams of data I was painstakingly entering. Behold does all of that, and is extremely user friendly and intuitive to boot. Now I have a report that looks like a professional product."

- John R.
This is exactly what I have ... "This is exactly what I have been looking for! I have never found a way of printing it in this way in any other program (and I've tried most of them). I love it and am happy to be a license owner. I think I'll do a Snoopy happy dance."

- Linda B.
I have been looking for a ... "I have been looking for a report generation software that actually allows me to know what is going on in my tree. I downloaded your program at 10:30pm one night, loaded in my gedcom and was instantly amazed at how it organized families and other data. I used your program and was able to understand the family relationships clearer. It is quick and easy to see the families and individuals and that is key to understanding how families relate. Plus I love the simplicity of the one page HTML report - excellent. Most other programs generate multiple pages - fine, but not for printing off a web page.

It took me 20 minutes to evaluate and decide I needed this program, so I purchased it. Very nice, it is different from the competitors. It has a nice interface, good luck with it."

- Shawn Gearin
I have seen that Legacy ... "I have seen that Legacy puts a lot of tags into the Gedcom. Some have to do with sentence definitions of events. The sentences are defined to print out the narrative reports. That is of course a lot of effort and never quite gives back what you really want to write. So here is where Behold will make the difference."

- Dirk W.
Behold showed me a lot of ... "Behold showed me a lot of inconsistencies in the way I entered data and in the way each program had interpreted that data using GEDCOM. I found Behold remained true to it's claim and showed everything in the everything report. It was flexible enough not to choke on improper structures and such - but I knew they were there."

- Dave Williams
I think that the greatest use ... "I think that the greatest use I've found so far is finding duplicate source listings, and/or people, in my Master GED file. I've been gradually eliminating or combining them as I found them while searching through my PAF5 Program. But, PAF5 makes it difficult (time consuming) to do this, beginning with finding them. With Behold, finding duplicate source listings and notes is simple. I love this program!"

- Max H.
All I can say is WOW!... "All I can say is WOW! When I first loaded my GEDCOM, I thought, "Great, another GEDCOM viewer." But now that I've taken some time to fully explore what's there, I am beginning to fully appreciate the extent to which you've gone. This is far and above anything I've ever seen."

- Rich Crooks
I am sending our family ... "I am sending our family history to my cousin in Australia and both PAF and GENViewer make it so hard to follow. Behold's presentation is ideal. Thanks for the years you have put into this important breakthrough in family history recording."

- Chris B.


Published Opinions

Modern Software Experience 2
Modern Software Experience 1
Jacksbox4you Genealogy Blog
FindTheBest » Behold


Awards

Click To See User Reviews and Ratings
Hon. Mention Best New Program
- GeneAwards 2012
Hon. Mention Most Improved
- GeneAwards 2009

View all feedback


Also Available:

GEDCOM File Finder
Freeware

Get It Here

GEDCOM File Finder
Awards and Reviews


Best New Genealogy Utility
- GeneAwards 2014
GEDCOM File Finder Review
- Modern Software Experience


And a tool to analyze DNA:

Double Match Triangulator

Get It Here


Expertise

My name is Louis Kessler I contribute to the Genealogy and Family History Q&A site

I'm in the top 3% at Stack Overflow, THE Q&A site for programmers.


I'm a member of the Association of Software Professionals


I'm a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists


I also belong to the
International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)


I'm a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild.


I'm a member of the Virtual Genealogical Association.


And I'm a member of the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

 

For more information about me, see my Behold Blog.