How to Make a Genogram in Word

1. Set up the page and plan the generations

To make a genogram on Word, start with a blank document in desktop Microsoft Word. If you have several people on each row, choose Layout → Orientation → Landscape to give the branches more room. Type a title and the chart date above the drawing area. Leave space below for a key and any notes that would crowd the diagram.

Choose the focus person, then list the relatives you need to show. For a basic three-generation chart, put grandparents on the top row, parents and their siblings on the middle row, and children on the bottom row. Place the focus person on their own generation's row. Keep a partnership side by side where space allows, and leave a gap for the children to branch below it.

A genogram can record details that a family tree often leaves out, such as former partnerships, adoption or the quality of a relationship. Decide which details are relevant before you start drawing. If this is for an assignment, check the required symbols and number of generations. The genogram symbols guide can help you choose a consistent set of marks.

2. Draw the people and relationship lines in Word

These steps show how to draw a genogram in Word with its own shapes, so every symbol and line stays editable in the document. They follow desktop Word for Windows, where the drawing canvas is available.

Add one shape and label for each person

In desktop Word for Windows, choose Insert → Shapes → New Drawing Canvas if you plan to attach connectors. Click inside the drawing canvas and use Insert → Shapes to place the first person. Use the symbols specified for your chart. Squares and circles are common starting shapes. Give them a plain fill and a dark outline using Shape Format, then duplicate the shapes so each person has a symbol of the same size. Microsoft’s drawing canvas instructions

Type inside a shape if the label fits at a readable size. For longer labels, insert a text box under the symbol and turn off its fill and outline. Use a consistent order, such as name or initials on the first line and birth year on the second. Align each generation before adding connections. Leave extra space beside a person who appears in more than one partnership.

Connect partners, then add the children

Under Insert → Shapes → Lines, choose a straight or elbow connector without an arrowhead. Drag between connection points when Word shows them. A connector attached to a shape can follow it when the shape moves. If the drawing canvas command is missing in your version, you can use ordinary lines between shapes and check each endpoint again after rearranging the page. Microsoft’s instructions for lines and connectors

Draw the partnership line horizontally. For two parents with a shared child, draw a vertical branch down from the partnership line to the child's row. For siblings who share both parents, run one horizontal sibling bar across that row and drop a short line to each child's symbol. If a connector cannot snap to the middle of another line, place the segments so they meet cleanly and recheck the junction after moving them.

Add a key and keep the diagram together

Draw the family structure first, then add the marks your chart needs for events or relationship types. Show what each line style means in a small key. Keep that key close to the chart so the reader can interpret a dashed or crossed line without searching through the report. Put uncertain dates in a note or leave the year blank.

Outside a drawing canvas, select the objects and use Shape Format → Group → Group if you need to move the diagram as one unit. If Group is unavailable, check that you selected at least two items and that their text wrapping is set to something other than In Line with Text. Microsoft’s instructions for grouping objects

3. Check the lines with a three-generation example

Imagine that Rosa and Daniel are grandparents. Their daughter Maya is a parent to Alex and Jo with Sam. Draw Rosa and Daniel on the first row, Maya and Sam on the second, and Alex and Jo on the third. Drop a line from Rosa and Daniel's partnership to Maya. Connect Maya and Sam, then draw a single branch from that partnership to the sibling bar for Alex and Jo.

If Sam also has an older child, Robin, with a previous partner, make room for a second partnership on the middle row. Attach Robin to that branch and leave Alex and Jo on the original one. Trace each child's line upward to verify which parents the diagram implies. The half-siblings example shows what a shared parent looks like across two branches.

Open print preview before handing in or sharing the file. Check that every name can be read at normal page size, the key is on the same page, and the outermost relatives still fit inside the margins. If the labels look cramped, shorten them or move a note below the diagram. For a chart about a real family, remove any identifying details the recipient does not need.

4. Fix layout problems before saving the DOCX

• A line stops short after a move. Zoom in and drag the endpoint back to the symbol or junction. If you expected the line to follow the shape, verify that you used a connector inside the drawing canvas and attached it to a visible connection point. Move the shape a small distance and check that the line follows.
• A sibling bar crosses another branch. Move the sibling group sideways as a unit and reconnect its vertical branch. Keep the ends of its sibling bar over its own children. Extra space between the two groups can make the shared parent much easier to identify.
• The chart shifts when you add a paragraph. Give the diagram its own page in a longer report. Add a page break before it and keep the title, key and notes on that page if they fit. Save a DOCX working copy so you can reopen your shapes and connectors if a relative or date changes.