If you purchased a DNA kit for a family member, they can activate it themselves or give you permission to activate it on their behalf at myheritage.com/dna/activate.
Before you begin — a few important things to know:
⚠️ Make sure you enter the correct activation code. Each kit has its own unique code. If you enter the wrong code, the DNA of that person will be assigned to the wrong profile, which will lead to incorrect results and matches.
👤 We recommend that each adult (18+) taking the test has their own MyHeritage account. While you can manage multiple DNA kits on one account, kits cannot be transferred to another account once activated. If you ever delete your account, the DNA kits managed on it will be deleted too.
🧒 Minors cannot activate or manage their own DNA kit. A parent or legal guardian must activate and manage the kit on their behalf.
Option 1 — The family member activates their own kit
If the family member would like to activate their own kit, they can do so at myheritage.com/dna/activate. If they don't have a MyHeritage account yet, they will be prompted to sign up for free before completing the activation.
Option 2 — You activate the kit on their behalf
1. Go to myheritage.com/dna/activate and log in to your MyHeritage account. If you have multiple accounts, make sure you're logged into the one the kit was purchased from.
2. Enter the activation code found on the side of the vial or on the activation card in the kit. Note: "MH" is already pre-filled — you only need to enter the numbers and letters that follow it.
3. Click "Continue".
4. Under "Whose DNA will this kit be testing?", select "Someone else's".
5. Start typing the name of the family member as it appears in your family tree. Select them from the suggestions that appear.
If the person is not in your family tree yet, or if you don't have a family tree, simply enter their basic information manually.
6. You will be asked to enter the full date of birth (day, month, and year) of the person being tested, if we don't already have it on file. This is mandatory and cannot be skipped.
Please note: If you have view-only access to the tree that person belongs to, the kit will still activate successfully, but their date of birth will not be saved.
7. Follow the remaining on-screen instructions to complete the activation.
Activating multiple kits?
Each kit must be activated separately. Once you've finished activating one kit, return to myheritage.com/dna/activate to begin the next one. For more information, see: How can I manage several DNA kits?
Prefer to activate from your phone?
You can activate a DNA kit directly from the MyHeritage app by scanning the activation code with your device's camera. For full instructions, see: How can I activate my DNA kit from the MyHeritage app?
Having trouble activating?