Wayback Machine
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine lets users view and archive web pages, aiding in historical research and digital preservation.
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Description
The Wayback Machine launched in 1996 and contains over 28 years of web history. According to the Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine “contains over 2 petabytes of data compressed, or 150+ billion web captures, including content from every top-level domain, 200+ million web sites, and over 40 languages.”
For example, here is how amazon.com looked in 1999 versus 2024:
The Wayback Machine can be accessed not only through the Internet Archive's website, but also through:
Several APIs are also available to access information about Wayback capture data. View the available APIs here.
Learn more about the Wayback Machine.
The Internet Archive
The Internet Archive includes numerous other projects. Some are designed for institutions and organizations with paid tiers, and others are free. View other projects by the Internet Archive.
Cost
Level of difficulty
Requirements
The Wayback Machine requires an internet connection and a way to connect. However, the Internet Archive is working to bridge this gap through the Offline Archive.
Limitations
The Wayback Machine is a powerful tool, but it has some limitations, including:
Incomplete Archives: Not all websites or web pages are archived, and some might have gaps in the timeline.
Dynamic Content: Interactive elements, dynamic content, and multimedia (such as videos and animations) may not be fully captured or functional.
Legal Restrictions: Some websites may block archiving or request the removal of their archived content, limiting access. Learn more about requests to remove content from the Wayback machine here.
Loading Issues: Archived pages can load slowly, and some resources (like images or scripts) might be missing.
Ethical Considerations
Using the Wayback Machine may involve several ethical considerations:
Accuracy and Context: Archived pages may lack the context in which they were originally presented, potentially leading to misinterpretation or misuse of information.
Consent: Some websites may not consent to their content being archived. It's important to consider whether the website owner has explicitly requested exclusion from the archive.
Copyright: The Internet Archive's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Copyright Policy states: "You agree to abide by all applicable laws and regulations, including intellectual property laws, in connection with your use of the Archive. In particular, you certify that your use of any part of the Archive's Collections will be limited to noninfringing or fair use under copyright law."
Guides and articles
Watch an introduction video on How to Use the Wayback Machine.
How to Save Pages With the Wayback Machine:
Go to the Wayback Machine website at https://web.archive.org/
On the homepage of the Wayback Machine, locate the "Save Page Now" section. It's usually found near the top of the page.
Enter the URL of the website you want to archive.
Click the "Save Page" button. This will prompt the Wayback Machine to take a snapshot of the specified webpage.
The Wayback Machine will process the request and capture the webpage. Depending on the page's complexity and size, this might take a few seconds to a minute.
Once the snapshot is complete, the Wayback Machine will provide a link to the archived version of the page. You can click on this link to view the archived page.
Copy the provided link for future reference. This URL is a permanent link to the archived version of the page and can be shared or cited as needed.
Learn more about How to save pages with the Wayback Machine.
How to Access Archived Pages Using the Wayback Machine:
Go to the Wayback Machine website at https://web.archive.org/.
Enter the website URL you want to view an archived version of.
After entering the URL, you will be taken to a calendar view. This calendar shows the dates on which the Wayback Machine has website snapshots. Select a year in the timeline above the calendar to narrow down your options.
Once you have selected a year, click on a specific date highlighted on the calendar. These highlighted dates indicate that snapshots of the site are available for that day. They may be different colors, but you will usually want to select the blue dots or links, as they indicate successful responses to the capture. The colors you may see and what they mean include:
Blue: The web server returned a successful response (status code 2nn).
Green: The web server redirected the request (status code 3nn).
Orange: There was a client error (status code 4nn).
Red: There was a server error (status code 5nn).
After selecting a date, you can narrow it further by time of day if multiple snapshots are available from the same day. Once you choose, the Wayback Machine will display the archived version of the website as it appeared on that day and time. You can navigate the website as if browsing it on that particular date.
Tool provider
The Internet Archive, United States
Advertising Trackers
Mia (Bellingcat Volunteer Team)
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