How to Archive a Web Page Before It Gets Taken Down

If a page might be edited or deleted, save it now. The best approach is two copies: one in a public archive, which shows what the page said and when, and one on your own computer, which nobody else can remove.

1. Save it to a public archive

• Wayback Machine: go to web.archive.org/save, paste the address and click Save Page. Wayback Quick Access does this in one click for the page you're on. See how Save Page Now works.
• archive.today (archive.ph): paste the address and save. It handles some sites the Wayback Machine can't, so for something important, use both.

Archives can't save pages behind a login, and some sites block them.

2. Save a copy on your computer

• PDF: press Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on Mac) and choose Save as PDF. Good for articles and receipts.
• Complete web page: press Ctrl + S and choose "Webpage, Complete" to keep the page with its images.
• Single file: the SingleFile extension saves a whole page, with images and styles, as one HTML file that opens anywhere.
• Full-page screenshot: open DevTools (F12), press Ctrl + Shift + P, type "screenshot" and choose Capture full size screenshot.

Local copies work for pages behind a login too, since they save what you see.

3. Record the details

Note the page's full address and the date and time you saved it. If the copy might be used as evidence in a dispute, save the archive link as well, since a third-party capture is harder to question than a file on your own computer. For legal matters, ask a lawyer how they want it captured.

Archiving a whole website

• Someone else's site: the Wayback Machine's Save Page Now can also save the pages a page links to (sign in and tick "Save outlinks"). For a full copy, tools like HTTrack or wget --mirror download a site for offline viewing. Check the site's terms, and go slowly so you don't overload it.
• Your own site: use your host's or CMS's backup and export tools, which save the content and database, not just the pages. Keep a copy off the server.
• Interactive pages: Webrecorder's ArchiveWeb.page extension records pages as you browse them, including content that loads as you scroll.

Finding it again later

Keep your archive links and local files in one folder or note. To find older captures someone else made, see cached vs archived pages.