How to view the archived version of any web page

An archived version of a web page is a copy that an archive service saved at a specific moment. It shows what the page looked like when it was captured, even if the original has since changed, moved or been taken down.

Archived copies are useful when a link returns an error, when a page has been edited and you want the earlier wording, or when the original site is slow or unavailable. This guide covers the quickest way to open one and how to make sense of what you find.

What an archived copy can and can’t show

An archive service visits a page the way an anonymous visitor would, then stores what it receives: the text, most images and the layout. A few limits are worth knowing:

It’s a snapshot. The copy reflects the page on the day it was captured. Later corrections or updates only appear if the page was captured again.
Interactive parts may not work. Search boxes, embedded videos, comment sections and anything that loads as you scroll are often missing or broken.
Logged-in content isn’t included. Archives can’t see anything behind an account, so they only hold what the page showed to everyone.
Some sites opt out. Site owners can block archive crawlers or ask for copies to be removed, so not every page has one.

The quickest way: paste the link into byepaywall

If you already have the page’s address, paste it into the byepaywall tool and choose an archive service. byepaywall tidies the link first, removing tracking parameters that can stop an archive from matching the page, then opens the service in a new tab.

Archive.today opens its most recent snapshot of the page.
Wayback Machine opens a calendar of every copy it holds, so you can pick a date.

The link stays in your browser until you choose a service. Our privacy page explains exactly what is and isn’t stored.

Why one page for every service helps

Each archive and reader service has its own site, its own search box and its own address format. byepaywall puts them side by side, so you paste a link once and try them one after another:

One field, several services. Archive.today, the Wayback Machine, smry.ai and Ghostarchive sit next to each other, each with a short note on what it’s good for.
It keeps track as you go. Every service you’ve opened for the current link is marked, so when you work through a few, you can see which ones you’ve already tried.
It remembers your usual choice. The service you used last is highlighted, and pressing Enter opens it. That preference is saved on your device only.
It works from the address bar. Type byepaywall.com/ in front of any page’s address and byepaywall opens with the link already filled in.
It’s on your phone too. Add it to your Home Screen on iPhone, or install it on Android and share links to it from other apps. Using it on your phone shows how.

Using the Wayback Machine directly

The Wayback Machine is run by the Internet Archive, a non-profit library that has been collecting web pages since 1996.

Go to web.archive.org.
Paste the page’s full address into the search field and press Enter.
A calendar appears. Dates with a coloured circle have at least one capture, and larger circles mean more captures that day.
Pick a date, then choose a time from the list that appears.

The circle colours describe what the archive received when it visited:

Blue: the page loaded normally. Start here.
Green: the address redirected somewhere else.
Orange: the page returned an error, such as “not found”.
Red: the site’s server had a problem.

Blue doesn’t guarantee a complete copy. Some sites show automated visitors a sign-in prompt or a “checking your browser” screen, and the archive saves that instead of the page. If a copy looks wrong, go back and pick another date.

To skip the search step, type web.archive.org/web/*/ in front of the page’s address. That opens its calendar directly.

Using archive.today directly

archive.today, also reachable at archive.ph and archive.is, is an independent service that stores single-page snapshots, each with a screenshot.

Go to archive.ph.
In the box labelled “I want to search the archive for saved snapshots”, paste the page’s address and press search.
Open the snapshot from the date you need.

To go straight to the newest snapshot, type archive.ph/newest/ in front of the address. archive.today sometimes shows a short security check before opening a page. That’s normal.

The other box on its homepage, “My url is alive and I want to archive its content”, creates a new snapshot. That’s covered in how to save a copy of a page.

If the copy you open doesn’t look right

Try an earlier or later date. The newest capture isn’t always the best one.
Try the other service. The two archives capture pages independently, so one may have a good copy when the other doesn’t. Wayback Machine vs archive.today explains where each tends to do better.
Drop the extras from the address. Everything after a ? is often tracking data. byepaywall removes the common ones for you. If you’re typing the address yourself, try it without them.
Give it a moment. Archived pages can load slowly, especially long ones.

When there’s no copy at all

If neither service has the page, it may never have been captured, or the site may block archiving. How to check if a page has been archived shows how to confirm that and what to do next, including saving a copy yourself while the page is still online.

It also helps to know why pages vanish in the first place. Why links break over time covers the usual reasons and how archives fill the gap.

Which service to try first

For a recent article, archive.today is often the quickest. For older pages, or to compare versions over time, the Wayback Machine’s calendar is the better tool. The byepaywall FAQ has a short version of this advice.

A note on the sites you rely on

Archives are a record of the web, not a replacement for the people who write it. If you find yourself opening archived copies from the same publication every week, consider subscribing. It’s what keeps that reporting going.