Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Web Archive and how does it work?
The Web Archive (also known as the Wayback Machine) is a digital archive of the World Wide Web maintained by the Internet Archive. It allows you to see how websites looked in the past by taking periodic snapshots of web pages. Our tool searches through these archived snapshots to show you the complete history of any domain.
How do I search for archived websites?
Enter a URL pattern in the search box above. You can use:
example.com- searches all pages under the domain.*.example.com- searches all subdomains.test.example.com/*- searches all pages under a specific subdomain.www.example.com/admin/*- searches all pages under a specific path.
What do the different status codes mean?
The status codes indicate the result of the web crawler's attempt to save a page:
- 200: Page loaded successfully.
- 301/302: Page was redirected to another URL.
- 404: The page could not be found.
- 500: A server error occurred.
Can I view the actual archived pages?
Yes! Click the "View Archive" button on any result to see the exact snapshot of how that page looked when it was archived. You can also click "Direct Link" to visit the current live version of the page (if it still exists).
How far back do the archives go?
The Internet Archive has been collecting web pages since 1996, so you can potentially find websites that are over 25 years old! The availability depends on when the website was first crawled and how often it was archived.
Why use this tool instead of going directly to the Wayback Machine?
Our tool provides a much better user experience with modern design, advanced filtering options, and clean data presentation. You can easily sort by status codes, dates, or file sizes, and get a comprehensive overview of all archived snapshots in one place.
Is this service free to use?
Yes, our Web Archive Explorer is completely free to use! We provide unlimited searches with no registration required. The data comes from the Internet Archive's public API, and we've made it more accessible and user-friendly.
What can I use archived websites for?
Archived websites are useful for research, SEO analysis, competitor analysis, recovering lost content, legal documentation, academic studies, and nostalgic browsing. They provide valuable insights into how websites evolved over time.
How often are websites archived?
The frequency varies by website popularity and importance. Popular sites might be crawled daily or weekly, while smaller sites might be archived monthly or less frequently. The Internet Archive continuously crawls the web to capture new content.
Can I search for specific pages or just domains?
Yes! Our tool supports various URL patterns:
- Entire domains:
example.com - All subdomains:
*.example.com - Specific subdomains:
blog.example.com/* - Specific paths:
www.example.com/admin/* - Exact URLs:
www.example.com/specific-page
What if a website doesn't show up in the results?
If a website doesn't appear in the results, it might be for one of these reasons:
- The site was never archived.
- It was too new when last crawled.
- The site owner blocked web crawlers (using robots.txt).
- The content was removed from the archive by request.
Try searching for alternative spellings or related domains.
What URL patterns are supported?
Our tool supports flexible URL patterns with wildcards:
example.com- All pages under the domain.*.example.com- All subdomains and their pages.blog.example.com/*- All pages under a specific subdomain.www.example.com/admin/*- All pages under a specific path.www.example.com/page- A specific page only.
Use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match multiple pages or subdomains.