Wayback Machine: free way to see old versions of any web page
The Internet Archive says its Wayback Machine lets anyone look up old versions of web pages for free, and save a page as a record today. Many pages are missing, so it is not a backup.
What it is
The Wayback Machine is a service of the Internet Archive that keeps copies of web pages over time, so you can open an older version of a site, or check what a page said earlier. The Internet Archive says its search covers "the history of more than 1 trillion web pages". It is not an AI tool. We included it as a free resource anyone can use.
Is it free?
Yes, to use. The Internet Archive's Access Policy says it is "dedicated to providing free and open access to its collections to promote education, research, and public interest globally". Its Wayback Machine help page says the collections are available "at no cost to researchers, historians, and scholars", with no requirement to be affiliated with any organisation. Its help page on fees says it has no fees for uploading and preserving materials, and welcomes donations. We did not find any sign-up needed to look up a page on the Wayback Machine home page.
What you can do with it
- Open old versions of a web page: search by web address (URL) and pick a date, per the Internet Archive help centre.
- Save a page now: the "Save Page Now" tool captures a page as it appears today, "for use as a trusted citation in the future". The help centre says it saves that one page only, not whole sites.
- Share links to old pages: the help centre says you can copy an archived page's address and link to it in an article or on a web page.
- Apps and extensions: the Wayback Machine home page lists iOS and Android apps and browser extensions.
What to watch out for
- Not every page is there. The help centre says sites may be missing because crawlers did not know about them, because they were password protected or blocked by robots.txt, or because the owner asked to exclude them.
- Delay: it says new captures can take 3 to 10 hours to appear.
- Not a backup service: the help centre says it cannot guarantee your own site was archived.
- Search is by web address, not by words inside pages. The help centre says full-text search is not available yet.
- The Internet Archive's other collections (books, video, audio, software) have their own rules. We only looked at the Wayback Machine.
Privacy and data
- The Access Policy says the Internet Archive is "committed to protecting the privacy of its users" and follows relevant privacy laws.
- We could not open the current full privacy policy and terms pages, so we cannot say what data is logged or kept. Read them on archive.org before you create an account or save pages you care about.
- Pages you save with Save Page Now become part of a public archive. Do not save pages with private information.
India
- We saw no country limit on the help pages we read. We did not test it from India, and some archived sites may not load in India.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Wayback Machine free?
Yes. The Internet Archive says it offers free and open access to its collections.
Can I see a deleted page?
Only if it was captured and not excluded. Many pages are missing, per the help centre.
Can I save a page myself?
Yes, with Save Page Now, one page at a time.
Sources: Wayback Machine, Using the Wayback Machine, General information, Access Policy, Archive.org information. Checked 16 October 2026.
No Internet Archive logo is used in this article. Independent guide, not affiliated.