Wayback Machine

What Wayback Machine actually is

The Internet Archive's crawler has been photographing the public web since 1996, and this is the front door to the result. Paste an address, choose a date from the calendar of captures, and the site loads as it stood on that day, with links and images mostly intact.

Why it is worth your time

The calendar view is the real hook: watching a company's homepage redesign itself across twenty years of blue dots is oddly moving.

Common questions

Is Wayback Machine free?

Yes. Wayback Machine is free and does not ask you to register or hand over an email address before you can use it.

How long does Wayback Machine take?

One quick round, then you can leave. We file it under "A minute" — type any URL, pick a year, and the old web loads.

Does Wayback Machine work on a phone?

Yes. Wayback Machine works on a phone as well as it does on a laptop.

What kind of site is Wayback Machine?

We list it under Time Machines — the internet's own memory, still browsable. The calendar view is the real hook: watching a company's homepage redesign itself across twenty years of blue dots is oddly moving.