FROM ARCHIVE TO YOUR FILES

How to download a website from the Wayback Machine.

Bring an archived website back to your own machine. Choose a capture, restore its pages and assets, and download a static ZIP you can browse or host.

Get started

1. Pick the page you want to keep

Open the Wayback Machine, find your website, choose a date, and copy the archived page’s URL. We’ll use Wikipedia’s homepage from September 1, 2025:

Open the Wikipedia capture

2. Start Wayback Restorator locally

Install Git and Docker with Compose, start Docker, then launch the dashboard:

git clone https://gitlab.com/restorator-labs/wayback-restorator.git
cd wayback-restorator
./restorator web

When the build finishes, open localhost:8080.

Install Git, Docker with Compose, and Python 3. Start Docker, then clone the project:

git clone https://gitlab.com/restorator-labs/wayback-restorator.git
cd wayback-restorator

Keep this terminal open for the restoration command below.

3. Restore with the dashboard or CLI

Open localhost:8080 and paste the Wikipedia capture URL.
Start the restoration and follow its progress.
Download the ZIP from the completed job.

Completed Wikipedia dashboard job showing 10 restored files, one source gap, and the Download ZIP link

YOUR WEBSITE, READY TO KEEP

Run this from the project directory:

./restorator restore 'https://web.archive.org/web/20250901000345/https://www.wikipedia.org/'

Follow progress in the terminal, then open the ZIP at the printed path.

From Wikipedia capture to local website

The September 1, 2025 capture restored Wikipedia’s familiar homepage, globe, language links, and supporting assets. The download contains 10 files in a 138 kB ZIP.

Wikipedia homepage restored locally from the downloaded ZIP — Wikipedia’s archived homepage alongside the restored copy, opened locally.

Original Wikipedia homepage in the September 1, 2025 Wayback Machine capture — Wikipedia’s archived homepage alongside the restored copy, opened locally.

Open your downloaded website

Extract snapshot.zip and open index.html. The ZIP holds the recovered pages and assets; the separate result.json report lists anything missing. In this run, one fallback image was unavailable in the archive.

index.html
portal/wikipedia.org/assets/img/
portal/wikipedia.org/assets/js/
static/favicon/wikipedia.ico

More restoration examples

Space Jam: the original movie website

The planet-shaped navigation and colorful movie logo from one of the web’s most recognizable early sites.

14 recovered files47 kB ZIP

Space Jam: the original movie website restored locally from the downloaded ZIP — April 2, 2021 capture alongside the recovered homepage, opened locally.

Space Jam: the original movie website in the April 2, 2021 Wayback Machine capture — April 2, 2021 capture alongside the recovered homepage, opened locally.

Apple, 2001

Brushed-metal tabs, the Power Mac G4, and a New Year’s promotion from Apple’s pre-iPod homepage.

29 recovered files98 kB ZIP

Apple, 2001 restored locally from the downloaded ZIP — January 6, 2001 capture alongside the recovered homepage, opened locally.

Apple, 2001 in the January 6, 2001 Wayback Machine capture — January 6, 2001 capture alongside the recovered homepage, opened locally.

YOUR NEXT CAPTURE

Bring your archived
website back.

Restore your capture for free with the open-source dashboard or CLI.

Get Wayback Restorator

Download questions

What if a page or image is missing?

Check the result report and try another Wayback Machine capture. A different date may have more of the site’s pages and assets.

What if the download stalls?

Check that the archived page opens in your browser. If the archive is temporarily unavailable, try again later.

Where is my ZIP?

Download it from the completed dashboard job. With the CLI, use the path printed in the terminal under data/output/jobs/.

Can I restore a WordPress site?

Its captured public pages can be recovered as a static website, with their archived images and styling. Static and server-rendered pages work best.