Tools to View Old Versions of Any Website
As the internet continues to evolve and websites get updated, it can be frustrating when you need to access an old version of a website. Whether you’re doing research, trying to find information or simply want to revisit a piece of internet history, it can be difficult to view old versions of a website without the right tools.
Fortunately, there are several tools available that allow you to view old versions of any website. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most effective options that you can use today.
1. The Wayback Machine
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is a powerful tool that allows you to view old versions of any website. The Wayback Machine is an archive of the internet, with over 530 billion web pages stored and available for public access. Simply visit the Wayback Machine website, enter the URL of the website you want to view, and select a date from the calendar when a snapshot of the website is available. You can then browse the website as it appeared on that day. The Wayback Machine also allows you to download old versions of websites as a zip file.
2. Httrack
Httrack is a free, open-source tool that allows you to download entire websites and save them to your computer. This can be useful if you need to access an old version of a website that has been taken down, or if you want to browse the website offline. Httrack saves websites as HTML files and stores them in a folder on your computer, allowing you to browse and view the website without an internet connection. Httrack is available for Windows, Linux, and Android.
3. WebCite
WebCite is another tool that allows you to view old versions of any website. Unlike the Wayback Machine, WebCite is focused on archiving scientific publications and other scholarly materials. WebCite allows you to create a new version of a webpage that you can access even if the original page is no longer available. To use WebCite, simply enter the URL of the webpage you want to archive, and the tool will create a new version of the page that you can access later.
4. Oldweb.today
Oldweb.today is a website that allows you to view old versions of websites as they appeared on different web browsers and operating systems. With Oldweb.today, you can choose a browser and operating system from a list of options, and then browse a website as it appeared on that particular browser and operating system. This can be useful if you’re trying to recreate the look and feel of an old website, or if you want to see how a website appeared on a specific browser or operating system.