4 Website Copying Programs

Download entire websites to work offline or do research

by
Linda Roeder
Writer
Former Lifewire writer Linda Roeder is a longtime web enthusiast and consultant with a broad knowledge of how personal web pages, blogs, and social networking.
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Linda Roeder
Updated on February 17, 2020
reviewed by
Jessica Kormos headshot
Jessica Kormos
Lifewire Tech Review Board Member
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
our review board
Article reviewed on Apr 24, 2020
Jessica Kormos

Need to know how to copy a website? There are several tools that allow you to download entire websites so that you can view them without an internet connection. When browsing offline, you don't have to worry about lengthy load times or timeout errors.

These tools work exclusively for specific versions of different operating systems. Check individual program requirements to make sure they are compatible with your computer.

01
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Best Free Website Copier: HTTrack

HTTrack program window in Windows
What We Like

  • Completely free.

  • Available for most versions of Windows and Linux.

  • Mobile app available for Android.

What We Don't Like

  • No Flash or Java support.

  • Bare bones interface.

  • No Mac or iOS versions.

The HTTrack offline browser utility lets you pull entire websites from the internet to a local directory. On top of retrieving HTML and images to your computer, it also captures the original site's link structure. The only major downside is that HTTrack doesn't support Flash sites or intensive Java and Javascript sites. WinHTTrack is compatible with Windows 2000 through Windows 10, and there's a version for Linux called WebHTTrack. There's also a HTTrack Android app for offline browsing on your mobile device.

02
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Best Windows Website Copier: SurfOffline

SurfOffline screenshot

SurfOffline
What We Like

  • Choose which page elements you want to download.

  • 30-day free-trial.

What We Don't Like

  • Bland user interface.

  • Only available for Windows.

SurfOffline is an offline browser compatible with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. Its features include the ability to download up to 100 files simultaneously and options to save all images, videos, and audio files to your hard drive. You can also download websites that are password-protected via HTTP and FTP authentication. There's even a built-in tool for burning websites to a CD or DVD.

03
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Best Mac Website Copier: SiteSucker

SiteSucker screenshot macOS
What We Like

  • Supports six languages.

  • Pause and resume website downloads.

What We Don't Like

  • No free trial.

  • Only available for Mac.

When you enter a URL into SiteSucker, it copies all of the text, images, style sheets, PDFs, and other elements of the website to your hard drive. All download information is saved to a document, which allows you to quickly download new updates to pages you've previously downloaded. The current version of SiteSucker requires Mac OS X 10.11 or higher and is available from the Apple App Store. Earlier versions are available from the SiteSucker website for older Mac operating systems. 

04
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Best Website Copier for Older PCs: Website eXtractor

Website eXtractor
What We Like

  • Download documents by type, name, or other filtering options.

  • A trial version is available.

What We Don't Like

  • The site layout sometimes looks different in offline mode.

  • No Windows 10 version.

Website eXtractor is similar to SurfOffline, but it's for older versions of Windows up to Windows 7. Like SurfOffline, eXtractor lets you download entire websites or just the parts you specify. The user-friendly control panel in the offline browser allows you to view the structure of a website with an online or offline sitemap. If you're still satisfied with using the older editions of Windows, then eXtractor is the program for you.

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