A website ZIP gives you a portable copy of captured web pages and their saved assets. It can help you review a design, preserve a permitted reference, or read static content without a connection. Website 2 Zip renders pages in a browser before packaging the result. The capture depends on what the site makes accessible and the settings you choose.
This guide walks through a small test capture first. Use a website you own or have permission to download, and choose the content you actually need.
Choose your URL and capture settings
- Enter the starting page. Open the website to ZIP tool and paste the complete public URL, including
https://. Start at the homepage for a broad overview or a specific article for a focused capture. Check the address in your browser first; a typo, redirect, or unavailable page can change the result. - Keep the crawl scope deliberate. Leave “Only crawl same domain pages” enabled when you want pages from the target site. A link to another domain does not automatically belong in your archive. This page-crawl setting is separate from downloading images, fonts, or scripts hosted by a CDN.
- Set a page cap and crawl depth. “Max pages” limits how many pages the job can capture. “Max depth” limits how far it follows links from the starting page. Begin with a small cap and shallow depth. Increase them after inspecting the result if you need more linked pages. Your account's available limits appear in the tool.
- Allow time for rendering. “Render wait (ms)” gives a page extra time before capture. A longer wait can help when text, images, or layout arrive after the initial load. It cannot make an inaccessible page accessible or guarantee that every delayed interaction occurs.
- Include external assets when needed. Enable “Download external assets (CDNs)” if the site loads styles, fonts, scripts, or images from other hosts. Without those files, an extracted page may lose its appearance. Assets can still be unavailable because of host restrictions or how the original site requests them.
- Use auto-scroll for lazy content. Enable “Auto-scroll for lazy content” for pages that load images as you move down the screen. Scrolling may reveal more content, but infinite feeds, click-to-load panels, and content behind login are not guaranteed to be captured. Select “Capture Website” and watch the job status.
Download and extract the ZIP
Wait for the job to finish and the download link to become available. Review the preview and the pages visited count: a completed job may contain fewer pages than your cap if fewer accessible links were found. Download the ZIP and extract the entire archive into a new folder using your operating system's extraction tool.
Keep the extracted folders together. Moving an HTML file away from its images, stylesheets, and scripts can break relative links. Find the HTML file that corresponds to your starting URL by inspecting the archive's page files and folders. Do not assume that every capture uses the same entry filename. Open that page in your browser and follow a few captured links.
View the website offline and check its limits
For a simple static page, opening the extracted HTML may be enough. Check the heading, navigation, images, and styling. Then disconnect from the network and reload to see which parts actually work offline. An online preview alone does not establish that all dependencies were saved.
Some browser features behave differently at a file:// address. JavaScript modules and requests for local data may require serving the extracted folder through a local HTTP server. Open the resulting localhost address and test again. MDN explains these local-file restrictions. A local server addresses browser loading rules; it does not recreate the original site's backend.
Search, login, checkout, live data, and form submissions often depend on remote services. A website ZIP does not include the server's private source code or database. JavaScript can also try to replace saved content with an API response that is unavailable offline. Treat the archive as a captured browsing reference and verify the features you need.
Troubleshoot missing pages, images, or behavior
- A page is missing: compare your page cap and depth with its distance from the starting URL. Try that page as the starting URL. Pages reachable only through a search box or scripted button may not be found through ordinary links.
- A capture shows a block or login screen: the server may challenge automated browsers or require authentication. More depth or waiting will not remove access controls. Use an accessible page you are authorized to capture.
- Images or styling are absent: confirm external asset downloads are enabled, extract every folder, and keep the structure intact. Try more render wait or auto-scroll if assets load late. Check the browser's network panel for failed requests.
- The layout appears but controls fail: test through local HTTP and inspect the browser console. A failed live API request or missing server route usually requires the original service; recapturing more static pages will not reproduce it.
Save a copy you have checked
Before storing or sharing the archive, check your important pages offline, record the original URL and capture date, and keep the complete extracted folder or original ZIP. For a larger site, repeat the process with carefully chosen starting pages and settings. Return to Website 2 Zip to start a capture, or read the website download FAQ for more details.