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Definition: Wayback Machine


A website from the Internet Archive that records the content of major websites as well as many minor ones for most years of their existence since 1996. Many of the pages in a site are generally included unless the site is password protected or is coded to explicitly refuse to be archived (see robots.txt). With more than 600 billion Web pages, the Wayback Machine enables users to review past information that is no longer visible. It also provides an evolution of a site's design over the years.






From 1998 to 2024
The top two screenshots are the home pages of ComputerLanguage.com from the Wayback Machine in 1998 and 2004. In 2018, the site was redesigned to be responsive on all devices (bottom). See responsive Web design.