Sometimes we may find ourselves with the need to save a web page to be able to view it later or on another device. This is an interesting function that we have available thanks to some methods and services that we are going to see. Therefore, in this article we are going to explain what we must do to download a web page completely and be able to view it offline on that device or on any other device.
Why download a website
You may be wondering what is really the use of downloading a web page . But the truth is that on certain occasions it is essential. Take for example an airplane flight. There we will not have an Internet connection or at least it is not normal and when there is it is very limited. If we want to read information from a site we are traveling to, we can save web pages that we have previously found and read them offline.
It is also possible that we are going to be in an area without coverage or we have little data left and we want to take advantage of it and not run out. In these cases we will also be able to download a web page and be able to read it later even if we do not have Internet access.
We may even have Internet on the mobile, but we want to see better those pages on the computer, where we will not have a connection. We can download it to a computer and pass it to another or previously do it. We will have the possibility to read the content without problems.
Methods to download a web page
So what can we do to download a website and be able to view it without an internet connection? We are going to see different services and tools . They will be in charge of downloading the content and have everything ready so that we simply have to click on the file and start the page anywhere, without worrying about whether or not we have access to the network.
HTTrack
The first option we want to talk about is HTTrack . It is one of the most used tools to download a website. It is an open source program and we also have it available for many platforms. It works very well for what it has been created for and we can generate different projects.
We have to go to their website and enter the download section. There we will find the different versions that it has. We can download it for Windows, Linux or Android. Later we install it and we can start using it.
It will ask us to name the project. Later we will be able to select the website that interests us, choose where to store it and continue with the process until it is completely downloaded to our computer. Once downloaded we will only have to open the index.html or index.htm file.
Wget
We can also have the option of Wget . It is a free program, which is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is not as simple as the previous one, since it works through the command line. It allows to recover files through the HTTP and FTP protocols. This will allow us to access the files on a web page.
Although it is originally designed to download files individually, it can also be used to download an entire web page. We have to go to their website and download the application, which is available in a portable version for Windows.
Webcopy
In this case it is an application that we can only use for Windows. It allows you to automatically download the content of a website and store it locally to be able to open the page at a later time, without the need to have Internet access.
To download it we can go to its website. There we will see the download section, where different programs will appear, including Webcopy. Later we will have to install it on the computer and start using it.
Once this is done, we can start to download any web page. We will only have to put the corresponding address and continue the process.
SiteSucker
This program does not have so many options in terms of compatible systems, since we can only use it on iOS and macOS . However, for users who have one of these operating systems it can be a useful tool to download a web page completely.
You have to access their website and download the program there . Later it will have to be installed and run. It will ask us for the website that we want to download and it will begin the process.
We must bear in mind that not only does it download the text from a website to read the content, but it also includes multimedia files, such as images. It is very useful to be able to see a page in its entirety, without having any type of restrictions.
How to download a website directly with the browser
We have seen some programs with which we can completely download a website. They are interesting, but we may be interested in something simpler. This option is to download a web page directly with the browser, either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox .
In the case of Google Chrome, we have to click on the menu at the top right and click Print. This we have to do with the web page open. A menu will automatically appear to select where we want to save the web page and it will download it in PDF format , to be able to read it at any time.
Keep in mind that this will only download the specific page that we have open. For example an article or something specific.
In the case of Mozilla Firefox we have a similar option. We also go to the menu at the top right and select Print. It will give us the option to choose where we want to save that website and it will download the PDF file so that we can read it later.
Conclusions to download a website
Ultimately, these are the options we have available to download a web page and read the content anywhere, without having to access the network. We have seen some free programs for different operating systems that work well to bring the site down completely.
The HTTrack program may be the most suitable for most users. It works well, it is free and we can also use it in different operating systems, so we will not have any compatibility problems when downloading a website completely.
However, if we only need to save a certain page, such as a news article, with the option of Chrome and Firefox to download in PDF it can be useful. It is very simple and fast, in addition to that we will not have to install anything additional in the system.