HTTrack

HTTrack Website Copier is a free, open-source offline browser utility that enables users to download a website from the Internet to a local directory, creating a mirrored copy that can be browsed offline. It reconstructs the site’s structure and links so navigation works without an active Internet connection.

The software is cross-platform, running on Windows, Linux, and macOS, with separate graphical user interfaces such as WinHTTrack for Windows and WebHTTrack for Unix-like systems, as well as a command-line option. It is maintained by the HTTrack team and released under the GNU General Public License.

How HTTrack works: a user specifies a starting URL and configuration options, and the program downloads HTML, images, stylesheets, and other linked resources recursively up to a defined depth. It rewrites links to point to local copies and can preserve file timestamps. Configurable settings include bandwidth limits, crawl depth, inclusion or exclusion of file types, domain restrictions, and robots.txt compliance. The tool supports resuming interrupted downloads and can mirror sites across HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP sources, provided credentials are supplied when necessary.

Use cases and limitations: HTTrack is commonly used for offline viewing, site backups, and archival projects, as well as for migrating content to a local server. It is not a full browser and may struggle with sites that rely heavily on client-side scripts or dynamic content. Users should respect robots.txt, copyright restrictions, and site-specific terms of service when mirroring content.