FAQ & Troubleshooting

Quick answers to the questions we hear most.

A saved page is empty or incomplete

Almost always this is a page that reveals its content through scroll animations or JavaScript. Two things to try, in order:

Enable Settings → Capture → JavaScript & compatibility improvements for animations and capture the page again. The engine then scrolls through the page and replays its animations before the snapshot (see Capture Options).
If the site needs a login or session, capture with saved cookies (see Logins & Cookies).

The capture visited the site as a fresh, anonymous browser, and got the consent wall. Use the Fix button on the failed capture row, or open the built-in browser, accept the banner once, and re-capture with saved cookies. Full walkthrough: Logins & Cookies.

Why am I asked about duplicates?

You're about to archive a URL that's already in your library. Both answers are fine: Save Duplicate gives you a second, independent snapshot (great for tracking changes over time), Cancel keeps the library lean. You can silence the question in Settings → Capture. Details: Capture Queue & Duplicates.

Sync isn't running: why?

Check these in order:

macOS Sync requires the full version; in the free version the Sync pane shows a lock (see Licensing).
Is the provider set to iCloud in Settings → Sync on every device?
Is the device signed into iCloud, with iCloud Drive enabled and free space available?
Individual failed items appear under Sync Problems in the Sync pane and retry automatically; Sync Now forces a round.

My archives are large: what helps?

Turn on Compression (Settings → Capture): roughly halves the size, archives stay self-contained.
Use Remove images with a size threshold, so only heavyweight images are dropped.
For pure text, Save as Markdown only is tiny.
Existing items can be slimmed later: right-click → Remove Images / Save as Markdown Only.
Capture with saved cookies only where a page needs them: on some sites (Reddit, for example) archives can come out up to ~3× larger with cookies enabled.

Are videos saved too?

No. An archive preserves the page itself: text, layout, styling and images. Embedded videos are streamed by their player and are not downloaded into the archive; typically the player's preview image remains. To watch a video, switch the item to Live (see Viewing & Reading).

How does the app update?

The direct-download version keeps itself current: it checks for new versions automatically, and WebsiteArchiver → Check for Updates… in the menu bar checks on demand. The Mac App Store and iOS versions update through the App Store like any other app.

Where are my files? Is my data private?

Your archive is a folder of ordinary files: self-contained HTML you can open in any browser. On the Mac you choose the folder yourself (Settings → Storage); on iOS it lives inside the app and can be exported as a ZIP at any time. There is no account and no telemetry. Beyond loading the pages you capture (and the Live view when you open it), the app's only routine request is fetching the small favicons shown in the item list from Google's favicon service. They can be turned off in Settings → Appearance. Your archives never leave your device unless you enable iCloud sync, which uses your personal iCloud.