How to Use the HTTrack Website Copier

HTTrack Website Copier is a free software program that allows you to download a copy of a website. It is a useful tool if you want to make a quick backup of your business's website with its structure intact. The program is simple to use and does not require any advanced technical knowledge. Once you download a website with the program, you can browse through its pages as if it were live on the Web.

  1. 1.

    Navigate to the HTTrack Website Copier website (link in Resources) and click the “Download” link. The software is available for several versions of Windows and multiple Linux distributions. Install the software on your computer.

  2. 2.

    Open HTTrack Website Copier. In Windows, the program is a standalone application. In Linux, it runs from within your default Web browser. However, the process to copy a website is nearly the same in the two versions, with just a few slight differences.

  3. 3.

    Click the “Next” button to start a new project, then type a name for your project in the Project Name field, and type a category for your project in the Project Category field. Skip the next step if you are using the Linux version.

  4. 4.

    Click the “..” button next to the Base Path field in the Windows version. A “Browse for Folder” dialog appears. Find and select the folder on your computer where you want to save the copy of the website, then click “OK” and “Next.” Skip the next step.

  5. 5.

    Type the path of the folder you choose for the website copy in the Base Path field in the Linux version, then click “Next.” The programs are nearly identical after this step.

  6. 6.

    Click the “Action” drop-down menu and select the default option “Download web site(s).” This drop-down menu contains several other options for downloading a website, and you can also select options to continue an interrupted download or update an existing download.

  7. 7.

    Click the “Add URL” button and type the URL of the site you want to copy in the URL field. If the site is password-protected, type the appropriate information in the login and password fields. Click “OK.”

  8. 8.

    Click the “Add URL” button again if you want to add another URL, and follow the previous step's instructions.

  9. 9.

    Click the “Set Options” button to open a dialog box with several tabs for setting advanced options like MIME types, proxy and flow control. To exclude certain types of files and links, click the “Scan Rules” tab, then click the “Exclude link(s)” button.

  10. 10.

    Click the “Include links(s)” to add certain types of files and links. If you your goal is to quickly obtain a copy of a website, you do not need to modify any of the other advanced options. Click “OK.”

  11. 11.

    Click “Next,” then click “Finish” in Windows or “Start” in Linux. The next screen shows the progress of the website copying activity. It includes the transfer rate, a time counter, a tally of the number of files copied, the number of links scanned, errors and a list of the files copied in the Actions area.

  12. 12.

    Click “Browse Mirrored Website” to view a copy of the website in your default Web browser.

  13. 13.

    Click “Exit” if you want to close the program, or click “Finish” to start another mirroring project. In Linux, the only option is to click “Exit,” because to start another project in Linux, you must restart the program.