Saving a Web Page

There are at least three ways to “save” a web page:

  • Bookmark
  • Screen Shot
  • Download

Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Bookmark

Bookmarking a web page is a handy way to save a web page location so you can visit the same page again in the future. But remember that the page may be different (or even gone) the next time that you visit. For that reason, bookmarking is convenient for seeing the latest updates, but it’s not good for saving what you might have seen on any particular day. Also note that some web pages are intentionally transient and may not exist after you’ve left them. For example, many kinds of registration pages and payment pages cannot be revisited after they have timed out.

(+) Bookmarks are easy and convenient
(+) Bookmarks take up almost no space on your computer
(+) Bookmarked pages will always show you the latest version
(-) Bookmarked pages may be different (or gone) the next time you visit
(-) Many kinds of transient pages will not be available through a bookmark

Making a bookmark is usually done through your web browser. There’s usually a menu item that suggests “Bookmarks” or “Favorites”, and some browsers will use a phrase like “Bookmark Current Tab” to save the bookmark. You can use the same menu item to find your bookmark to view the page again.

Screenshot

A screen shot is like a photograph of a web page. Imagine using a camera to take a picture of the screen. The picture only contains EXACTLY what you can see on the screen. This is a very good way to save a transient page that may change or disappear at some point. However, what you’ll end up with is a picture of a web page and not the web page itself. Sometimes this is exactly what you want, and sometimes it’s not. Also note that making the screenshot only copies the picture to the clipboard. You will still need to save that clipboard data to a file to actually save the page.

(+) Screenshots capture EXACTLY what you can see on the screen
(+) Screenshots will capture any transient data (after registrations and payments)
(+) Screenshots are pretty easy to capture (often with a single keyboard key)
(-) Screenshots will ONLY save what you currently see of a web page
(-) A screenshot is a picture and not a web page (cannot later select text)
(-) A screenshot will need to be “pasted” into another application to be saved

Most operating systems will recognize the “Print Screen” key (often shortened to “PrtSc” or similar on many keyboards). All you have to do is press that button and it will capture whatever is on the screen. But the captured image will be on the system “clipboard” and will still need to be saved. Typically you will open a “paint” program of some sort and then “paste” the clipboard contents into that paint program so that it can be saved.

Download

The last (common) way to save a web page is to actually download the page. Most web browsers support a mechanism to “Save” or “Download” a web page. Many browsers will also offer options for what (and how) to save for each download. For example, some browsers may allow you to save a page as “Web Page Complete” or “HTML Only”. The difference is whether or not the images and related non-HTML files are saved. The “Web Page Complete” option will usually save the HTML file itself and often create a new directory for all of the other files (images, style sheets, etc). The “HTML Only” option will just save the HTML file (one file) and not all the images and other files that might be part of the page. This can be handy to save space when you just want to preserve the text.

(+) Downloads are generally a complete copy of the web page
(+) Downloads preserve the page as actual HTML text (can be selected)
(+) Downloads will sometimes preserve active elements like JavaScript
(+) Downloads will save the entire page (not just what is showing in the browser)
(-) Downloads may sometimes not be allowed by some web sites or pages
(-) Downloads may contain malware that might later execute with privilege
(-) Downloads can take up significant space if many large images are included

Most web browsers offer a menu item to “Save”, “Save As”, or “Download” a web page. Sometimes you can “right click” in the page and it will bring up a menu allowing you to save the page (or a frame). Usually a dialog box will pop up asking where to save the downloaded web page and what name to give it. When saving a “Web Page Complete” that name may also be the name of the folder containing the other files (images, etc). After saving, you can view the saved page with your web browser.