Archive.org downloader

An item is a container, not a single video

The Internet Archive organises everything into items. One item can hold a single film, or it can hold a whole broadcast day, a lecture series, or a scanned book alongside a recording of someone reading it. The address you copy from the bar names the item, and the item is a folder rather than a file.

That is why one address can produce a long results list. Each row is one of the files stored inside that item. Read the resolution and the size on each row and pick the one you came for rather than taking the first line offered.

The original upload and the copies made from it

When someone uploads a recording, the Archive keeps that upload untouched and then produces additional versions from it automatically. Those produced versions are called derivatives. A single item commonly holds the original file plus a smaller streaming copy and sometimes a compact copy meant for slow connections.

Choosing between them is a straightforward trade.

• The original is the largest row and holds the picture exactly as the uploader supplied it. Take this one for preservation, for editing, or when the derivative looks soft.
• The streaming derivative is the row the web player uses. It is much smaller and plays anywhere without fuss.
• A compact derivative, where one exists, is the smallest row and is intended for viewing rather than for keeping as a master copy.

Old formats that still open in a modern player

Much of the video here was uploaded years ago in formats that are no longer produced. You will meet rows that came from a video CD, from an early web encoder, or from a television capture card. Those files are perfectly valid and current players open them without complaint.

Two things to expect from old material. The picture is small by modern standards, often 480 pixels tall or less, and no larger row exists because nothing larger was ever made. The sound may be quiet or uneven because it was captured from tape. Neither is caused by the download; both are properties of the recording you are saving.

The largest files you will meet on this site

Archive items routinely hold feature-length films, complete concerts, and multi-hour broadcast recordings. An untouched original of a two-hour film can run to several gigabytes, which puts it in a different class from a social clip of a few megabytes.

Plan around that before you press Download file. A free account allows 3 downloads per day and limits a single file to 150 MB, and many originals here pass that figure on their own. The streaming derivative frequently sits under it, so the derivative is the row that a free account can take. Pro removes the size ceiling and the daily count, along with the advertising, which is what a long preservation copy needs.

Items that give back nothing

Some items hold no video at all. A scanned book, a software disc image, or a collection of documents produces an empty result here because there is no video file inside the container to report.

A second case is an item whose access has been restricted. Rights holders ask for material to be withdrawn, and lending collections serve their contents only to a borrower who has checked the item out. Vidzilla reads the page as an ordinary visitor with no account, so a restricted item returns nothing. That is the correct answer rather than a fault.

Saving a very large file without losing it halfway

Press Download file on your chosen row. The file is prepared on our servers and then transferred to your device. Keep the tab open for the whole transfer, and remember that the prepared copy expires on a short timer, so start it when you are ready rather than leaving it waiting.

Check the free space on the drive first. A multi-gigabyte film will stop partway through if the disk fills, and a partial file will not play. On a desktop the finished copy lands in your Downloads folder, and moving it to an external drive afterwards keeps your system disk clear.

Related pages

• Finding media held on an ordinary web page
• Converting an MKV file for wider playback
• Working through a list of files one by one
• What happens between Analyze and the file arriving
• Picking a resolution from the results