Saving the contents of a webpage
When I am on a webpage and I click Ctrl + S to save the web page, is that actually saving this webpage to a file on my computer? Or is it still contacting the server to pull the contents of the page?
To me, it seems like it is actually saving the complete webpage to my computer, but just wanted to verify. There are certain web pages I would like to keep a copy of, just in case the site gets taken down, for whatever reason.
All Replies (6)
it will save the web page to your computer, and opens a dialogue asking where to save it. ordinarily it will save as a file with a further set of files within a folder.
It is also possible to save just parts of a web page such as text or pictures. Or to save the page as a screenshot, or have some utility that will convert it to a pdf. In fact Firefox it self has an option to print a webpage to a file, and will then create a pdf.
Remember links will save but they may not be guaranteed to work later unless you also save the source. Some components of a webpage may not save, such as video which is streamed.
P.S.
Firefox has not got a good reputation for its printing abilities
- you may need this Fix printing problems in Firefox
Modified by John99
Note that saving web pages may not work properly if there is JavaScript involved in generating the page source.
In such a case it might be better to save the page as a screenshot or print to a PDF file.
It is a good idea to load such pages in Firefox to make sure they work as expected to prevent nasty surprises later.
All I need is a way to save these webpages to my desk and guarantee (or at least guarantee as much as possible) that they will work.
I will stay away from videos, so you can assume I am not referring to videos at all.
Is my method of hitting Ctrl + S and saving it that way sufficient? I did this as a test, removed my internet connection, and was still able to bring up the webpage from the file that was saved. Or would printing to a pdf be more reliable/better?
If so, I don't know how to print to a pdf. That first link provided showed how to print a webpage to a printer, which is not what I want to do.
The printer option should give two choices print to file or print to a printer. The print to file should create a pdf file that is both printable and viewable.
So I have tried this on two computers. On one computer it works. On the computer I will actually be doing it on, it doesn't work.
- I choose print to file - It asks for an output file name - I provide one - Then, I get an error message saying "Could not open the file: Access is denied." The title of that window is "Local Port."
Any suggestions?
So I found an article on this problem:
http://forums.techguy.org/windows-7/911591-print-file-access-denied.html
I was able to print to pdf by typing C:\Users\username\Desktop\filename, putting my username where it says username and putting a random file name in filename.
I don't understand why I have to do that, because after I do that, it still asks me where I want the file to go and a name for it.
But if I run FF as admin, it works fine.
Modified by firefox118