Behind the captures

About PageRewind

PageRewind is an independent project about how famous websites changed. Its creator researches the homepages, writes the stories and makes the videos on the PageRewind YouTube channel.

How a rewind is made

1. Find dated captures in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
2. Check each capture against the year the archive actually served. Redirects can lead to a different date; incomplete images and scripts can change how a page looks.
3. Read the captures and compare their layouts, logos, menus and small print. Link external claims to their sources.
4. Build a story with the captures, their dates and links to the archived pages. Videos use researched narration and music made with ElevenLabs.

What the archive kept

A capture dates the saved page; its replay can include images or scripts archived on other dates. Gaps and broken elements are described beside the affected images. A capture date does not prove when a design first launched. Live-site captures are labeled separately.

Cite or embed a rewind

Link to the story page, name PageRewind, and include the capture year and its Internet Archive link. The Rewind Machine widget can be embedded using the code on each story page; it includes a link back to the story.

Contact and corrections

Contact the creator through the PageRewind YouTube channel. For a correction, include the story URL, capture year and a source we can check.

Follow new stories

Subscribe to the RSS feed or the YouTube channel.

PageRewind is not affiliated with the companies whose websites, logos and trademarks appear here. Read the privacy policy.