Internet Archive Downloader: Movies, Old Radio and Whole Collections
The Internet Archive (archive.org) is a non-profit online library of films, radio shows, concerts and lectures that people and institutions upload. NeoDownloader saves one film or a whole collection in one go - the video and sound files themselves, with no archive.org account.
Archive.org Downloader vs Download Options, Torrents and ia
The archive's own downloads
- Download options and torrents work one item at a time
- A collection or a search page has no download button at all
- An item's torrent brings everything: the master, every copy made from it and the archive's own records
- The ia tool takes whole collections - as commands typed in a terminal
NeoDownloader
- One address brings a film, a whole collection or a search - or paste several, one per line
- A collection comes in the order and with the filters you set on its page
- Each film arrives as one MP4 that plays anywhere, each episode or track under the archive's own name
- No commands: paste the address of the page you are looking at
How to Download from the Internet Archive
Every item on archive.org has Download options of its own - a file, a format or a torrent at a time. For a film, a radio series or a whole collection in one go, three steps:
One-time setup: download NeoDownloader and install it. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. The steps below are what you repeat each time.
- 1Internet Archivearchive.org/details/prelinger
Find It on Archive.org
Open the film or recording you want, a collection's page - search, sort or filter it there if you like - or the archive's search results. Copy the address from your browser's address bar.
- 2
ProjectsNew projectWhat do you want to download?
archive.org/details/prelinger
NextPaste It into NeoDownloader
Click New project: the copied address is already in its field. Several addresses go there one per line. Click Next - NeoDownloader recognises the Internet Archive and selects its Video Downloader plugin - and choose the quality on the next step.
- 3
Name and folder
Prelinger Archives
Create projectGet the Films and Recordings
Check the destination folder and click Create project. Films arrive as MP4 files named with their titles, and the episodes or tracks of an item go into a folder of their own. Collections grow: run the project again later, and only the items added since then download.
Download Movies from Archive.org
The archive keeps a film the way it was uploaded - often a large master file - together with copies made for watching. NeoDownloader saves the largest MP4 among them: one file with picture and sound that plays on any computer, phone or TV, often much smaller than the master.
Among the archive's film collections are silent comedies, old newsreels and the Prelinger Archives of advertising, educational and industrial films. Each item's page says under what terms it is shared, and many are in the public domain.
Some items can only be watched on the site - recordings of TV news among them. NeoDownloader names them in the project's journal and goes on with the rest.
Download a Whole Internet Archive Collection
Paste the address of a collection's page, and its films and recordings download into one project, named after the collection. Search inside it, sort it by date, views or title, or filter it by year on archive.org first, and the project takes exactly those, in that order.
Old radio and live music come as items holding many files - a whole radio series, a concert track by track. Each such item gets a folder of its own, and its files keep the names the archive gives them.
Books, software and pictures are not part of it: NeoDownloader takes the archive's films, sound recordings and live music.
What the Internet Archive Downloader Takes
- A film, a radio show or a concert - archive.org/details/ and the item's name
- A whole collection - archive.org/details/ and the collection's name, such as prelinger
- A collection searched, sorted or filtered on its page - the address as the page shows it
- Search results - archive.org/search?query=…, from all of the archive or its Video, Audio or Live Music tab
- Several items or collections - paste each address on a new line, and they become one project
- Not the Wayback Machine's copies of old websites at web.archive.org: this is about the archive's library
Internet Archive Downloader Features
Made for the way the archive keeps its files
The Copy That Plays
Of a film's master and its copies, you get one MP4 that plays on any device - not the whole set.
A Folder for Every Item
The episodes or tracks of an item land together in its folder, under the names the archive gives them.
The Page's Own Order
Sort a collection by date, views or title on archive.org, filter it by year, and the project follows.
Back to the Item
Every file keeps the address of its item: “Found on” in its properties, and “Open on the site” takes you to the item's page, with its terms of use.
Internet Archive Downloader FAQ
What is the Internet Archive?
A non-profit online library at archive.org. People and institutions upload films, radio shows, music, books and software to it, and its Wayback Machine keeps copies of old websites. NeoDownloader downloads from the library: its films, sound recordings and live music.
Is there a free Internet Archive downloader?
Yes. NeoDownloader installs for free and downloads films, radio shows and concerts from the Internet Archive, one item at a time or several together. The free version has no time limit; Premium lifts its limits on the number of files per project.
How do I download a movie from archive.org?
On the film's page, Download options lists its files, and you can save them one by one. With NeoDownloader, copy the page's address, click “New project” and paste it: the film is saved to a folder on your computer as one MP4 file with its sound.
Can I download a whole collection from the Internet Archive?
Yes. Paste the address of the collection's page - archive.org/details/ and its name - into “New project”, and its films and recordings download into one project, in the order its page shows. Search, sort or filter the collection there first to take only part of it.
Is it safe to download from the Internet Archive?
From the Internet Archive, NeoDownloader takes only video and sound files - films, episodes, tracks - and never the software the archive also holds, so nothing it saves from there runs as a program. You do not sign in, so no archive.org account is involved.
Is it legal to download from archive.org?
The archive offers its files for download itself, and each item's page says under what terms it is shared: many films and recordings are in the public domain, others carry a Creative Commons licence. What you may do with a file depends on those terms.
Do I need an archive.org account?
No. Films and recordings anybody can play on archive.org download without signing in.
Can I download old radio shows and concerts?
Yes. Paste the address of a radio series or of a concert from the Live Music Archive: all its episodes or tracks download into a folder named after it, under the names the archive gives them. A whole collection of them works the same way.
Can it download books from the Internet Archive?
No. NeoDownloader takes the archive's films, sound recordings and live music. Books, software and pictures stay with the archive's own Download options, and a book the library lends is read on archive.org.
Should I use the item's torrent or the ia tool instead?
If you want every file of an item - the master and all its copies - its torrent or the ia command-line tool does exactly that. NeoDownloader takes the one file of each film you would watch and every episode or track, from an address you paste.
What quality are Internet Archive movies downloaded in?
The largest MP4 the archive has for each film, no higher than the quality you choose in the wizard. Many old films are in standard definition, and nothing is enlarged or re-compressed.
Ready to Download from the Internet Archive?
Choose a film or a collection the library keeps and give it a place on your own disk. The free version has no time limit.
Available for Windows, Mac and Linux