Google's web cache is moving. Here are 3 free replacements

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Note: One of Google’s most useful and underappreciated features is on the verge of extinction.

I’m talkin’ about a cache-calling system that’s been quietly existing inside Google Search for years—usually hidden inside an invisible menu within your search results.

That system allows you to access a snapshot of any recent website, which was a useful way to look back at a site if it has recently changed or is offline. After keen internet watchers noticed its absence within Search earlier this year, Google confirmed that it was in fact in the midst of withdrawing the feature.

But fear not, my web surfer, because you can still get a backup of any website without Google—if you know how.

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Instant cache—no Google required

First things first: Technically, Google’s cached page system is something it’s still available right now, even if it’s not linked or mentioned anywhere. You can do a Google search cache: followed by any web address to go directly to the results for that page.

But that doesn’t seem to work for long. So now is a good time to teach yourself a new trick to accomplish the same without the help of Google.

⌚ Good news? It will just take you one to two minutes to do. And you have several different and equally effective options.

1. Open Bing or the Wayback Machine

It may have been the first time in my life that I used the phrase “Bing it” without any profanity attached. But it’s worth it- because while Google is removing its cache system, the same feature isn’t going anywhere in Microsoft’s search setup (for now, at least!).

➜ With that in mind, the easiest way to get a backup of any site is to .go to Bing.com and type the full address of the page in question into the Bing search box.

If a backup copy of the site is available, you’ll see a downward-pointing arrow directly to the right of the URL in the search results—under the site’s name—just like Google used to offer.

Bing it, baby! The most searched cache option is still only one click away from Bing web results.

Click that arrow, and an option to take a cached, offline copy of the site will appear in front of you.

➜ Another great resource is the nonprofit Internet Archive and its comprehensive, if often slow, Wayback Machine. Go to Archive.org and type or paste the address of the page you want to see in the Wayback Machine box at the top of the screen. You’ll see an extensive list of all the cached copies of that page, often going back years.

And either way, you can set them up for easy continuous access, if you want. . .

2. View the cached website with a simple bookmark

On a desktop computer browser, a bit of Javascript in your browser’s bookmark bar will create a quick ‘n’ website cache-summoner that you need to be able to use it whenever the need arises.

➜ Just select and copy this code snippet directly:

javascript:(function(){ if(location.href.indexOf(‘http’)!=0){input=prompt(‘URL:’,’

Then, on your desktop computer, right-click on the browser bookmarks bar at the top of the screen. (If you don’t see it, press Ctrl-Shift-B to toggle it on or off.) Select the option to add a new page, and set its name to A repository and paste that code as a URL.

That will create a one-click button in that area of your browser to pull up Wayback Machine results for any website you’re viewing, at any time.

3. View the cached website using a browser extension

Finally, you can rely on a ready-made browser extension to accomplish the same thing and create a custom button to view the cache of the website you need.

On Chrome or Edge, the aptly named (and open source) Web Archives extension will give you easy access to a cached version of any page you’re viewing from a variety of sources—including both Bing and Reverse Engine.

That extension is only available in desktop versions of browsers as of now, but its equivalent version is Firefox it will also work within the Firefox Android app for on-the-go access.

So there you have it: three options for naming a website cache don’t do it rely on Google’s cache system that will soon leave this world.

Just choose the method you like, and rest easy knowing you’ll never have a problem traveling through our virtual past again.

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