How to Download a Website as a ZIP File

“Download the website as a ZIP” sounds like one task. It is three, and the right method depends on which one you mean:

The files of your own site — HTML, images, themes, maybe the database — so you can back it up or move it to another host.
A browsable copy of a site you don’t control — everything a browser would load, saved to your disk so it opens offline.
A record of what every page looks like — one file per page, for a client, a dispute, or the version before a redesign.

Pick the wrong one and you get a ZIP that does not do what you needed: a folder of PHP files that will not open in a browser, or a “copy” of a modern site where every page is blank. Here is each method, what ends up inside the ZIP, and where it breaks.

Quick answer

What you need	Use	What’s in the ZIP
Back up or move your own site	Hosting file manager, a backup plugin, or your host’s deploy download	Source files (plus a database export, if the site has one)
An offline copy of any site	HTTrack, wget or SiteSucker, then compress the folder	The HTML, CSS, scripts and images the server sends
A record of how each page looks	A full-site capture tool that exports per-page files	One PDF (or PNG/JPG) per page, named after its URL

1. Your own site: download the source files

If you own the site, the cleanest copy comes from where it is hosted — not from the outside.

Hosting with cPanel or a similar file manager

Open File Manager and go to the site’s folder — usually public_html.
Select everything, choose Compress, and pick ZIP Archive.
Download the ZIP that appears, then delete it from the server so it is not left publicly reachable.

This gets the files only. A WordPress site keeps its posts, pages and settings in a database, not in files — so also export the database (phpMyAdmin → Export) or the ZIP will restore an empty site.

WordPress

A backup plugin does both halves for you. UpdraftPlus, Duplicator and All-in-One WP Migration each package the files and the database into downloadable archives, and each can restore them on another host. This is the right tool when the goal is a move or a backup you can restore.

Static sites, Netlify and GitHub

Netlify: open a successful deploy in the Deploys list and download it — you get a ZIP of the built files Netlify actually serves (the output, not your framework source).
GitHub: if the site lives in a repository, Code → Download ZIP gives you the source.

Website builders: Webflow, Wix, Squarespace

Builders are the exception, because the site is generated on their servers:

Webflow can export HTML, CSS, JavaScript and assets as a ZIP from the Designer (Code export, or Shift+E) — on a paid Workspace plan only. CMS content, ecommerce and user accounts are not included.
Wix does not let you download or export a site’s files; Wix staff confirm it is not possible.
Squarespace has no code export either.

For a Wix or Squarespace site, the closest thing to “the whole site in a ZIP” is method 3 below: a capture of every page as it renders.

2. Someone else’s site: use a website copier

A website copier starts at a URL, follows the links, and saves every page and asset it finds into a folder, rewriting links so the copy can be browsed offline. Compress that folder and you have your ZIP (Windows: right-click → Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder; macOS: right-click → Compress).

HTTrack (Windows, Linux)

Free and open source. Create a project, enter the URL, choose Download web site(s), and let it run. For anything bigger than a few pages, set a depth limit and stay on the same domain, or it will happily start downloading the rest of the internet.

wget (any platform, command line)

wget --mirror \
  --convert-links \
  --adjust-extension \
  --page-requisites \
  --no-parent \
  https://example.com/

(On Windows, write it as one line without the backslashes.) --mirror follows links recursively, --page-requisites pulls the images and CSS each page needs, and --convert-links makes the copy work offline. Then: zip -r example.zip example.com.

SiteSucker (macOS)

A paid Mac App Store app that does the same job with a friendlier window. Paste the URL, press Download.

Where copiers break

Copiers save what the server sends. They do not run JavaScript. That used to be a footnote; now it is the main limitation:

Sites built with React, Vue or a builder often send a nearly empty page and build the content in the browser. The copy opens to a blank page or a loading spinner. (More on why in saving JavaScript websites as PDF.)
Anything behind a login is out of reach unless you pass the copier your session.
Search, forms and checkout stop working — there is no server behind the copy.
Lazy-loaded images that appear only on scroll are often missing.

Be considerate, too: limit the crawl speed, respect the site’s terms, and keep a copy of someone else’s site for your own reference — republishing it is a different matter.

3. A ZIP of what every page looks like

Sometimes you do not need the code at all. You need proof of what the site showed: the version a client signed off on, the page before a redesign, a competitor’s offer on a given date, or a site that is about to go offline. For that, the useful ZIP holds one rendered file per page — and it is also the only option that works on Wix, Squarespace and JavaScript-heavy sites, because each page is rendered in a real browser before it is saved.

With Site2PDF:

Open the tool, choose Full Website, and paste the site’s address.
It reads the site’s sitemap — or follows its links when there is none — and lists the pages. Untick the ones you don’t want and drag the rest into order.
Pick the format: PNG or JPG (images always come as a ZIP, on every plan), or PDF with Separate files · ZIP (a paid-plan option).
Press Generate Website Archive and download the ZIP when it is ready.

Inside, each page is its own file, numbered in your order and named after its URL — 001-home.png, 002-pricing.png, 003-blog-launch-notes.png. Every page is captured in real Chrome after scrolling to the bottom, so lazy-loaded images are there and cookie banners are removed. Choose PDF and each file also keeps an invisible text layer, so you can search it and copy text even though the page looks pixel-exact.

Prefer one file? Leave PDF on Single file and every page goes into one combined PDF — handy for handing a site over to a client. A free account covers small sites; larger sites need a paid plan or a one-off pack, and a ZIP of separate PDFs needs a paid plan — see pricing.

What this ZIP is not: editable source. You cannot upload it to a new host and get a working site back. It is a record — which is exactly what methods 1 and 2 do not give you.

Which one should you use?

Moving or backing up your own site → method 1. A capture is not a backup you can restore.
Reading a site offline, or studying how it is built → method 2, if the site is mostly plain HTML.
Showing what a site looked like, keeping a dated record, or saving a builder or JavaScript site → method 3.

Often the honest answer is two of them: a backup plugin for the files, and a PDF of every page for the record.

FAQ

Can I download an entire website as a ZIP for free?

Yes. Your host’s file manager, HTTrack and wget are free, and so is a ZIP of page images of a small site in Site2PDF. What you get differs: files from the first ones, rendered pages from the last.

Does the ZIP include the database?

Only if you export it. Compressing the site’s folder captures files; WordPress content lives in the database, so export it separately or use a backup plugin that bundles both.

Why is my downloaded copy blank or broken?

The site builds its pages with JavaScript and the copier does not run it. Use a tool that renders each page in a real browser before saving it.

Is it legal to download someone else’s website?

Saving a copy for your own reference is generally fine; republishing it or reusing its content usually is not. Check the site’s terms, and do not hammer the server with a fast crawl.

The takeaway

Decide what the ZIP is for before you make it. Files to restore come from your host. A browsable copy comes from a copier — if the site is plain HTML. A record of how each page actually looked comes from rendering the pages: site2pdf.online turns a whole site into a ZIP of PDFs in a few minutes.