So you’ve created an Internet Archive account—now what? Your account serves as a digital library card that lets you engage with our collections in unique ways. While our resources can always be accessed for free without signing in, having an account gives you some special abilities as you begin exploring the archive. Here are a few ways to get started!
Borrow Books
Most of the books in our collection are from before 1925 and can be freely read, downloaded, and shared. Your account, however, gives you access to more modern books as well—millions of works that can be checked out for an hour at a time and renewed for as long as you need, depending on availability. Here’s a handy guide to using our Lending Library!
Upload Materials
While many of our resources come from our library partners, our ongoing digitization programs, or even government agencies, millions of items in the Internet Archive are uploaded by everyday users. Whether you’ve got old photos, ephemeral videos, historic yearbooks, preserved Flash animations, or episodes of a podcast, your Internet Archive account gives you a place to store them. Here’s how to get started with uploading!
Play Favorites
Is there something in the archive you keep coming back to again and again? The Favorites feature lets you mark your preferred items and collections for future reference—simply click the star underneath any item to save it to your profile.
You can also use your archive.org account to leave reviews on the items that you come across. If you want to share your love for a specific 78 or classic film, simply click “Add Review” at the bottom of the item page!
And More
Your Internet Archive account also allows you to:
–Sign up for email newsletters and control what types of email you get (simply adjust your Account Settings)
-Post questions and messages to the Internet Archive forums
-Edit or delete items you have previously uploaded
-Archive “outlinks” of Web pages with the Wayback Machine’s Save Page Now feature
-Save archived Web pages to a public “My web archives” page
Start Exploring
Whether you’re interested in audiobooks, vintage video games, live concert recordings, or ancient manuscripts, the Internet Archive has something for everybody. Read this article for some more collections to check out—or just start exploring from the front page.
We’re glad that you’ve joined our community and hope you find it useful. Enjoy the archive!