# HTTrack bot

HTTrack is not a bot from a service but an open-source website copier and offline browser utility. It allows an individual user to download a complete, browseable copy of a website to their local computer. Its presence in your logs means someone has specifically chosen to archive your site for offline viewing or preservation. This activity is manually initiated by a user, not part of an automated, web-wide crawl.

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- [HTTrack bot](https://plainsignal.com/agents/httrack-bot)


## What is HTTrack?

HTTrack is an open-source website copying utility that allows a user to download an entire website to their local machine for offline browsing. It functions as a website mirroring tool, recursively downloading all HTML, images, and other files while rebuilding the site's original link structure. When it accesses a website, it identifies itself with a user-agent string such as `Mozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)`. Unlike search engine bots, which index content for a public service, HTTrack downloads a site for the private use of the individual operating the tool.


## Why is HTTrack crawling my site?

The presence of HTTrack in your server logs indicates that an individual user is creating a local copy of your website. This is not part of a large-scale, automated crawl; it is a targeted action by someone who wants to access your content offline. Their reasons could be for research, personal archiving, or to prepare for a site migration. The crawl is manually initiated and its frequency depends entirely on the user's settings. While the tool itself is legitimate, its use may or may not be authorized, depending on your site's terms of service.


## What is the purpose of HTTrack?

The primary purpose of HTTrack is to create complete, offline copies of websites. This is useful for browsing content without an internet connection, archiving web content for preservation, or supporting research that requires offline access. The tool does not provide any direct benefit to the website owner, unlike a search engine crawler that can increase visibility. However, its use does indicate that a user finds your content valuable enough to save for their personal reference.


## How do I block HTTrack?

If you wish to prevent users from downloading your site with HTTrack, you can add a rule to your `robots.txt` file. This is the standard method for communicating with well-behaved crawlers and mirroring tools.

To block HTTrack, add the following lines to your `robots.txt` file:

```
User-agent: HTTrack
Disallow: /
```


## Related agents and operators


## Canonical

Human friendly, reader version of this article is available at [HTTrack bot](https://plainsignal.com/agents/httrack-bot)

## Copyright

(c) 2025 [PlainSignal](https://plainsignal.com/ "Privacy-focused, simple website analytics")