You will need a to register for a free account on archive.org before you can upload.
If you would like to do so now, click on this link: free account to be redirected.
What files can I upload?
By having a free account, you will be able to upload files such as music and audio recordings; videos, software and images, and much more.
Please refer to our Terms of Use and our Rights section for more information about the content that users may upload.
What file formats should I use to upload?
There are generally three categories of files that you can use and each has their own format.
They are Data Files, Metadata files, and Research Files.
If you would like to get the exact details, as well as the tips to managing these files, click on this link, file formats page to go there now.
Is there a video tutorial I can watch to see how to upload?
Yes, there is. The video below will walk you through the basic process for uploading files.
In order to upload files to the internet archive, you need to first be logged or signed in (it means the same thing) to your free account. So let’s go ahead and do just that.
1. Login by clicking on the SIGN IN option. If you do not have a free Internet Archive account, you will be prompted to sign up for one.
2. Enter your account email address and password to the fields provided and click the blue login button.
3. You will be redirected to your home page. You will know you are logged in when the SIGN IN button is replaced by your Username.
4. Select the upload icon between the signed in name and the Search box.
5. You will be directed to a screen where you can select how you would like to upload your files.
Please note: The type of browser you are using will determine which option you select. For most non-internet Explorer users, select the green Upload Files button.
6. You will be asked to either Drag & Drop files from your computer onto the gray box or to select the Choose files to upload button. Both ways will enable you to upload your files.
7. You will be asked to complete the metadata form. This is so that we can archive it and so that others can find your files.
Upload form metadata
Page Title (required) – This will be the title of the item page
Page URL (required) – you need to add an identifier – this is the tail end of the URL of your item pages. It should be 5-80 characters.
We suggest using meaningful words related to the content of the item you are creating.
It needs to be unique on the site.
If it is already in use, the year and month will be appended to your identifier.
We recommend only letters, numbers, dashes or underscores. We strongly prefer using lower case letters.
No special characters.
Description (required) – Please describe the materials you are uploading. You may add links and text styling.
Subject Tags (required) – Please add relevant tags. Please do not exceed 10 tags.
Creator – The person or entity that created the content you are uploading.
Date – The date the content was created.
Collection – This will automatically be chosen based on the file format you are uploading. There are choices if the auto-selected collection is not what you want.
Test Item – For uploading test materials. Items uploaded to the test collection will be removed in approximately 30 days.
Language – This is especially important for text items as it will be used to determine what language should be specified for OCR. Not all languages are OCRable. Handwritten text is not OCRable regardless of language.
License – From the Creative Commons website: “Creative Commons licenses help you share your work while keeping your copyright. Other people can copy and distribute your work, but only on certain conditions.” You can choose a license to associate with your contribution and this license will be linked to when users see the details page.
More options – You can add custom metadata pairs.
8. Click the Upload and Create Your Item button. You will see a status bar which will indicate your page is being created. Please note that this does take some time, depending on the activity of the site.
9. When the item creation tasks are complete, you will automatically be redirected to your new item page.
10. Several other tasks need to run before the item is complete. This can take seconds, hours or days depending on the amount and type of data uploaded.
Can I batch or bulk upload files?
Yes, you can. But, due to the time it takes to bulk upload files, we recommend using the Internet Archive Command-Line Tool to script your upload.
If you would like to go and find more information about the tool, click this link: Internet Archive Command-line Tool. It does, however, require you to be quite comfortable with Unix.
How do I name my files?
There are certain restrictions around file names.
Support for file names is limited to basic ASCII characters.
Please use only unaccented letters, numbers, dashes, underscores or periods.
Do not use special characters.