WARC Converter
FileFlip converts WARC files into 11 other formats entirely inside your browser, using libarchive compiled to WebAssembly. The WARC file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. There is no file-size limit and no account to create.
How do I convert a WARC file?#
- Drop your WARC file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer.
- Choose the format you want out of it. FileFlip downloads the engine that conversion needs, once, and your browser caches it.
- Conversion starts the moment you pick the format, and the result is yours to download. The work happens in this tab, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is queued.
Is it safe to convert WARC files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts WARC files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What happens to a WARC file#
FileFlip converts WARC into 11 formats with libarchive, all of it inside the browser tab. Each conversion below names the engine it uses, what it downloads, and exactly what that conversion keeps or drops.
| Category | Archives |
|---|---|
| File extension | .warc |
| FileFlip support | Read only, so it is a source rather than a target |
| Conversions available | 11 |
| Engines | libarchive |
| Downloaded to your browser | 1.0 MB on the first conversion, then cached |
What is a WARC file?#
A WARC file is a sequence of records that each capture one HTTP request and response, or another web-harvesting transaction, exactly as it crossed the wire, headers included, so a crawl can be replayed rather than merely read.
Use WARC when a crawl or website capture needs to preserve exactly what was sent and received, not just the resulting files.
Convert a WARC's contents to plain files when only the captured pages or media are needed and the HTTP-level record of the crawl itself does not matter.
The WARC file format reference covers the specification, the programs that open one, and what each conversion keeps or drops.
WARC questions people ask#
What does a WARC file actually store?
A WARC file stores a sequence of records, each one a full HTTP request or response exactly as it crossed the wire, headers and all, along with metadata like the crawl timestamp. That is different from saving a webpage's files directly, because a WARC also preserves how the server responded, including redirects, status codes and content negotiation.
How do I open a WARC file?
A WARC file needs archive-replay software rather than a browser, since it is a log of HTTP traffic rather than a folder of pages. Webrecorder's ReplayWeb.page opens one in a browser tab and replays the captured site as if it were live, and the warcio command-line tool can inspect or extract individual records.
Why does the Internet Archive use WARC instead of just saving web pages?
WARC preserves the complete HTTP exchange the Internet Archive's crawlers captured, not just the final rendered page, which is what lets the Wayback Machine show accurate status codes, redirects and content-type headers years later. Saving files alone would lose that protocol-level context.
Is WARC an official standard?
Yes. WARC was standardized by the International Organization for Standardization as ISO 28500, developed through the International Internet Preservation Consortium, and it is the format essentially every serious web crawler and archive now writes.