How to download a website you are logged into (on a Mac)

Some pages only exist when you're signed in: a course you've paid for, your own account pages, an intranet, a client portal, a forum's members area. Saving them for offline reading is a reasonable thing to want, and it's harder than copying a public site, because the tool doing the copying has to be signed in as you.

Before anything else: this is for content you're entitled to keep. Many services' terms say what you may and may not copy from them, logged in or not. Check, and don't share what you copy.

Option 1: One page at a time, from your browser

You're already signed in in your browser, so for a handful of pages that's the simplest route. Safari: File > Save As > Web Archive. Chrome: File > Save Page As > Webpage, Complete. Or print to PDF. It's free and safe, but it's manual and links between saved pages won't work.

Option 2: Command-line tools with your cookies

wget and HTTrack can both use a cookies.txt file exported from your browser, so their requests look signed in. HTTrack can also use a username and password for basic authentication, or record a login form through its --catchurl proxy.

This works, but it's fiddly: you need a browser extension to export the cookies, sessions often expire partway, and neither tool runs JavaScript, so sites built with React or similar come out blank.

Option 3: An app that lets you sign in first

Some Mac apps open a browser window, let you sign in normally, and reuse that session for the copy.

• SiteSucker has a built-in browser for this (manual), and asks you to exclude logout links yourself.
• Oxid SiteMirror has Sign in first… (part of the $19 licence): a browser window opens at the site, you log in yourself (two-factor codes and all), and when you close the window the capture runs with that session.

What SiteMirror does to keep it safe:

• It never sees your password. Only the session cookies are kept, inside the project, readable by your user account only.
• It skips logout and delete links. Addresses like /logout, /sign-out or ?action=delete aren't followed, so the copy doesn't sign itself out or change your account halfway through.
• Your session doesn't leave in exports. ZIP and folder exports leave the login files out, so you can share a copy without sharing your session.
• It renders JavaScript, so members areas built with modern frameworks can come out complete, though as with any site, check the copy.

Things to know whichever tool you use

• Sessions expire. If the site signs you out partway, the rest of the pages are copies of the login page. Sign in again and resume.
• Some sites resist automation. Banks and some large platforms tie sessions to a device or detect automated browsing. A well-behaved tool won't try to get around that.
• Video is a separate problem. Streamed course videos are usually protected and won't be captured as files.
• Be polite. Copying a members area quickly can look like an attack to the site. Keep the default pacing.

In short

For a few pages, save them from your browser. For a whole members area, use a tool that signs in through a real browser window rather than copied cookies. Oxid SiteMirror does that on macOS 14 or later; signing in before a capture is part of the $19 licence.