How to Upload and Manage Internet Archive Files with RcloneView
The Internet Archive preserves human knowledge — books, music, software, video, and web pages — for free, forever. RcloneView makes it easy to upload, organize, and sync your own files to archive.org without touching the command line.
The Internet Archive (archive.org) offers free, permanent cloud storage for publicly shareable files. It's used by researchers, archivists, educators, and anyone who wants to contribute to the digital commons. Rclone's Internet Archive backend makes it scriptable, and RcloneView wraps that power in a visual interface — letting you browse your archive items, upload new files, and sync collections with a few clicks.
Manage & Sync All Clouds in One Place
RcloneView is a cross-platform GUI for rclone. Compare folders, transfer or sync files, and automate multi-cloud workflows with a clean, visual interface.
- One-click jobs: Copy · Sync · Compare
- Schedulers & history for reliable automation
- Works with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, S3, WebDAV, SFTP and more
Free core features. Plus automations available.
What You Can Do with RcloneView + Internet Archive
- Upload files and folders to existing or new archive.org items
- Browse your uploaded items visually, like a file manager
- Sync local collections to the Internet Archive for preservation
- Copy files between the Internet Archive and other cloud providers
- Monitor transfer progress in real time
Setting Up the Internet Archive Remote
Step 1 — Get your Internet Archive credentials
- Create a free account at archive.org.
- Go to My Account → Settings → Security and generate an S3-like API key (Access Key + Secret Key). Despite the name, this is not AWS — it's archive.org's own S3-compatible API.
Step 2 — Add the remote in RcloneView
Open RcloneView and click New Remote:
- Choose Internet Archive from the remote type list.
- Enter your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key from archive.org.
- Name the remote (e.g.,
internet-archive) and save.
Step 3 — Browse your items
After connecting, RcloneView shows your archive.org items as folders. Each "item" on the Internet Archive is a container for one upload (like an album, a book scan, or a video collection).
Uploading Files to the Internet Archive
Upload a new item
To create a new archive.org item and upload files into it:
- In the right panel of RcloneView, navigate inside your
internet-archiveremote. - Create a new folder with a unique item identifier (e.g.,
my-1980s-radio-recordings). - Drag and drop files from your local panel into the item folder.
RcloneView transfers the files and shows live progress. The Internet Archive processes uploads asynchronously — your item will be publicly accessible within a few minutes to hours depending on file size.
Upload to an existing item
Navigate to an existing item folder and copy or move files into it. RcloneView handles the multipart upload and retry logic automatically.
Syncing a Local Archive Collection
To keep a local folder synchronized with an Internet Archive item — ideal for ongoing archiving projects:
- Open Jobs in RcloneView.
- Set Source to your local folder (e.g.,
D:\my-archive-project). - Set Destination to your Internet Archive item (e.g.,
internet-archive:my-1980s-radio-recordings). - Choose Sync mode to upload only new or changed files.
- Schedule it to run weekly or on demand.
Downloading and Copying from the Internet Archive
RcloneView works both ways. You can also:
- Download files from public archive.org items to your local machine.
- Copy items from the Internet Archive to another cloud (e.g., archive.org → Google Drive or Backblaze B2) for redundant preservation.
Important Notes about the Internet Archive Backend
| Behavior | Detail |
|---|---|
| Item creation | New folders become new archive.org items |
| Visibility | Uploaded items are public by default |
| File deletion | Deletions are queued; archive.org processes them slowly |
| Checksums | MD5 checksums are verified on upload |
| Rate limits | Respect archive.org's crawl limits — avoid hammering the API |
Use Cases
Digital archiving projects — Upload scans, recordings, or documents you want permanently preserved in the public domain.
Software preservation — Contribute old software, games, or ROMs (where licensing allows) to the archive.
Backup redundancy — Use the Internet Archive as a free secondary backup tier for non-sensitive, publicly shareable data.
Research datasets — Upload datasets with a public license so researchers worldwide can access them.
Getting Started
- Download RcloneView from rcloneview.com.
- Generate your archive.org API keys at archive.org under Account Settings.
- Add the Internet Archive remote in RcloneView's remote setup wizard.
- Upload, sync, and preserve — your files will live on archive.org for free, forever.
The Internet Archive has been saving the web and human culture since 1996. RcloneView makes it straightforward to contribute your own digital materials.
Related Guides:
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