Google Search 'Cached' Feature Has Been Killed: Here Are Free Alternatives You Can Try Instead

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google has killed another feature. This time, it's Google Search's "cached" feature that has been shut down.

What Happened: Google has confirmed that it killed the "cached" feature following reports from users who said it was missing.

While we noticed the feature was missing, manually adding the "cache:" prefix to a webpage link still works for now.

The Google Search "cached" tool was originally designed to assist users in accessing pages when page loading was unreliable. However, with advancements in technology, this feature has become less necessary and has been retired, according to a post by the company.

Hey, catching up. Yes, it's been removed. I know, it's sad. I'm sad too. It's one of our oldest features. But it was meant for helping people access pages when way back, you often couldn't depend on a page loading. These days, things have greatly improved. So, it was decided to…

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 1, 2024

Google's Search Liaison also suggested that the retired feature could potentially be replaced with links to the Internet Archive, a digital library that allows users to see how a web page has evolved over time. However, this would require coordination with the non-profit organization.

See Also: How To Fix WhatsApp Using Up Google Drive Storage Space

Why It Matters: The removal of this feature marks the end of an era in Google Search’s history. The cache feature was one of Google’s oldest tools, designed at a time when users couldn’t always rely on page loading properly.

Google Search ‘Cached' Alternatives

If you rely on the "cached" feature in Google Search, multiple options are already available.

1. Use ‘Cache:' Prefix

Simply prefixing "cache:" (without the inverted quotes) to a webpage's link will open a cached version stored on Google's servers.

This is the easiest alternative for now.

2. Internet Archives

Non-profit internet archives are also a good alternative that you can consider. These archives, like Archive.org or Archive.is also offers additional functionality over Google Search's "cached" feature.

For instance, if a web page has been archived multiple times on different dates on these internet archives, you will be able to view all those versions.

This can be useful if a website regularly updates its pages and gives you an additional option to compare changes, if any.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash