You want to save your Mastodon posts as a permanent, searchable archive that stays online even if your instance shuts down. Mastodon provides a built-in data export tool, but the default CSV and JSON files are not human-readable in a browser. This article explains how to convert your exported Mastodon data into a static HTML archive that you can host on any web server or view locally on your computer.
The process involves two main steps: downloading your Mastodon archive from your account settings, and then using a free command-line tool called Mastodon Archive Generator to transform the raw data into a complete set of linked HTML pages. This archive includes your toots, media attachments, profile information, and follower counts. The final output is a folder of static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that require no database or server-side processing.
By the end of this guide, you will have a fully functional offline archive of your Mastodon timeline that you can browse, share, or back up. This method works on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems and requires no coding skills beyond running a few terminal commands.