newspapers.com

November 20, 2025

What Newspapers.com Is

Newspapers.com is an online archive of historical newspapers. It’s essentially a massive database where you can search and view digitized pages from old newspapers — local, regional, national — going back centuries in some cases. The company describes itself as the largest online newspaper archive.

Instead of browsing microfilm or library archives in person, Newspapers.com lets you access full newspaper pages on your computer. You can view articles, ads, comics, sports pages, obituaries, social notices, announcements, and more exactly as they appeared in print.

Most of the content is historical: newspapers from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries up into more recent decades, with coverage varying by title and date range.

It’s owned by the same corporate family as Ancestry.com and operates like a research tool for people looking into history, genealogy, local studies, or cultural trends captured in newspapers.

How It Works

When you go to Newspapers.com, you’ll be greeted with a search interface. You can type in keywords — a person’s name, a town, an event, whatever you’re researching — and it will return hits from its archived newspaper pages.

The site uses OCR (optical character recognition) to make the scanned pages text-searchable, which is critical because otherwise you’d be looking at image files that you couldn’t search by keyword.

Once you find a result that looks relevant, you can zoom in on the page, clip the article or portion you want, and save it or print it. Many people use these clippings to assemble research, compile family history, or document details that aren’t easily found in other records.

There are some limitations. Not all content from every newspaper ever published is included. The coverage depends on what titles have been digitized and licensed. Some smaller papers may have only partial runs included. Some newer or currently copyrighted papers are available only at higher subscription levels.

Subscription and Access

Newspapers.com requires a paid subscription for full access. They have different tiers — a basic plan that includes access to a portion of the archive, and a more expensive “Publisher Extra” type plan that includes millions more pages and more recent issues.

They also offer a free trial period in many regions, which lets you explore the tool for a short time without paying. You typically sign up with an email and payment method, and if you don’t cancel before the trial ends, you’ll be charged.

Some libraries provide access to Newspapers.com through their own subscriptions. In those cases, library card holders can use the database for free via the library’s portal. That’s a good way to get access without a personal subscription if your local library participates.

What You Can Find There

The content on Newspapers.com spans a wide range of newspaper types and subjects:

• Obituaries and death notices — a rich source of dates, places, and relationships that genealogists often seek.
• Birth and marriage announcements — these can fill in family history details not readily available in other records.
• News articles — both national and local stories, including politics, crime, and community events.
• Social columns and local happenings — small snippets that tell you what was going on in a particular place at a particular time.
• Advertisements and classifieds — these can be surprisingly useful for historical research, showing businesses, products, and social norms of the time.
• Comics, sports pages, and entertainment sections — these aren’t just fun; they can show cultural trends and community interests.

Because newspapers historically covered such a broad range of human life, you often find information in these archives that you won’t find in government records or family trees.

Genealogy and Historical Research

One of the biggest use cases for Newspapers.com is genealogy. People researching their family history use it to find names, dates, locations, and context around their ancestors’ lives.

For example, you might find an obituary with details about a relative’s life, names of siblings, places of residence, and even anecdotes that wouldn’t show up in official records.

Wedding announcements can list maiden names, addresses, and other names that connect family branches. Birth notices can confirm dates and hometowns. Social event coverage might show where people lived, worked, or who their friends were.

It’s not just for family history, though. Historians use the archive to track events over time, study local reactions to national and global events, and examine changes in culture and society. Teachers and students use it to support papers and projects about anything from early 20th-century fashion to how newspapers covered major wars.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Massive archive: billions of pages from thousands of newspapers.
• Searchable text: makes finding specific names and events much faster than browsing microfilm.
• Clipping and saving tools: simple ways to preserve what you find.
• Contextual depth: newspapers capture everyday life details that formal records don’t.

Weaknesses

• Paywall: You need a subscription for most content.
• Incomplete runs: Not all newspapers have full runs digitized.
• Regional bias: There’s heavier coverage of some places (often the U.S.) than others.

How It Compares to Other Newspaper Archives

There are other newspaper archives online, but Newspapers.com is notable for its size and broad coverage. GenealogyBank and some library-specific archives also offer digitized newspapers, and some free resources exist like Chronicling America (a U.S. government archive) or Trove (for Australian newspapers).

What you find depends on what you’re looking for. Some services focus more narrowly on specific regions or types of newspapers. Newspapers.com’s strength is breadth — a wide variety of titles from many places and times.

Practical Tips for Using Newspapers.com

• Start searches with broad terms and then refine — names plus dates, plus places, for example.
• Save or clip anything that looks useful because sometimes you won’t find the same item again.
• If cost is a concern, check with your local library to see if they offer free access.
• Try variant spellings and date ranges when searching names — OCR isn’t perfect, and old newspapers spelled things inconsistently.

Key Takeaways

• Newspapers.com is a large archive of digitized historical newspapers used for research in genealogy, history, and culture.
• You can search by keyword and view full newspaper pages with searchable text.
• It’s subscription-based, but library access or free trials can help you explore without personal cost.
• The content includes a wide range of newspaper material from announcements to advertisements.
• It complements other archives but stands out for its size and tools.

FAQ

Is Newspapers.com free to use?
No. Most access requires a paid subscription, though they offer a free trial and some libraries provide free access through their portals.

What can I find on Newspapers.com?
You can find historical newspaper articles, obituaries, announcements, comics, sports pages, advertisements, and more from thousands of newspapers.

Can I download articles?
Yes. The site lets you clip and save or print pages you find.

Is this useful for genealogy?
Yes. Many people use the site to uncover names, dates, and events related to ancestors and family history.

Does it include newspapers from outside the U.S.?
Yes, though most coverage is U.S.-centric. Some international titles are included as well, depending on the collection.