Viewing the Source

All Internet browsers allow users to view the HTML or other source code of any of the web pages they visit. For example, a user can view the code used to generate this page.

When viewing the source code of a web page it is important that you keep in mind that only information and code that is not processed by the server will be displayed in the source code. For example, almost all Internet search engines process information on the server and then display the results on a web page. This means you can view the code used to generate the results page but you cannot view the search engine's source code.

Internet Explorer can display the HTML source code for Web pages, but it cannot display encrypted scripts or compiled modules such as ActiveX Controls. Internet Explorer also cannot display the source code for an Active Server Page (ASP). 

To view the HTML source code for a Web page using Internet Explorer 3.x and later, click Source on the View menu. To view the HTML source code for a Web page using Internet Explorer 2.x, right-click the Web page, and then click View Source.

Many Web pages use frames to display several Web pages on the same screen. To view the HTML source code for a Web page that contains frames, right- click the Web page in a frame, and then click View Source.