What are stored copies of previously viewed web pages referred to as?

Stored copies of previously viewed web pages are referred to as a cache. The cache is a temporary storage location on your computer or device where web browsers save files, images, and other data from websites you've visited. This functionality is designed to help the browser load previously accessed web pages more quickly, as it can retrieve the stored content from the cache instead of downloading it again from the internet.

Caching improves the efficiency of browsing and reduces loading times, enhancing the user experience. The cache stores these files so that when you revisit a website, it can utilize the saved data to present the webpage more rapidly than if it had to obtain all data from the web server each time. This is especially useful for frequently accessed sites, as it reduces bandwidth usage and server load.

In contrast, archives usually refer to collections of data that are no longer actively used or are kept for historical reference, history files may include a log of all sites visited in the browser but are not cached copies, and backups are duplicates of data stored for recovery purposes, rather than immediate access to web pages.