# Pastebin.com

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pastebin.com
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pastebin.com.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastebin.com
> Source revision: 1347735405
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Online text storage website}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Pastebin
| logo = Pastebin.com logo.png
| logo_size = 150px
| logo_alt = Pastebin.com logo
| logo_caption = <!-- or: | logocaption =  -->
| screenshot = Pastebin.com screenshot.png
| collapsible = <!-- set as "on", "y", etc, otherwise omit/leave blank -->
| collapsetext = <!-- collapsible area's heading (default "Screenshot"); omit/leave blank if collapsible not set -->
| background = <!-- for collapsetext heading; default grey (gainsboro) -->
| screenshot_size = 
| screenshot_alt = 
| caption = 
| url = {{URL|https://pastebin.com}}
| ipv6 = Yes
| commercial = <!-- "Yes", "No" or leave blank -->
| type = [Web application](/source/Web_application)
| registration = Optional (required for creating private pastes)
| language = 
| num_users = 17 million (2019)<ref name=Users>{{cite web |title=What is Pastebin and Why Do Hackers Love It? |url=https://www.echosec.net/blog/what-is-pastebin-and-why-do-hackers-love-it |website=www.echosec.net |publisher=Echosec Systems |access-date=February 15, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=March 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304064212/https://www.echosec.net/blog/what-is-pastebin-and-why-do-hackers-love-it |url-status=live }}</ref>
| content_license = <!-- or: | content_licence = -->
| programming_language = [PHP](/source/PHP)
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| author = Paul Dixon
| editor = <!-- or: | editors = -->
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2002|9|3}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whois.domaintools.com/pastebin.com|title=PasteBin.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools|work=[WHOIS](/source/WHOIS)|date=|accessdate=December 3, 2016|archive-date=November 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113180619/https://whois.domaintools.com/pastebin.com|url-status=live}}</ref>
| revenue = 
| issn = <!-- ISSN, e.g. 1085-6706 (automatically linked to http://www.WorldCat.org) -->
| oclc = <!-- OCLC number, useful where an ISSN has not been allocated (automatically linked to http://www.WorldCat.org) -->
| current_status = Active
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Pastebin.com''' is a [text storage site](/source/Pastebin). It was created on September 3, 2002 by Paul Dixon, and reached 1 million active pastes (excluding spam and expired pastes) eight years later, in 2010.<ref name="techcrunch">{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/26/pastebin-surpasses-10-million-active-pastes/ |title=Pastebin.com Surpasses 10 Million "Active" Pastes |publisher=TechCrunch.com |date=October 26, 2011 |accessdate=October 27, 2011 |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027113738/http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/26/pastebin-surpasses-10-million-active-pastes/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

It features syntax highlighting for a variety of [programming](/source/Programming_language) and [markup languages](/source/Markup_language), as well as view counters for pastes and user profiles. Users can submit pastes as guests without registration, but an account allows managing pastes.

== History ==
By October 2011, the site's active pastes numbers exceeded 10 million.<ref name="techcrunch" /> 

* In July 2012, the owners of Pastebin.com  [tweeted](/source/Twitter) that they had surpassed the 20 million active pastes mark.<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=220410523840286720 |user=pastebin |title=Time for cake!!! Pastebin.com now hosts more than 20 million active pastes! Stats -&gt; pastebin.com/stats |date=July 4, 2012 |author=Pastebin }}</ref> 

* On June 9, 2015, they announced they had reached 65 million active pastes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pastebin/posts/1072434209437854|title=Pastebin on Facebook: "Pastebin reached another big milestone yesterday..."|website=[Facebook](/source/Facebook)|publisher=|access-date=December 3, 2016|archive-date=August 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830040029/https://www.facebook.com/pastebin/posts/1072434209437854|url-status=live}}</ref> They also mentioned that around 75% of pastes are either unlisted or private.<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=614326465551839232|user=pastebin|title=Fun fact, over 75% of all pastes created on Pastebin these days are unlisted or private.|date=June 25, 2015|author=Pastebin}}</ref>

* In December 2015, Pastebin.com reached 95 million active pastes, and more than 2 million members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/16/pastebin-the-text-sharing-website-updates-with-an-emphasis-on-code/|title=Pastebin, The Text Sharing Website, Updates With An Emphasis On Code|first=John|last=Biggs|date=December 16, 2015|publisher=|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200923134413/https://techcrunch.com/2015/12/16/pastebin-the-text-sharing-website-updates-with-an-emphasis-on-code/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [2014 Venezuelan protests](/source/2014_Venezuelan_protests), Pastebin.com was [blocked](/source/Internet_censorship) by the country's government as one of the sites used by activists sharing information pertaining to the protests.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Internet a crucial Venezuela battleground |url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Internet-a-crucial-Venezuela-battleground |newspaper=Jamaica Observer |location=Kingston, Jamaica |agency=Associated Press |date=February 23, 2014 |accessdate=August 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113103321/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Internet-a-crucial-Venezuela-battleground |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2020, Pastebin.com removed their built-in search feature and restricted their [web scraping](/source/web_scraping) [API](/source/application_programming_interface), including for paid lifetime subscribers of ''Pastebin Pro''. As an additional [spam](/source/Spamming) prevention measure, pastes from users not logged in are hidden from the list of recent pastes, visible in the site's side bar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pastebin Made It Harder To Scrape Its Site And Researchers Are Pissed Off |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/pastebin-made-it-harder-to-scrape-its-site-and-researchers-are-pissed-off/ |website=Vice.com |date=April 16, 2020 |language=en |access-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227085334/https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3m83v/pastebin-made-it-harder-to-scrape-its-site-and-researchers-are-pissed-off |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2020, two new features were added to the site. Users became able to password-protect pastes from viewing and request the paste be deleted immediately once viewed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=September 2020|first=Anthony Spadafora 28|title=Pastebin may have just doomed us all|url=https://www.techradar.com/news/pastebin-may-have-just-doomed-us-all|access-date=September 30, 2020|website=TechRadar|date=September 28, 2020|language=en|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929073205/https://www.techradar.com/news/pastebin-may-have-just-doomed-us-all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=online|first=heise|title=Pastebin.com: Zwei neue Features könnten Malware-Machern in die Hände spielen|url=https://www.heise.de/news/Pastebin-com-Zwei-neue-Features-koennten-Malware-Machern-in-die-Haende-spielen-4913844.html|access-date=September 30, 2020|website=Security|language=de|archive-date=September 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930002820/https://www.heise.de/news/Pastebin-com-Zwei-neue-Features-koennten-Malware-Machern-in-die-Haende-spielen-4913844.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 14, 2020, the terms of service were updated and the mention that contributions were CC BY-SA was removed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastebin.com Terms of Service UPDATED |url=https://pastebin.com/doc_terms_of_service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014191902/https://pastebin.com/doc_terms_of_service |archive-date=14 October 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pastebin.com is a popular source of [.onion](/source/.onion) links that lead to the [dark web](/source/dark_web).<ref>{{cite news|last=Koebler|first=Jason|title=The Closest Thing to a Map of the Dark Net: Pastebin|website=[Motherboard](/source/Vice_(magazine))|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-closest-thing-to-a-map-of-the-dark-net-pastebin/|access-date=July 14, 2015|date=February 23, 2015|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108163041/https://www.vice.com/en/article/9akgxy/the-closest-thing-to-a-map-of-the-dark-net-pastebin|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [Pastebin](/source/Pastebin)
* [Snippet (programming)](/source/Snippet_(programming))

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://pastebin.com}}
* [https://github.com/lordelph/pastebin Original source code]

Category:File sharing services
Category:Internet properties established in 2002

{{Website-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pastebin.com](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastebin.com) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastebin.com?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.