{{short description|Type of online content hosting service where users can store plain text}} {{This|the type of web application|the website|Pastebin.com}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2021}} {{Lead extra info|date=December 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} A '''pastebin''' or '''text storage site'''<ref>{{cite web|last1= Robertson|first1= Adi|title= Pastebin Hiring People to Proactively Remove 'Sensitive Information,' Says Owner|url= https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2922151/pastebin-hiring-people-to-proactively-remove-sensitive-information|publisher= The Verge|access-date= 19 February 2017|date= 3 April 2012|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170220093843/http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2922151/pastebin-hiring-people-to-proactively-remove-sensitive-information|archive-date= February 20, 2017|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1= Notopoulos|first1= Katie|title= Somebody's watching: how a simple exploit lets strangers tap into private security cameras|url= https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/3/2767453/trendnet-ip-camera-exploit-4chan|publisher= The Verge|access-date= 19 February 2017|date= 3 February 2012|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170220093909/http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/3/2767453/trendnet-ip-camera-exploit-4chan|archive-date= February 20, 2017|df= mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last= Cheok|first= Jacquelyn|title= First batch of personal data offenders slapped with fines, warnings|date= April 21, 2016|url= https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/first-batch-of-personal-data-offenders-slapped-with-fines-warnings|publisher= The Business Times|access-date= 19 February 2017 |url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170220093409/http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/first-batch-of-personal-data-offenders-slapped-with-fines-warnings|archive-date= February 20, 2017|df= mdy-all}}</ref> is a type of online content-hosting service where users can store plain text (e.g. source code snippets or error logs). The most well-known pastebin is the eponymous pastebin.com, created in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastebin.com|url=https://pastebin.com/ |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=Pastebin.com}}</ref> Many sites with similar functionality now exist, and several open source pastebin applications are available for self-hosting.

Text storage websites such as Pastebin allows users to create accounts in order to manage and organize their content. After registering, users can create and store multiple text entries, commonly referred to as "pastes". Account holders typically have the ability to edit or delete their stored content at any time. Many platforms also provide privacy options, allowing users to set their pastes as public or private depending on their preferences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastebin.com - FAQ [Frequently Asked Questions] |url=https://pastebin.com/faq |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=Pastebin.com}}</ref>

Pastebins may provide additional features such as commenting, rendering markup (e.g. Markdown, ReStructuredText), or version control.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forking and cloning gists |url=https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/writing-on-github/editing-and-sharing-content-with-gists/forking-and-cloning-gists |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=GitHub Docs |language=en}}</ref>

==History== Pastebin was developed in the late 1990s to facilitate IRC chatrooms devoted to computing, where users naturally need to share large blocks of computer input or output in a line-oriented medium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thenextweb.com/news/pastebin-how-a-popular-code-sharing-site-became-the-ultimate-hacker-hangout|title=Pastebin: How a popular code-sharing site became the ultimate hacker hangout|last=Brian|first=Matt|date=4 June 2011|website=TNW|publisher=Financial Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510042838/https://thenextweb.com/news/pastebin-how-a-popular-code-sharing-site-became-the-ultimate-hacker-hangout|archive-date=10 May 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> In such chatrooms, sending messages containing large blocks of computer data can disrupt conversations, which can be closely interleaved. When users send such messages, they are often warned to instead use pastebins or risk being banned from the service. Contrarily, a reference to a pastebin entry is a one-line hyperlink.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

A new class of IRC bot has evolved. In a chatroom that is largely oriented around a few pastebins, nothing more needs to be done after a post at its pastebin. The receiving party then awaits a bot announcing the expected posting by the known user.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

After the use of the pastebin.pl pastebin for a data breach, Pastebin started monitoring the site for illegally pasted data and information, leading to a backlash from Anonymous. Hacktivists teamed up with an organization calling itself the People's Liberation Front, launching an alternative called AnonPaste.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/pastebin-to-hunt-for-hacker-pastes-anonymous-cries-censorship/|title=Pastebin to hunt for hacker pastes, Anonymous cries censorship|last=Emil|first=Protalinski|date=4 April 2012|website=ZDNet|publisher=CBS Interactive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205153321/http://www.zdnet.com/article/pastebin-to-hunt-for-hacker-pastes-anonymous-cries-censorship/|archive-date=5 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/01/07/morgan-stanley-data-leak-not-the-first-headache-for-pastebin/|title=Morgan Stanley Data Leak Not the First Headache for Pastebin|last=Sidel|first=Robin|date=7 January 2015|website=The Wall Street Journal|publisher=Dow Jones & Company|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109181906/http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/01/07/morgan-stanley-data-leak-not-the-first-headache-for-pastebin/|archive-date=9 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Internet}} * Doxbin (clearnet) * Netiquette * Pastebin.com * PrivateBin * Snippet (programming) * Text file

== References == {{Reflist}}

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Category:File sharing Category:File sharing services Category:Web applications Category:Web hosting Category:Text