This article examines the formation of restrictions on access, against the background of the general attitudes of society, the methodology of historical research and the development of archival science before and after the French Revolution up to the end of the 20th century. A detailed survey of the central archives of European states, based on the responses received from 23 countries, introduces a comparative view of the situation regarding access to archives in the early years of the 21st century. Resulting the analysis of restrictions on access as practised in European archives today, the authors stress on some ideas addressed to researches in the future. For instance, could a restricted access to an archival document make the situation for a researcher worse or better than if the document did not exist at all: Or —could the increasing protection of personal privacy affect some global processes besides the archives and historical researches.