The Archives of Macao was founded as “Macao General Archives” under Ministerial Legislative Diploma No. 5 of 28 June 1952 within the Civil Administration Services of Macao. In 1979, it was renamed “Historical Archives of Macao” and began operation under the newly created Education and Culture Department. In 1986, it was transferred to the Cultural Institute of Macao (now Cultural Affairs Bureau). In 2016, it was renamed Archives of Macao.

The Archives of Macao operates under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government. It collects, processes, preserves and protects archival resources of historical value and makes them accessible to the public. The Archives maintains custody of over 70,000 files, 70,000 images and 6,000 publications. While most of them are paper records, there are also photographs, slides, audio cassettes, optical disks and other forms of object. Most records in the collection are in Portuguese and the earliest document dates back to 1630.

Over the years, the Archives has received considerable records from the public services as well as records donated by organizations and individuals in the community. The Archives' website provides access to full text version of records and documentation which are integrated into an online catalogue.