Arc Shuts Down on December 22: What Happens to Your Browser and Data
Arc shuts down on December 22, 2026. That day the browser stops opening on macOS and Windows, accounts get deactivated, and personal data is deleted within 30 days. The Browser Company gave users exactly two months to move to Dia or export everything.
What The Browser Company announced
The statement is blunt: "we've decided to sunset Arc on December 22, 2026." The company founded by Josh Miller admits the sentence was hard to write, but the technical reason is specific: keeping a browser secure takes constant work, and that work keeps growing in the age of AI. So its engineering and security teams are focusing on Dia, the browser built from the ground up to meet those standards.
This was not a sudden call. Arc stopped getting new development in May 2025, when the company had already shifted its focus to Dia. Since October 2025, The Browser Company has been part of Atlassian.
The real reason: security, not a lack of users
A browser is a permanent attack surface: rendering engine, extensions, sync, updates. Keeping two products at that level of scrutiny alive, one of them frozen in place, is expensive. The company chose to concentrate effort on a single modern codebase instead of patching the old one.
The shutdown runs on three dates
Not everything ends on the same day. The published timeline has three milestones worth writing down.
October 22: new accounts are closed
Since the announcement, no new Arc accounts can be created. Existing ones keep working normally and receive basic updates until the cutoff. The current version includes an option to export all your data.
November 23: Arc Search loses AI on mobile
On iOS and Android, Arc Search loses its AI features, including "Browse for Me", and no longer allows sign-in or tab sync. The app keeps working as a basic local browser.
December 22: the end
Arc no longer opens on macOS or Windows. Accounts are deactivated and the associated personal data is deleted within the following 30 days. Arc Search for Android also leaves the Play Store.
What moves to Dia and what changes
The migration is designed so users don't lose what they already had. Passwords, bookmarks, extensions and history transfer automatically. Spaces, folders and tab groups also import intact, with one detail: in Dia, workspaces are called profiles.
Features that used to cost money are free
According to the company, the browser features you used in Arc are free in Dia and the AI layer is optional. Dia runs on Apple Silicon Macs and Windows 11.
How to migrate without losing anything
Order matters, especially if you have years of pinned tabs.
- Export your data from Arc while it still opens: the option lives in the settings of the current build.
- Install Dia and create your profile. Once you sign in, passwords, bookmarks and extensions import automatically.
- Check the imported profiles: every Arc Space shows up as a separate profile with its pinned tabs.
- Verify critical extensions. Those built on Arc-specific APIs have no direct equivalent.
- Keep a copy of the export on an external drive before December 22. After the cutoff there is no way to recover it from the app.
The pattern repeats: AI browsers are eating the classics
Arc is not an isolated case. OpenAI also shut down its Atlas browser this year and moved that experience into the browser inside ChatGPT. The logic is the same in both cases: the browser stops being just a window to the web and becomes the place where an agent reads, summarizes and acts. Maintaining an interface designed for manual browsing stops making commercial sense when the competing product sits next to the model.
For people who build websites, the practical takeaway barely changes: standard HTML, performance and accessibility are what survive any browser shakeout. What is worth reviewing are integrations that depended on features exclusive to one specific app.
Conclusion
Arc has a date: December 22. Anyone who wants to keep their history and spaces has two months to export and try Dia calmly, without the pressure of the last day. If the browser is part of your daily workflow, this is not a decision to leave for January.
