Arc Is Retiring on December 22. Here Is What to Do Before It Goes Away

The Browser Company has set a final date for Arc. After years as one of the most distinctive alternatives to Chrome, Arc will shut down on December 22, 2026.

That gives current users about two months to move their bookmarks, passwords, extensions, and tabs somewhere safe. After that date, Arc for Mac and Windows will stop working, Arc accounts will be deactivated, and account data will be deleted within 30 days.

This was not a surprise, but the deadline is new

Arc development effectively stopped in May 2025, when The Browser Company shifted its focus to Dia, its newer AI centered browser. Arc kept getting basic updates after that, but no major new features.

On October 22, 2026, the company made the end official. In its farewell message, it said:

"We have decided to sunset Arc on December 22, 2026. That is not an easy sentence to write. We spent years building Arc and celebrating each and every release along the way: we have so much pride and love for what we made alongside the Arc community."

The company points to security as the main reason. Keeping a browser secure, it says, takes constant work that is only increasing in the age of AI. Dia, it says, was built from the ground up to meet current security standards, so that is where its engineering and security teams will focus.

The shutdown timeline

Here are the dates that matter:

October 22, 2026: New Arc accounts can no longer be created. Existing users can keep browsing, and the latest Arc update adds a way to export your data.
November 23, 2026: Arc Search on iOS and Android loses Browse for Me and its other AI features. Sign in and tab sync also stop working on mobile.
December 22, 2026: Arc for Mac and Windows stops working. Arc accounts are deactivated, and Arc Search is removed from Google Play. Arc Search on iOS continues as a basic local browser without sign in or sync.

Do not wait until December 22. Export or migrate while Arc still works, and check that everything actually arrived in the new browser before you treat the move as done.

If you move to Dia

Dia is The Browser Company's intended replacement, and it is the easiest move for most Arc users. The company says passwords, bookmarks, extensions, and history transfer seamlessly, along with your organization:

Spaces become Profiles in Dia
Folders become Tab Groups in Dia
Your tabs, pinned tabs, and extensions come over too

To import, install Dia and choose Arc when it asks which browser to import from during sign up. If Dia is already installed, use its import option from the app menu.

The company also says Dia now beats Arc on stability, speed, and security benchmarks, and that the Arc features most people use are free in Dia. Its AI features are optional, so you can use Dia as a more traditional browser if you prefer.

The honest take on Dia

Let us be blunt: Dia is not Arc with a fresh coat of paint. It is a different bet, and Arc fans should not pretend otherwise.

Arc won people over because it rethought the browser itself: the sidebar, Spaces, pinned tabs, and a calmer way to manage a messy tab life. Dia's headline pitch is different. It is an AI assistant that can summarize your tabs, write for you, and hand you a morning briefing. Some of that may be useful. None of it is why most Arc users fell for Arc in the first place.

The Browser Company says Dia's AI is optional, and that matters. You can turn much of it off and use Dia as a capable, modern browser. But an AI first browser will still have AI first priorities. Its roadmap, its design decisions, and its marketing will bend toward AI features, not toward the obsessive interface polish that made Arc feel special.

There is also a simpler way to read this shutdown. The company admitted Arc was too different for the mainstream, then chose to chase the trend every other browser company is chasing. Security is a real constraint (no small team can safely maintain two browsers forever), but the choice of which browser to keep tells you where the company thinks the future is. It picked the AI browser, not the beloved one.

That does not make Dia bad. It does make the migration pitch less neutral than it sounds. Dia is the smoothest move, and for many Arc users it will be the right one. But do not let a December deadline pressure you into an AI browser you did not ask for. Try Dia, then try Zen or Vivaldi, and pick the browser that fits how you actually work. If Dia wins on its merits, great. If it wins only because it was the default escape hatch, that is not a win for users.

If you do not want Dia

You are not locked into Dia. Use Arc's export option (Settings, then Advanced, then Export Data on Mac and Windows) to save a backup, then import your passwords and bookmarks into another browser.

A few options worth considering, depending on what you liked about Arc:

Zen: Free and open source, with workspaces for organizing tabs by project and split view for up to four tabs.
Vivaldi: Highly customizable, with workspaces, tab stacks, tab tiling, and a sidebar tab bar.
Chrome: A mainstream option with vertical tabs and tab groups that sync across devices signed in to the same Google account.
Safari: A minimal option for Mac and iPhone users, with profiles that keep history, extensions, Tab Groups, and favorites separate.

Whichever browser you choose, verify the important stuff first: saved logins, work accounts, extensions, and the tab setup you actually use every day.

Your checklist before December 22

Decide where you are going: Dia or another browser.
If you choose Dia, run the Arc import and confirm your Profiles and Tab Groups came over.
If you choose another browser, export your passwords and bookmarks from Arc.
Save a separate list of key links, just in case an import misses something.
On your phone, plan for Arc Search losing sign in, sync, and AI features on November 23.
Do all of it before December 22, when Arc accounts are deactivated.

Why Arc mattered

Arc never became a mass market Chrome replacement, and the company has acknowledged that it was, for many people, simply too different. But it changed expectations for what a browser could look like. Its sidebar, Spaces, pinned tabs, and tidy approach to tab management influenced browsers that came after it, and it built a loyal following among power users, creatives, and productivity focused people.

That is what makes this shutdown sting for its fans. Arc was not just another Chromium skin. It was a real attempt to rethink the browser, and for a while, it felt like the future.

Now that future is Dia, or whatever browser you choose next. Either way, the clock is running, and December 22 will arrive fast.